Who among the men on horseback is my grandfather? I know he must be one of the four in the middle, because there is another photo of him in that kind of uniform (but no horse):
My grandfather to the right,
a friend of his to the left.
I'm hesitating whether my grandfather is the 2nd or the 4th man wearing that kind of hat in the "horseback" photo. Hard to tell as one face is rather blurry, and the other has his hat pulled down over his eyes. Both seem to have the kind of oblong face that my grandfather had.
Whether they had any choice as to what kind of military service to do, I don't know. But I know that my grandfather's grandfather (with whom my grandfather grew up) used to be an artillery soldier. Back in his day, military service was organized a bit differently, though.
16 comments:
the military was really different here also back then, compared to now. I like tht first photo a lot. the uniforms interest me. the jophurs on your grandfather make me think of my mothers photo that my niece has. she was born in 1925, and the photo she is 15 I think, and she has on jodphurs just like his, she never rode a horse, they were just populr with teens in that year.
I just google women in jodhpurs in 1940, wow
If I had to find a picture with someone on horseback in my family albums, I would not be successful; my folks have lived in town where usually only the military used to keep horses, and the men of the family who were (not by choice) doing military service were simple foot soldiers.
My sister and I used to be taken for short excursions on horseback when we were little, but funnily enough, I have never seen a picture of either of us on a horse.
Sandra, I'll do the same. Can't wait for the results.
Librarian, my family's the same. Not many horses mentioned by my relatives. There must have been some 4 generations back.
How wonderful! Do you have a museum of local town history? Copies of these should be on display there.
I was going to guess either 3 or 4, but with 2, being blurry and 4 with his hat pulled down, it is hard to tell. Wonderful photos either way.
Of those four fellows in the middle wearing the same type of hats, I'd say your grandfather is the one on the left. In the 2nd photo you can see he has (or it looks like he has) a slightly cleft chin and the fellow on the left in the 1st photo looks like he has the same kind of chin. Good photos to match the prompt!
Some day I might try to look into the 'meaning' of the different uniforms in this photo - I haven't got the time just now...
Meike, although I did read some typical girly horse-books when I was "that age" (10-11), but I never tried riding - I think in real life I always found horses way too big! (I still do!) In my p. grandmother's photo albums there are some photos with a horse, but it was a working horse used for farm work and there are no photos of anyone sitting on it.
Ginny, we have a museum, but not of the kind with permanent exhibitions. (Besides, this photo is not local, as this regiment was in Gothenburg.)
Kathy, I'm sure it's not No 1 or 3.
LaN, I'm sure it's neither No 1 nor No 3. Looking at the original photo through a magnifying glass, I'm leaning towards No 2 - the blurry one. ;)
It's interesting that soldiers in 1925 still required training in basic horsemanship. Since Sweden remained neutral in WW1, its artillery was probably still pulled by teams of horses, whereas other nations had moved into mechanized artillery. Getting cannons and munitions quickly into proper position with horses required skill.
I like number 2 for your grandfather, but it is hard to be sure. In addition to cavalry, the artillery also used horses to pull the rolling guns -- so either would have called for equestrian skill. So excellent that you have these photos! https://mollyscanopy.com/2021/04/undaunted-seventh-blogiversary-atozchallenge/
This is a fun mystery. I wonder if you will ever solve it. Either way it is a great photo.
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