Family Historian User Group

This is one for the photoshop sleuths and militarians.

The atached photo is of Ida Barr (this was her stage name as a musical hall artiste - her birth name being Maud Barlow) with someone in Navy uniform.

Two questions :

• Does anyone know if it is a US or British uniform. If it is US then it is possible it is her second husband who she married in 1919; if it is British then it won't be.
  What are your best guesses as to the photographer details in the bottom right hand corner. (I may have got a partial solution but no more.)

Thanks in advance.

Robin

From a quick play with contrast/levels etc, the photographer at bottom right can be made out as Metropole Studio, Cardiff.

As is usual, the cap appears to have the name of the man's ship on it, but I can't get a clear result with that. Are you able to do a very high definition scan of just that bit, to give us a better chance?

Note that the man is wearing what may be a wedding ring.

In the picture the man's pea coat is coming across from his left and is buttoning on his right. That is the way US pea coats of that era did button. If indeed it is a wedding ring on his right hand, that would be unusual in the US as we wear the wedding ring on the left hand. There is also a ring on this man's left hand, but to my eye that doesn't look like a man's wedding ring.

Looking at other pictures on the web for WW I US enlisted man Navy uniforms, this looks like a US uniform should look. Same buttons on pea coat in same pattern, same vertical slit pockets next to the row of buttons, same stripes on the collar of the shirt, and his hat matches one of the types of hats that were used at that time.

I couldn't find good pictures of British uniforms of this time period, so don't know if his outfit matches those or not.

Bill

Found the same picture here:

https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/sear ... =sit&rNo=3

If I zoom in it looks like it might say "Naval Aviation" or something like that on the hat. Not sure if that would help indicate if it is US or British.

Bill

Yes, it does look like 'Naval Aviation'. I think that means it is probably American. In Britain the Royal Air Force (RAF) was formed on 1 April 1918 by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). There would not have been any British 'Naval Aviation' caps 1919.

Thanks all,

That's clarified things a lot.

I'll check her music hall career to see if I can pick up a Cardiff venue and see if I can pick up her second husband, CW Marriott, recorded in published notes of her that he was in the US Navy.

... 'fraid I don't have a better resolution of the photo as I also sourced it from npg !

The Navy Air Force didn't come into being until October 1919 and only in the Pacific Fleet.
The Army Air Force also existed at this time, but they of course would not have had the word Navy or Naval on their hats.
The US Air Force did not come into being until after WW II ended.

If this person is in the US Navy in 1919 and he was in the US Pacific Fleet, what was he doing in England?

I think we need a US Navy aviation expert. I've pretty much exhausted my knowledge and Googling skills.

Bill

Robin,

I spoke too soon. The 2nd husband's name was the clue I needed. I found this in Google Books.

https://books.google.com/books?id=mtKwB ... tt&f=false

Looks like he was in the US Navy.

Bill

Like I say, Army - fine, Navy - um.

When trying to look at my book of Military Photos, there seems very little difference between this picture and the RN - however, one thing that does stick out (or up...) is the brim of the cap - RN brims seem to have quite a sharp corner. This one is chunkier - and the caps that I can find in Google for the USN seem to have the same subtle difference.