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I hope that the 'Genes pool' will be able to help me with an almost military connected question.
I am afraid my information will all be a bit vague - as it is one of my Dad's memories of one of his uncles and I suspect it could be a lot of fiction made up for a young boy! However, having said that a lot of my Dad's memories have been tracked back to some basis of fact.
So my question(s) is (are): Could/would someone born in 1897 (year as shown on 1901 and 1911 Census returns) have been in the army in India? This is based on a photograph of the uncle in a hat - like a kepi or explorer hat - shorts and stories of India and tigers! Could this have happened WW1 (bit young but possible), between WW1 and WW2, or was it possible that he was a soldier in WW2 and deployed to India or similar? Or that he was in the Middle East during WW2 and had the photo then - or would he have been too old - but still possible I suppose - for WW2?
If so where could I start to look for him. My problems are: we are not next of kin, obtaining records might be difficult - even if I knew other details. His name was Robert Smith (exactly - Smith) born c1897 in Bromley, Middlesex (so Poplar district)
So as I know it is difficult to pinpoint him for sure past the 1911 Census any thoughts on army/India/etc might give me something that I might use to jog a memory! Oh - date of death - unknown but most likely before mid 1950's.
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It is very possible that anyone born 1897 served in ww1 he could have enlisted without lying about his age in 1915 but many did lie and sign up anyway so he could have lied and joined early
It is also possible having had previous military experience that he served in ww2 although a little old for front line service
If his ww1 service or pension records survived then they may be on ancestry
You could join the 1914-1918 forum and post the picture, their are some very good members who may be able to tell you about uniforms military head gear that would narrow down which regiment he served with
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?act=idx
Roy
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Wearing a kepi and shorts is no indication of any military involvement.
He could have been hunting tigers............abhorrent though that seems to us nowadays. Or simply on holiday........even working in the country
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The Kepi was used by the French armed forces in ww1
could it be a pith helmet? common amongst British soldiers serving in hot climates
Roy
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Roy
Thanks for the responses - yes quite possibly a pith helmet - unfortunately we do not have the picture, just the (apparently) vivid memory of the picture in my Dad's mind.
What I will do is look at the link and see if there are any to download to show my Dad - he avoids the internet - and probably in much the same way as he would avoid a tiger!
Reggie
I agree shorts and some sort of headgear are absolutely no indication of any military service, however I need something to work on and am inclined towards some sort of (low level) military aspect as discovering my family shows they didn't move much - until bombed out - and why buy a hat when you can knot your hankie :-D
Janet
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