Dating a Soldiers Photographs
a. Close up scan of the collar and
hat badges, buttons, arm patches and hat
help.
b. Identifying a photographic studio wording often embossed at the bottom
c. Location where photo was found - country, state.
PreFederation Victorian troops had the slouch hat raised on the right side
and after 1903, all AUS. troops had the slouch hat raised
on the left side. Officers wore leggings and troops had bandage style
leggings.
d. Dress: Maybe dressed up for a formal photograph. The belt fitted with small pockets, for carrying cartridges, and worn
across the chest the soldier's is called a bandolier, came in different
patterns. A plume in the hat, his puggaree (hat band), a high collar is
pre-Great War, of a Boer War style, jacket style, piping on sleeves, ammunition belt.
Jodhpurs, boots and spurs - may mean a cavalry regiment. Light Horse. Most
military supplies were still moved by horse, hence the boots.
e. It was quite easy in that era for a photo to be (accidentally)
laterally reversed, by placing the negative the wrong way up on the
photographic
paper. Find out which side of the shoulder the army colours were worn. If
there is a firm tradition regarding that, then we may be reasonably
confident that the photo is not reversed.
f. Was the background is a standard studio set? Can be an old fashioned
photographer who was too mean to update his sets.
g. NZEF soldier WW1 wearing his hat the
Aussie style.
Christchurch Press on Anzac Day 2005 had a feature on the Gallipoli
campaign amongst which they included a whole page of casualties as published
at that time.
Names scan
During the South African War the NZ Army felt hats
were turned up on the left side with a fore and aft dent in the crown. Later
rifle regiments did not slope arms so there wasn't any need to pin the hat up.
Lt. Col. W.G. Malone at an annual training camp at Takapua in 1911 eliminated the dents as they
collected water and pinched it in four places. The hat was later dubbed the
"lemon squeezer". In 1914 Major
Herbert Hart transferred to the 17th (Ruahine)
Regiment. He has been credited with introducing the lemon-squeezer hat into
service with this regiment. The puggaree was the coloured cloth band
worn on the felt hats, the
colours
of the band identified the branch of service, NZEF soldiers wore leather dog
tag's.
The New Zealand General Service Badge was first worn in 1914 and
later issued to servicemen in the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force which
consisted of three echelons which all sailed from New Zealand in 1940. The Paci
fic
Division of the 2NZEF was renamed the 3rd New Zealand Division and sailed for
New Caledonia in 1943. Returning servicemen had to hand in their uniforms
including their hats but were aloud to keep the badge. The badge was worn by the
servicemen up on their "lemon squeezer hats" until 1947 when it was last worn by
the New Zealand J-Force contingent of the British Occupation Forces in Japan.
The felt hats went out of service in 1962 but are still used on ceremonial
occasions.
A child born on the day the great war ended was older enough to die in the next great war!
Regimental Numbers WW1
Service numbers and service person's name might be found on a service persons headstone, death notice in newspaper or on the reverse side of the 1914-1915 Star. WWII medals were not inscribed. My grandfather enlisted 17 August 1914 and was at Gallipoli in the NZ Army Medical Corps and his service number was 3/133A. The Army double up on service numbers, so instead of giving out new ones they added the A. When ordering a Service Personnel File include the A otherwise could end up with the service file of the person who had a similar number e.g. 3/133.
The following prefixes were used for WW1 service numbers of troops. Extracted from "Orders, Decorations and Medals awarded to New Zealanders - an illustrated guide for collectors" by Geoffrey P. Oldham and Brett Delahunt.
1/ Samoan Advance Force
2/ Royal New Zealand Artillery
3/ New Zealand Medical Corps
4/ New Zealand Engineers
5/ New Zealand Army Service Corps
6/ Canterbury Infantry
7/ Canterbury Mounted Rifles
8/ Otago Rifles
9/ Otago Mounted Rifles
10/ Wellington Rifles
11/ Wellington Mounted Rifles
12/ Auckland Rifles
13/ Auckland Mounted Rifles
14/ Army Service Corps Divisional Train
15/ New Zealand Expeditionary Force Headquarters Staff
16/ Maori Battalion
17/ New Zealand Veterinary Corps
18/ New Zealand Chaplains Department
19/ Samoan Relief Force, Infantry
20/ Samoan Relief Force, Mounted Rifles
21/ New Zealand Army Pay Corps
22/ New Zealand Nursing Service
23/ 1st Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade
24/ 2nd Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade
25/ 3rd Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade
26/ 4th Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade
This system was employed until the formation of the Tenth Reinforcements, following which the prefix was omitted and a strict numerical sequence was used.
Reserves
First Division Roll of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force Reserve
The NZ Government created this list in September 1916. It includes men, natural-born British Subjects, not less than 20 and under 46 years of age, who are unmarried, or who married since 1st May 1915 and have no child under 16 by a previous marriage, or who are widowers with no children under 16, or who are divorced or judicially separated from their wives and have no children under 16 years of age.
Second Division Roll of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force Reserve
The NZ Government created this list from August to October 1917.
The classification is based on the number of children of a reservist:
Class A - Reservists who have no children or who failed to provide adequate maintenance for their children
Class B - Reservists who have one child
Class C - Reservists who have two children
Class D - Reservists who have three children
Class E - Reservists who have four children
Class F - Reservists who have more than four children
Photographers’ Database is an index to photographers who have worked
in New Zealand from the 1840s to the present day.
Auckland City Libraries photograph collection
Mackenzie Mounted Rifles 1907
Rear (left to right) W. Milne, R. Pinkerton, A. Burgess, J. Braddick, H. Welsh
Front: J. Hamilton, Sergeant Major-Burn, Captain Bruce Gilles or ?Sergeant-Major Morgan, Staff Sergeant C.J. Talbot, A. Smith
C.Y.C
C.Y.C. at Wingatui, Dunedin, late 1930s. They had to supply their own horses. Note the spurs.
World War One
Lance Corporal Edwin Bray Reg. No 40499 New Zealand Rifle Brigade 23rd.
This photo was taken in 1918 in Auckland.
Edwin Bray, age 30, was b. 15 August 1888, Akaroa. Iris, age 8, born 9 November
1910.
Great Uncle Edwin was attested for service at Auckland on 2 October 1916 and marched into camp to join Company A 23 Reinforcements as a private. The 23 Reinforcements, a total of 2094 troops embarked from Wellington aboard the Ruapehu on 14 March 1917 and the Corinthic on 2 April. Edwin aboard the Corinthic, under the command of Captain H.E. Burrell, the ships master was Captain F. Hart. The Corinthic disembarked at Plymouth on 10th June and the troops marched into Camp Sling, Wilthsire to become part of the 4th NZ Infantry Reserve Battalion. After a short stay in England Edwin left for France on 6 July and marched into Etaples Camp on 11 July. On 3 October Edwin was posted to No. 3 Machine Gun Company in the field and on 6th October rejoined the Battalion in the field. On 22 December he was detached to No. 3 NZ Light Mortar Battery until 23 February 1918 when he was transferred to 1 Battalion 3 Brigade NZ Rifle Brigade. Edwin was reposted to the No. 3 NZ Light Mortar Battery on 8 March and for the period 17 march to 4 April went to the United Kingdom on leave. On 27 July he was detached to IV Corps school and on 27 September was appointed to Temporary Corporal and the same day this was made substantive. Corporal Bray was embarked at Liverpool with 1192 other troops aboard the Tahiti under the command of Major Geddes, the ship master was Captain F. P. Evans. Corporal Bray was discharged on the termination of his period of engagement on 1 August 1919.
World War Two
1. Why the difference between a private's cap and hat? Was one for dress occasions?
2. There does not appear much difference between a NZ soldier's uniform and the one of the Australian soldier in 1915. When were the NZ Army felt hats were no longer turned up (slouch hats) on the left side and became the "lemon squeezers"? My father was a private / driver, served in the Middle East and Italy, during WWII, never, never, wore a "lemon squeezer" but a beret.
2NZEF soldiers. 1939-1945