soldiers or posers?

[OC Richard]

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but these photos that are up on Ebay now are too good to pass without comment.

As you know I love finding vintage "play dress-up" photos, especially when they're being sold on Ebay as authentic photos of Scottish soldiers.

Here's one of the old threads I did on these

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...e-photo-83745/

Here's a photo currently on Ebay. Soldier or poser? Why?



Here's another. Soldier or poser? Why?

[jimintoronto]

Men who did not meet the British Army's minimum height requirement, of five feet, four inches, could have joined one of the Bantam Battalions. These were made up entirely of "short men > Their Officers were of normal height. Their rifles were cut down by a foot, to make it easier from them to handle them.

Here is a link to a site about the "Bantams ".

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31023270

The Canadian Army also raised one Battalion for "short men ".

link. http://www.bcbantams.org/

Jim B. In Toronto.

[tpa]

Here is a link to a site about the "Bantams ". http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31023270

Interesting article, thank you Jim. My son is taller than the 4'10" minimum stated in the article, yet he was turned down on height not weight.

[The Q]

Interesting article, thank you Jim. My son is taller than the 4'10" minimum stated in the article, yet he was turned down on height not weight.

During one of their periodic fitness enforcement drives, the RAF tried to dismiss my wife for being underweight! Until she proved she was the same weight as when she joined up!

[Bruce Scott]

Interesting article, thank you Jim. My son is taller than the 4'10" minimum stated in the article, yet he was turned down on height not weight.

WO1 Frank Wittman
"[During WWI] the minimum height for eligibility to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force was
5 foot 2 inches (1.55 metres) but Wittman stood a mere 3 foot 8 inches tall (1.12
metres). What Frank Wittman lacked in height, he made up for in sheer perseverance
— he refused to be treated as undesirable because of his stature. He sought
the assistance of a general and a colonel to support his case to be accepted into
the AIF. His persistence paid off when, in May 1915, aged 26 years and 5
months, he was sworn into the Australian Imperial Force."

The full story is here: http://www.anzacday.org.au/justsoldiers/wittman.pdf

[jimintoronto]

Keeping with the theme of "short men in the military " I will point out this fellow.

Vernon Keogh was born in the USA. He joined the French Air Force at the beginning of the war in 1939. After the fall of France, he joined the RAF, as a fighter pilot. He was four feet 10 inches tall.

Here is a link to his biography. He had wooden blocks added to the rudder pedals of his personal aircraft. He was shot down over France.

link .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Keogh

Jim B.

[GunnrGruffydd]

I remember when I did my military time there was a photographer on the camp who had a number of spare uniforms for folk to wear and have a photo taken to be sent home. This worked for 2 reasons 1. it was the pre-digital age and the photos took a while to process and 2. we hadn't been issued our own full dress at that point as that also took time to make.

I wonder if some of the samples here are of a similar ilk and 'off the peg' outfits owned by the photographer who set up shop by the naafi bar?