SunderlandSoldiers

 

A portrait of two soldiers, I believe the soldier on the left is Dave Jackson who was killed in the Battle of the Somme. The soldier on the right is my grandfather Arthur Jackson, he and another brother survived the war but another brother I have been unable to find any details on was also killed.

When attempting to find information on the military history of your family old photographs can be very important. From the cap badge it can be clearly seen that they were both in the Royal Artillery. They both have horse wipes indicating that both are likely to have worked with a team of horses that pulled artillery around the battlefield. The spurs are interesting as they are an indication of the rank of those below NCO and in this case the rank of my grandfather was Driver.

The service numbers of 85000 & 85001 indicate that they stood in the queue together when enlisting.  They both arrived in France on the 11th May 1915.