RAF Volunteer Reserve group photograph (Update 2)

In April I posted an article with images of a large group photograph (shown above) of some 250 odd members of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, taken by W.W. Winter Ltd. in 1939 at Highfields, near Derby. Peter Kirk, Peter Felix and Nigel Aspdin provided details the location and date of the photograph, as well as information about one of the men in the photo, whih was discussed in a later update.

I recently received an email from Paul McLocklin of Derby with some interesting information about another airman in the photograph.


Image 5 - Upper central group of 47 men

Apart from the general historical significance and interest in the picture I have a slightly more personal interest relating to an individual who is featured on image 5 bottom row 3rd from the right. His name was James Frances Bassett and he and his family were friends of my father and grandparents.

His career in the RAF was fairly exceptional in that he completed two operational tours as an Observer/Navigator and was awarded both the DFM and DFC. Not being allowed to embark on another tour as an Observer he retrained as a Bomber pilot and flew heavy bombers in India. After the war he moved to Canada and then to America where he remained until his passing last year. He was a truly exceptional man. I hope this is of interest to you and offers a small insight in to one of the men featured on the photograph. Jim also had a copy of this photograph and poignantly remarked that virtually all of those personnel were lost during the war.

Many thanks to Paul for getting in touch and for the information he has provided.

Ship's Captain at Port Said, Suez Canal

Diana Burns has an old album containing a number of portraits of ship's captains. Most appear to be Scottish, although the photographs were mostly taken at studios in San Francisco (California, United States). I will be featuring some of these portraits over the next few weeks, in the hope that some reader may eventually be able to add to the little information we have been able to garner about the seafarers and the ships they captained.


The first cabinet card is a full-length portrait of an unidentified man with moustache and side whiskers, dressed in a double-breasted coat with markings on the cuffs suggesting that he was a ship's officer of some sort. Unfortunately, his ship's name is not recorded. The studio setting is fairly basic, comprising a plain unpainted backdrop, a standard diamond-pattern carpet, and a rather ornate studio chair. The card mount has rounded corners, andf I believe that it was probably taken in the mid-1870s.


The reverse of the card mount shows the studio name of Hippolyte Arnoux of Port Said, which was in Egypt, at the northern end of the Suez Canal. Arnoux made his reputation as a photographer documenting the excavation and construction of the Suez Canal between 1859 and 1869, publishing the photographs as the Album du Canal de Suez, which is advertised on the reverse of the card mount. Also pictured on the reverse is a representation of one of the dredges used in the exavation of the canal, similar to that pictured in an albumen print published by Arnoux and shown below.


Although Arnoux is best remembered for his views of the canal development, he was also a portrait photographer, having a studio at the Place Ferdinand de Lesseps in Port Said, and a dark room housed on a boat moored on the canal. He produced commercial photographs of ancient Egyptian monuments and Cairo buildings, as well as local types and ethnographic portraits, such as the Arabian Knife Grinder and his Client, the Water Carrier, the Arabian Barber, Jewish Woman, Turkish Woman and Arabian Dancer, which were popular with tourists and other travellers. It is believed that he travelled extensively in Aden, Jerusalem, Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia, taking photographs for sale. He was for a time in partnership with other Port Said photographers, including the Zangaki brothers, George and Constantine, and Antonio Beato. He operated until at least 1890.

References

Hippolyte Arnoux by Wikipedia

Hippolyte Arnoux and the Zangaki Brothers by Luminous Lint

Hippolyte Arnoux, Photographer of a Great Enterprise from The Fondation Napoléon

More photos from St James' Board School

In a previous article I featured a class photograph at St James' Board School of New Normanton, near Derby, taken between 1898 and 1900, which included my grandfather Charles Leslie Lionel Payne (1892-1975). I have since discovered another class photograph in the family collection which, although it is not marked thus, I believe must have been taken at the same school, but almost two decades earlier.


The class photo shows a group of 43 boys, aged about 9 to 13, and two masters. I believe I can identify my great-grandfather Charles Vincent Payne (1868-1951), seated in the front row, third from right, and his younger brother Charles Hallam Payne (1870-1960), in the middle row, fourth from left. They look to be aged about thirteen and eleven respectively which, if I am correct, suggests a date of around 1881-1882. I featured another class photograph of Charles Vincent in an earlier Photo-Sleuth article, taken c. 1877 at St Andrew's Middle Class School, Litchurch. The Board School was built in 1879, and the Payne family returned from an American sojourn in late 1880 or early 1881, so the 1881-1882 date fits the family circumstances well.


The reverse of the cabinet card mount bears the mark of Erasmus Bostock of Derby, a photographer who specialised in schools.

Hilary Booth recently got in touch with me after reading the article, "I have two similar photos in my possession and wondered if you would like to see them."

Francis Richard Porter (seated second from the left, in the second row from the front) was the son of Francis and Mary Porter who lived on Dale Road, Derby. Mary Porter ran a shop, converted in the front room of her house, number 66, while Francis was a waggoner at a brewery. This must have been taken just before Francis Richard died aged 6. I can't make out the reading on the board but I know it was St James Road School as my grandmother told me. Francis and Mary's Children were Harriet, Emily, Francis, Herbert and my grandmother Sarah Alice.

From my research of census records (Source: Ancestry) and the FreeBMD index of birth and death records, I was able to determine that Francis Richard Porter was born at Derby in late 1887 or early 1888, and died there 1894.


From the back stamp on the card mount, it appears that the class photo was taken by R.K. Peacock (1844-1893) of The Spot Studio, St Peter's Street, Derby. Previous research presented in my profile of this photographer shows him to have occupied these premises from c. 1889 until his death in late 1893.


Unfortunately, the text written on the slate is very indistinct. With digital enhancement I was able to decipher some of it - perhaps, "St. James' Rd. Bd. School," but the last line is illegible. However, I believe that it must have been taken just before Francis Richard Porter's death, probably in early to mid-1893. The windows and brickwork in the photograph appear very similar to those in the previously posted class photo, taken about 5-7 years later.

The second picture is of a young Herbert Porter (second from the right, in the top row), about ten years old. He was also the son of Francis and Mary, born in 1891. This picture clearly says that it was taken in 1901. Herbert died in 1932 aged 41.

My enhanced version of this slate is much clearer, showing the following text: "St James Road Board School, Stand V, July 4th 1901." Herbert Henry Porter (1890-1932) is shown aged ten in the 1901 Census, which was taken on 31 March.

Hilary's family continued to have an association with the school for many years:

My mother Vera also attended St James School, which later went on to become called Hardwick School. My sister Annette and I both attended Hardwick Junior School for girls and Hardwick Secondary School. We lived and grew up in the area and were obviously very familiar with the school and the surrounding area. Just before the school closed for demolition they had an 'open day' where old school members were allowed to go round the building and contribute to memorabilia which was posted around the school. It was a lovely trip down memory lane.

Many thanks to Hilary for her contributions of images and memories.

Canadian War Graves - Ed Pye and the 5th Canadian Infantry Battalion

When I was scanning a collection of old family photographs at my aunt's house in Derbyshire last year, I came across a photograph which didn't appear to be of a known family member. I didn't have an opportunity to have a good look at it then, but scanned it at a fairly high resolution (600 dpi) so that I could investigate it further at a later stage. Well, I've now had that opportunity, and have decided to share it here because I think it is a good demonstration of how documentary, as well as photographic, sources can be used to help in the identification process. It's also a story worth relating.


The photograph is a standard 134 x 85mm postcard with a divided back. It shows a young man, in uniform and with his cap in hand, kneeling next to two graves, both with cross-shaped grave markers, in a cemetery which is somewhat overgrown with weeds. More grave markers are visible in the background, as are several wooden fences and a line of trees. Enlargement of the detail of the crosses shows enough of the writing to make out the soldiers' names.

I have used the Debt of Honour database of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) to identify the soldiers, and the Library & Archives of Canada two online databases, War Diaries of the First World War and Soldiers of the First World War to find out more about them and the events leading up to their deaths.


The grave marker on the right has a freemason's mark (square and dividers/compasses) and the following text:

R.I.P. CAPT. G.P. BOWIE
KILLED IN ACTION, JULY 7th 1915
5th BATTN. 2nd BGDE.
CANADIAN CORPS WESTERN CAVLY.
George Pigrum Bowie was born in Upper Holloway, London on 29 March 1881, and was the eldest son of a clerk in the civil service. The 1911 Census shows him living in Vancouver and working as an architect. Presumably he was also a Freemason. At the time of his enlistment at Valcartier in September 1914, he had already served for three years with the 20th Middlesex Rifles, and was an active member of the 31st British Columbia Horse, a militia regiment. His attestation paper shows that he was granted a temporary commission.

The CWCG database entry confirms his date of death, give his age as 34 and states that he was serving with "A" Company, 5th Battalion at the time. It also states that his grave lies in Plot III. D. 10. of the Berks Cemetery Extension, located 12.5 kilometres south of Ieper (Ypres) town centre, 3 kilometres beyond Mesen (Messines) and opposite Hyde Park Corner Royal Berks Cemetery. These two cemeteries lie between Ploegsteert Wood (Bois de Ploegsteert) and Bois de la Hutte.


Examination of the 5th C.I.Bn. War Diaries for that period show them to have been in the forward trenches. The entry for 7th July refers to work being done to deepen and improve trenches, the need for refurbishment of the wire in no-man's-land, the dispersal of enemy working parties with rifle fire, and trouble with enemy snipers, including the killing of Capt. C.P. Bowie by a sniper's bullet.


The other grave marker reads,

12990 PTE. A.E. GABBE
KILLED IN ACTION AUG 30th 1915
There is more text around the lower edges, but it is difficult to make out. Albert Gustave E. Gabbe was born on 11 October 1891 at Dover, Kent, where his parents were hotelkeepers. He also enlisted at Valcartier on 24 September 1914, having previously served for 3½ years with the Royal Field Artillery. The CWGC database also has 30 August 1915 as his date of death, but provides no further information apart from his plot number, III. D. 9., also in the Berks Cemetery Extension.


The War Diary entry for that day only shows, "Casualties:- 1 killed, 1 wounded."


There are two other grave markers visible, but the text on these is even more difficult to decipher. I thought the one closer to the camera could be "W. McFARL(ANE)," and I found a list of the 873 graves in Berks Cemetery Extension on Pierre Vandervelden's In Memory web site, including the following entry:

MACFARLANE WILLIAM JAMES
United Kingdom Lance Corporal 2244 Seaforth Highlanders 02/04/1915 Age: 23 III. C. 28.

The CWGC database entry for this soldier provides further information:

Unit: "B" Coy. 2nd Bn. Seaforth Highlanders
Son of William and Alice Maud Macfarlane, of Lewisham, London. Born at Dingwall, Ross-shire.

Unfortunately, the name on the cross behind Macfarlane's is just too difficult to decipher.


Alan Jennings has an interesting page, Plugstreet, about the area around Ploegsteert Wood on his excellent World War One Battlefields web site. This includes two old photographs of the Royal Berkshire Cemetery Extension taken c. 1919, which show similar cross-shaped grave markers. However, it is clear from the the CWGC history of the Berks Cemetery Extension, and from Alan's explanation, that the current graves of Capt. Bowie, Pte. Gabbe and L/Cpl. MacFarlane must have been moved there from elsewhere:

The extension was begun in June 1916 and used continuously until September 1917. At the Armistice, the extension comprised Plot I only, but Plots II and III were added in 1930 when graves were brought in from Rosenberg Chateau Military Cemetery and Extension, about 1 kilometre to the north-west, when it was established that these sites could not be acquired in perpetuity. Rosenberg Chateau Military Cemetery was used by fighting units from November 1914 to August 1916. The extension was begun in May 1916 and used until March 1918. Together, the cemetery and extension were sometimes referred to as 'Red Lodge'.

Alan Jennings adds the following:

... the Rosenburg Chateau Military Cemetery and Extension stood in the grounds of the chateau of that name, and the owner felt that, as he rebuilt his house, the cemetery would stand too close to it. Despite pleas from the British and Belgian authorities, he remained firm, and eventually the 475 men buried there were exhumed and moved the half mile distance to this, their final resting place. In March 1930 The Times reported that "each body, as it was reverently taken from the earth, was placed in a coffin draped with the Union Jack and removed by motor ambulance to the Royal Berkshire Cemetery Extension".

Thanks to Alan's reference, I was able to find the image of the article very easily in the Online Newspaper Archive of The Times from 1785-1985. A transcript of the full article is provided here.


This extract of a 1:40,000 Ordnance Survey map of Belgium and Part of France (Sheet 28, Edition 3, published in February 1917 from data corrected to 23-12-16) shows the western part of Ploegsteert Wood, now commonly referred to as Bois de la Hutte. The area now occupied by the Berks Cemetery Extension is situated immediate to the south-west of Hyde Park Corner. Red Lodge is shown approximately a kilometre (each square has sides of 1000 yds, which approximates to a kilometre) to the north-west of Hyde Park Corner. This is roughly in the area that Alan Jennings' map refers to as the "Report Centre," now consisting of a large concrete structure which he believes may have been the entrance to the "Catacombs," beneath Hill 63. Immediately to the north of the "o" of "Red Lodge" on the OS map is a rectangular plot which I believe may have been the Rosenberg Chateau Military Cemetery and Extension.


On the reverse there is little of much use in the identification - only the words, "CANADIAN WAR GRAVES BELGIUM" written in ink, in my aunt's handwriting. My grandfather Leslie Payne (1892-1975) served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) during the Great War, so it seemed very likely that the photograph had something to do with his war service. One of the gravestones has what appears to be a Canadian maple leaf, the emblem of the CEF, at the top. The soldier in the picture was definitely not my grandfather, but he looked familiar. After some deliberation I realized that I had seen him in another photograph belonging to my grandfather, one of a group that had been passed down to my father.


This snapshot of three soldiers seated outside a dugout or revetment fortified with corrugated iron and sandbags, accompanied a letter sent to Leslie Payne, then living in Derbyshire, England, by his friend Ed Pye in Ottawa, Ontario (Canada). The letter is dated 26 June 1936 - in it my grandfather's old pal Ed recalls making, "... in the summer of 1916, occasional visits from Ploegsteert to your camp east of Bailleul" and refers to the snapshot thus, "Have dug out another war photo taken in 1915; Hill 63, Ploegsteert Wood, you may recognize the Clown Prince at left."


The clown prince was, of course, Ed himself, confirmed by another photograph I found illustrating an article which he had written for the Legionary magazine. This clearly shows his C/5 collar tag which shows that he served with the 5th Canadian Infantry Battalion. A few years ago, learning that Ed Pye had been a friend of my grandfather's since they worked together for the CPR in Saskatchewan before the war, and then throughout the war, I ordered Ed Pye's full CEF Service Records from the Library & Archives of Canada. From these, I was able to piece together an outline of his movements during the war. Subsequently, I have also been in touch with Ed's son Brian Pye and grandson Robert Edge, who have kindly provided further information.

Arthur Edwin Pye (1893-1960) originally enlisted in the 60th Rifles at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan on 12 August 1914, and five weeks later was attested into the 11th Battalion at Valcartier. He sailed over to England from Canada with the First Contingent on the SS Royal Edward in October 1914. After training, during which time he was transferred to the 5th Canadian Battalion (Western Cavalry), he went over to France in February 1915, being sent straight to the front as part of the First Canadian Division. He was wounded in March 1916, and spent some time at No. 1 Convalescent Depot in Boulogne, but appears to he recovered sufficiently to have been sent back to the front again after some time at "Base". He probably spent much of summer 1916 at the front - the service records only show that he was promoted twice in June - but was wounded for a second time on the Somme at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette on 26 September, which got him his "Blighty".

I believe, therefore, that this photograph must have been taken in the spring or summer of 1916. I presume that Ed Pye visited and had his photo taken next to these particular graves because they were of men that he had served with the previous year. I don't know if they had particular relevance to my grandfather. If the deceased soldiers were living in Saskatchewan prior to their enlistment in the CEF, then I suppose it is possible he knew them. However, it's more likely that Ed sent the postcard to him as a photograph of himself, rather than of the graves.

The Fauntleroy Suit - A possible example from London in the early 1900s

Today's photograph has been chosen as a contribution to the 5th Edition Smile For The Camera - A Carnival Of Images, to be hosted on FootnoteMaven's Shades of the Departed. The word prompt for this collection of images is "crowning glory," which creates something of a dilemma for me, as I have so many photographs in my collection showing a wide variety of interesting hairstyles and headgear.


The example that I've chosen is a recent purchase, rather than a portrait of a family member, and the subject is unfortunately not identified. I'll let the artistic merits of the cabnet card speak for themselves, but will add a little background to the costume that I think this child is wearing. The style of the Fauntleroy Suit was popularised as formal dress for middle-class American & British children in the 1890s and early 1900s, "much to the dismay of many young boys," after a book titled Little Lord Fauntleroy (online text, originally published as a serial in 1885) by American author Frances Hodgson Burnett, who also wrote that perennial children's favourite, The Secret Garden.




The style was derived from the illustrations of the clothes worn by the main character, which were pen-and-ink drawings carried out by Reginald Birch. These were based upon the "Van Dyke", an eighteenth century fancy dress which was, in turn, loosely modelled on Charles I court children's costume, and typified by Gainsborough's "Blue Boy."


Periodical brief revivals of the fad occurred after a film starring Mary Pickford was released in 1921, and again after an even better known version in 1936.

The photographer "Mac" was, in fact, the improbably named Algernon McIsaac who operated his Day & Electric Sudios at 212 King Street, Hammersmith, London in the early 1900s. McIsaac was born at Fareham, Hampshire (England) in early 1874, son of a pianoforte salesman, manufacturer and tuner, Thomas McIsaac (1825-1909) and his wife Emma (1838-1898; formerly Povey née Smith). He was working as a photographer by the time of the 1901 Census, but I have found no trade directory or similar entries showing his period of operation.


The only other example by "Mac" that I have been able to find is a carte de visite, also of a child, with a similar card mount design, shown above. I suspect that both of the portraits were taken in the early 1900s, perhaps between 1900 and 1905.



Post Script (5 September)

Well, it seems that I was wrong about this being a Fauntleroy suit! Birte Koch, who has a web site Album 1900, devoted to pictures of everday life over the period 187-1930, sent me an email pointing out that there were some significant differences:

Sorry to say but this boy is not wearing a fauntleroy suit. His suit reminds somewhat of a fancy musketeer-type suit. I add a picture of a typical Fauntleroy suit. Please note the cutaway-jacket (well, in my picture not that much cut away) (typically small, narrow and worn open because of the blouse) and the blouse showing lots of frills on front, cuffs and collar. And important is a sash. Fauntleroy suits often were done in velvet.