Hi All, Is it possible to date the uniform on the soldier in the attached photo? He's clearly(?) a sergeant and I think the elephant collar badges are that of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment. But I'm struggling to find out if this is WW1 or WW2. Any suggestions? Regards Lee
Maybe look at the back of the picture ...any stamps? The picture colourization gives a clue as well; in real life you may get a better look, but from my untrained eye it breathes WW1...
It looks to be the pre-1914 Infantry Sergeant's dress uniform which, unless he was a bandsman, generally didn't survive past WW1. The red senior NCO's sash was worn between the wars with the khaki Service Dress uniform but this one, with coloured collar and piping is not that. I agree with Arnhem44 that the sepia tint gives it an earlier look. Going by the hairstyle and the general pose, I'd put it around 1910.
As he has a dark coloured collar - should be red (or for a time, white) facings - he is likely to be from a Volunteer Battalion pre 1905 - before they became TA with the distinctions (facings) of their regular regiment. The other, outside, possibility is that as 'Ceremonial Dress' was not routinely issued post 1914 he could be in a 'pool' tunic from a station depot. This is more common post Second World War and (agreeing with the previous posts) I don't think the style of the photo matches this - in any case the DWR were proud of their all red tunics and photos show they had enough for impressive parades wherever they were stationed inter war (e.g. Malta and India). I trust that this helps Keith
