A brief look between the CanadianSoldiers.com uniform guide and this vintage photograph leads me to believe that this is from the First World War. A young man in Service Dress sits before a scenic backdrop of mountains and a lake. He appears serene, perhaps a bit amused.
Try as I might, I couldn’t locate any information on either the soldier or the auction where I purchased this photo. I think it was at some point over the past two years. The question is, as always, when—I’m going to have to start keeping track of that!
Do you recognize the young man in this vintage photograph? Or, for that matter, do you have old pictures of family members that served in WWI or WWII?
The First World War changed the face of war in several ways: first, by ushering in the era of tanks; next, by the development of the first warplanes; and, finally, by forcing medicine to adapt to the brutality of trench warfare. One example of that last point was detailed in Dr. Lindsay Fitzharris’ book The Facemaker, the story of Harold Gillies, pioneer of facial reconstructive surgery.
You’ll get why if you take a moment to think about how machine guns were the most common weapons in WWI, and trench warfare resulted in a lot of horrible facial injuries.
That’s why I find WWI interesting: so much changed in such a short time.
Anyway, read Dr. Fitzharris’ book, if you haven’t. It’s on my reading list!
I wonder what our soldier witnessed during his tenure. Did he live? Is he one of the honoured dead, or did he get to come home?
If you recognize him and know the answer, please get in touch with me. I’d love to know.
Thank you for joining me this week, I’ll see you again soon.
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