Many old photographs featuring anonymous army children from times past have found their way to TACA. It seems a shame that these forgotten faces should continue to be disregarded, which is why we will be posting the photographs on TACA. And if there is anything about any of images in this gallery of forgotten faces that you recognise, or would like to comment on, or if you have any such photographs of your own that you'd like to share, please contact TACA.
AN ARMY FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHED AT SOUTHSEA, PORTSMOUTH, HAMPSHIRE
The photograph below was taken at W V Amey's photographic studio in Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire.
POSING FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHER IN ROCHESTER, KENT
The small army family pictured in the studio portrait below most likely posed for the photographer at James J Eastmead’s establishment in Eastgate, Rochester, Kent, during the 1890s. The three chevrons and badge on his right arm suggest that the father of the family is an engineer sergeant.
A PRE-WORLD WAR I ARMY FAMILY OF SEVEN
Books and metalware take centre stage in this postcard-backed black-and-white photograph of an army family dating from around a century ago. Prominent on the children's soldier father's right sleeve is an arm badge apparently showing the Prince of Wales' feathers above three point-down chevrons. If you can throw any further light on this photograph, please contact TACA.
A DRUM MAJOR’S FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHED IN KENT
The photograph below was taken at the studio of Stuart Lancaster & Son, of ‘Chatham Intra Rochester’ (and ‘High Street Blue Town Sheerness’). A legend on the back describes Stuart Lancaster & Son as ‘Photographers to Her Late Majesty Queen Victoria’, which dates the image to some time after Victoria’s death on 22 January 1901.
The two army children whose faces were captured in the studio portrait are clearly dressed in their best, whitest clothes. The insignia on their father’s lower right arm consists of four point-up chevrons, with a drum positioned above them, indicating that he is a drum major. His medals are most likely the Ashanti Star, 1896, awarded for participation in the Gold Coast campaign, 1896, and the Ashanti Medal, 1901, awarded for action on the Gold Coast, 1900 (thanks to Paul McCormick, of http://www. britishwarmedals.co.uk, for his help in identifying them). It is difficult to make out his collar badges (they may show a Royal Engineers’ grenade), but at the time that this photograph was taken, Chatham, in the Medway district of Kent, was home to a number of military barracks, as well as the depot and headquarters of the Corps of Royal Engineers (RE), and it may be that he was a member of the RE depot band. (For more information on the history of the Royal Engineers, visit the website of the Royal Engineers Museum and Library: http://www.remuseum.org.uk.)
If you have anything more to add about this photograph, please contact TACA.
A PRE-1918 VISIT TO AN ARMY CAMP
Perhaps pictured on a family visit to a temporary army camp, the enlarged detail at right reveals that the girls are standing alongside a sergeant wearing a pillbox cap and another soldier who is wearing a forage cap.
COMMEMORATING A CHRISTENING
The style of the mother and older children’s clothes, and of the soldier father’s uniform (the bandolier is its only distinctive visible feature), dates this photograph to around World War I. Looking at the baby’s long, white gown, the photograph may have been taken to commemorate its christening; none of the family looks particularly happy, however.
SUMMERTIME SMILES
This charming summertime photographic portrait of an army family dates from World War I. All that we know for certain about the father of the two girls, thanks to the three stripes on his sleeves, is that he is a sergeant. Its details are little indistinct, but his cap badge may be that of the Royal Engineers.
A PIONEER SERGEANT'S FAMILY
Shown below is a studio portrait of an army family probably photographed during the early years of the twentieth century. Judging by the crossed axes above the three chevrons on his left sleeve, and by the visible lion collar badge, the father of the family was a pioneer sergeant in the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster). (See the King's Own Royal Regiment Museum's website for an overview of the regiment's history: http://www. kingsownmuseum.plus.com.)
Peter Donnelly, curator of the King's Own Royal Regiment Museum in Lancaster, has kindly confirmed that the soldier father is wearing the uniform of a pioneer sergeant in the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster). As he explains, Peter has, in addition, dated the photograph to the early 1920s:
'I can confirm that the pioneer sergeant in the photograph is serving with the King's Own Royal Regiment after the First World War. The medal ribbons are for the 1914 or 1914/15 Star, British War and Allied Victory Medal, which means the soldier served through the First World War. There were a good number of men who joined during the war and continued to serve after the war, being required to re-enlist. I am pretty sure that the photograph is taken in Burma or India in the early 1920s, from the style of jacket, which means the sergeant is with the 2nd Battalion.'
Many thanks to Peter for throwing further light on these forgotten faces.
A WEDDING IN GIBRALTAR, 1926
This photographic postcard shows a wedding that took place eight years after World War I ended. A note written on the back gives the time as Saturday 27 November 1926, and the place as South Barracks Church, Gibraltar, but does not name the bride and groom. Zooming in, the three stripes on the groom’s sleeves tell us that he is a sergeant, as is the bemedalled soldier on the right, who is smiling, unlike the small flower girl (most likely an army child) standing on the steps next to the bride. The badge on the sleeve of the soldier on the left features a harp, indicating that he is a bandmaster. On the far right, a woman readies herself to throw confetti.
A MID-TWENTIETH-CENTURY LANCASHIRE FUSILIER FAMILY
The photograph shown below, of two young parents and their baby, was taken at the Oxford Studio, 133 Oxford Road, All Saints, Manchester, during the 1930s or 1940s. The soldier–father’s cap badge identifies his regiment as the Lancashire Fusiliers.
