Hello All, I have three photos and was wondering I anyone can tell me if they are first or second world war etc.
Perhaps I can shed the tiniest ray of light on your pictures. Let me start with the second: It is of men of the British Raj era, meaning prior to 1947. Seated we see two officers, identifiable by the "Sam Browne" belts. By the cavalry boots and sword the one seems to be of "field grade", while the other seems an infantry officer of company grade. The chevrons on the arms of most others indicates NCO ranks. Pay attention to the man in white. Note his hat has a spike. If I am not mistaken he was none other than the Viceroy of British India, the representative of the Crown. His face, if he is the Viceroy should be on file. If I can make an educated guess I would say this is neither WWI nor WWII, but of that era between the wars.
In the first picture we see both British "other ranks" (second and third ranks) and four stout and hale Ghurkas, soldiers in the British allied units but from Nepal. They have the reputation of being excellent and fierce soldiers. None are NCOs or officers. All the soldiers in both pictures are wearing Khaki uniform, indicating to me the Great War has passed. In front in the first picture is a tripod mounted telescope. Why is it there? Probably this unit used it and they wee proudly displaying it. Who used telescopes? Artillery spotters, Engineers and Map Makers. And careful examination of the left sleeve of the Ghurkas shows two crossed flags, designating as either Surveyors or Signalers. May I venture to guess these fellows were mapping northern India or Nepal?
Wow so much information, thank you very much. The photos are only a small part of the image. The Viceroy of British India, I will search google for images. There are three chaps in white on the full image. The back of this image reads Edna Lorenz, 20 Park Street, Calcutta. Many thanks for your help.
.... The back of this image reads Edna Lorenz, 20 Park Street, Calcutta... well, my present office is very near to the mentioned building, perhaps this address belonged to that lady(I guess for her resi address), but not related to the photograph! Thanks.
Thank you for the feedback and for the full photos. These are obvious formal unit portraits. I can say little more of the "officer" photo, other than their pith-helmets show a unit or type designation of a red/white flag, again signal or surveyor. The other ranks show a new headgear, turbans. That means ethnic/religious troops from the Punjabi region -- Sikhs. Also good soldiers, as a rule. The soldiers without hats appear to be British. I do not see Scottish kilts. As I recall the formal Dress uniform before the war was the standard Red jacket. This at one time was regarded by some Indian soldiers as being something of the mystical strength of the European troops, why they rarely lost, other than being wiped-out. But during Great War red uniforms were found impractical.
