Detailed descriptions
Charleroi, Belgium, 1919
Captain McAinsh - Padre - Sergeant Houston, and NCO's
A posed group photograph, showing nine men wearing various uniforms - some wear trousers, some wear the kilt. The front row of three are sitting cross-legged on the bare muddy ground. The other 6 men stand behind them. A wooden fence runs across the picture behind them, with a building (a farmhouse?) visible in the background on the right. A cart or limber can be seen on the left of the picture.
O.C. 'C' Company (Captain Robert Leslie Smith), Company Sergeant Major, Company Quartermaster Sergeant.
Three men in uniform stand in the open entrance to a tall conical tent. Another tent and a building are visible in the background. They are standing on the edge of what looks like a round, raised wooden floor for the tent. The man in the centre is wearing an officer's uniform, with jodhpurs, and the two men on either side of him are wearing kilts.
Captain R Leslie Smith and NCO's, 'C' Company, 8th Battalion Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders - all wear the 1914 Mons Star.
A posed group photograph, showing six men wearing uniform. Three men sit at the front on a low bench, their legs crossed. In the centre sits Captain Smith, flanked by (I think) the same two men as in the picture taken in front of the tent. Behind them stand the other three men, hands clasped behind their backs. All except Captain Smith are wearing kilts. The ground is bare earth. A wooden fence runs across the picture behind them, with a building (a farmhouse?) visible in the middle distance. Two figures (boys?) look over the fence on the right of the picture, watching the proceedings. A cart or limber can be seen on the left.
The Leslie Smith Family
Corporal Walter Smith was killed by a stray bullet fired during the Christmas armistice, 1914.
This photograph shows Walter's original grave marker. It stands on its own, the soil in the background churned and muddy. A plain white wooden cross, it has a heart-shaped plaque at its centre. The cross is marked with the number 71, and the plaque reads:
5th S.R.
IN MEMORY OF
6179
Cpl W. S. SMITH
KILLED IN ACTION
26th DEC 1914
Immediately behind the cross, someone has planted a small evergreen tree.
Captain R Leslie Smith and NCO's, 'C' Company, 8th Battalion Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders - all wear the 1914 Mons Star. Charleroi, Belgium, 1919.
A posed group photograph, showing six men wearing uniform. Three men sit at the front on a low bench, their legs crossed. In the centre sits Captain Smith, flanked by (I think) the same two men as in the picture taken in front of the tent. Behind them stand the other three men, hands clasped behind their backs. All except Captain Smith are wearing kilts. The ground is bare earth. A wooden fence runs across the picture behind them, with a building (a farmhouse?) visible in the middle distance. Two figures (boys?) look over the fence on the right of the picture, watching the proceedings. A cart or limber can be seen on the left.
O.C. 'C' Company (Captain Robert Leslie Smith), Company Sergeant Major, Company Quartermaster Sergeant.
Three men in uniform stand in the open entrance to a tall conical tent. Another tent and a building are visible in the background. They are standing on the edge of what looks like a round, raised wooden floor for the tent. The man in the centre is wearing an officer's uniform, with jodhpurs, and the two men on either side of him are wearing kilts.
Pforzheim, 1918-1919
Hand drawn Christmas card, 1918.
At the top of the card it says "O.G.L.Pf.", and underneath that, "XMAS 1918". Below these words is a shield, with 'icons' illustrating various activities - some tennis balls, a rugby ball, a football, some chess pieces, a pot & a pan, some books, a pair of boxing gloves, a red cross parcel, a bed, a playing card (the 5 of hearts), a deckchair and a bible. Drawn on the top of the shield is a flat-bed railway truck filled with parcels or bricks, with "O.G.L.Pf." drawn on the side. At the bottom of the card, it says:
HERE'S TO YOU &
HERE'S TO BLIGHTY
Hand drawn New Year card, 1919.
At the top of the card it says "PFORZHEIM 1919". Below that is drawn a six pointed shape filled with a pattern of black and white triangles (resembling a metal, military badge). A large circle fills the centre of the shape, containing a Scottish thistle surrounded by the motto "Nemo me impune lacessit". Each of the six points of the shape is decorated with an oval containing an illustration: St. Andrew, a five pointed star and bugle horn, an elephant bearing a banner, a cat and a boar's head, and two different stags heads (one with an "L" between its horns and the other on top of a crown). At the bottom of the card, it says "A HAPPY NEW YEAR!".
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