WW1 soldiers (General)

by HarryBrook , Saturday, January 18, 2014, 10:13 (3760 days ago) @ Jefff

The cap badge worn in the photo is that of the Gloucestershire Regt. in white metal (silver looking), later in the war an economy brass version was issued.
As Jefff states there were three William H. James in the Glouc. Regt.:-
William H. James Private 15848 10th Battn. who landed in France on 9.8.1915. He was entitled to the 1915 Star, British War Medal, and Victory Medal. This Battn first fought at Loos, 25.9.1915 being the first day.
William H. James Private 51955 1st Battn. who landed in France after 1.1.1916 since no date of entry into a theatre of war is stated on his medal index card. He was entitled to only the British War Meadal and Victory Medal.
William H. James Private 17311 9th Battn. who landed in France on 20.9.1915. He was entitled to the 1915 Star trio as described above. However the 9th Battn. Glouc. Regt. were only in France until November 1915 when they transferred to Salonika returning to France in July 1918.
None of the above transferred to other units such as R.A.M.C.
None died in service so it is not possible to eliminate any by that criteria.
There appear to be no service or pension records for any of them.
Looking at the photo and the uniforms worn, and equipment carried, I would guess it was taken in 1915 or early 1916. They are obviously not wearing 'tin hats' or appear to be carrying them. They are not carrying the later respirators/gas masks which were carried in a bag on the chest. They are not wearing any divisional indentification badges on their sleeves (a practice which started late in 1916).
The uniform of the man on the right of William H. James looks pretty shabby and that of the man on the left has also seen a bit of wear and tear, whereas W.H.J's (especially the cap) seems more pristine. So does that suggest that he may have been Private 51955 of 1st Battalion, who, by his medal index card information, would appear to be a reinforcement to 1st Battn. to replace earlier losses?
The photo caption states 'in France', but was it? The back would be interesting to see. Many were printed as post cards so would have the French 'Carte Postale' printed on it. Any other written message etc. would be of interest.
The best source of confirmation would of course be his medals, if they are still around, which would show his service number. Other family correspondence would also possibly give pointers to indentifying which is William Howard James amongst the above, or any family stories of where he might have fought (although this is notoriously unreliable).