15 February 2019
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As our regular series, The Photo Inspector, reveals, identifying units, awards, badges etc on old studio portraits is both challenging and satisfying.
Author: DAVID BILTON
Reviewed by: Duncan Evans
As our regular series, The Photo Inspector, reveals, identifying units, awards, badges etc on old studio portraits is both challenging and satisfying. If you have any WWI era photos of relatives you’d like to discover more about, consider picking up a copy of David Bilton’s new book. This is a large volume, printed on quality paper with colour illustrations throughout and is a study of the development of the battalion, brigade and divisional signs of the 30 divisions of infantry raised by Kitchener’s call to arms in WWI.
There’s a brief guide to each unit before digging into the insignia associated with each one, including cap and shoulder titles, cloth signs and badges. David draws on correspondence from the 1980s with the men who actually wore and often still had their badges.
It’s a hugely informative and visually impressive work, and a fantastic resource for general enthusiasts and those who collect old photos.
• Pen & Sword
• 358 pages • Hardback • £30
As reviewed in The Armourer February 2019.
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