Franco Prussian war?

[Tony]

I was wondering if anyone could have a stab at the year this photo might have been taken. Going by the shape of the pickelhaube on the left, the beard in the middle and the wounded, I?d guess at it being base hospital back in the Franco Prussian war.

What do you think?

Cheers

Tony

[Tony]

Here's an attempt at a better scan only it looks much better through the stereoviewer.

Tony

[Glenn J]

Tony,

is the bearded fellow in the middle wearing the double cuff rings of an "etatsma?iger" Feldwebel? These were not introduced until 28 July 1889

Regards

Glenn

[Tony]

I'll try to do a better scan if I can but if it's post 1889 where do you think they could be? I would have thought they'd all be wearing field grey in the Great War. I don't suppose it helps but that's a lovely gas lamp on the hut.

Tony

[Tony]

Glenn,

This is the best I could manage. Done with the camera.

Tony

[Tony]

This one is under the scanner.

Tony

[Mike Huxley]

Tony,

Just a thought ... could this have been taken in one of the Colonies around the turn of the Century, Africa or maybe China during the Boxer uprising?

Just a thought.

Mike

[Guest Rick Research]

The sentry at left is carrying the "needle gun" which won the war of 1866 and was out of service after 1888.

[Tony]

Hmmm,

Does anyone know when the square peak pickelhaube stopped being issued?

Very annoying having a stereoview without any information in it.

Tony

[Tony]

Tony,

Just a thought ... could this have been taken in one of the Colonies around the turn of the Century, Africa or maybe China during the Boxer uprising?

Just a thought.

Mike

←

Mike,

The ground looks a little sandy. Maybe just to soak up the blood of the wounded.

Tony

[Tom Y]

the building looks like some of the old Cracker architecture down here, i.e. warm climate construction, which would lead me to think South Africa or Kamerun.

[Guest Rick Research]

If you look closely at Rorke's Drift-chops Nigel Green there, you'll see the upper stripes do not go all the way around like the cuff braid. I seem to recall those as some sort of marksmanship or similar specialist designation, before the shooting cords came in.

The extremely tight sleeves, flared skirts, single cockades, high helmet, needle gun, Red Cross (1864+) ...

I'd say 1866 or 1870/71. There is one man in back with a medal on, but so small and blurry can't be sure what that is, and "in the field" I wouldn't expect long termers like Nigel there to be wearing any awards they might have had from 1866 in 1870.

[Glenn J]

Hi Rick,

I tend to agree. The general appearance of the people in the photgraph suggests 1866-1870/71. Nigel is most likely wearing the Swedish cuff variant of the early marksmanship insignia.

Regards

Glenn

[Tony]

Rick/Glenn,

Thanks for your help.

There are 2 men with medals but they aren't clear at all. As for Nigel, his facial hair was probably at the height of fashion back then.

Tony

[Thomas]

Does anyone know when the square peak pickelhaube stopped being issued?

Very annoying having a stereoview without any information in it.

Tony

Hi there. Have you seen Kaisers Bunker "Imperial German Mannschaft (Other Ranks) Pickelhaube Evolution 1842 - 1915" web page? The helmet looks like his Model 1860, which would have been replaced starting in 1867. I asked him about this, (his name is Tony too) and he sent me some information that I cant find right now, including a scan of a 1870 battle print that these M1860 helmets were worn by many units in the Franco Prussian war and even into the 1870s. here is the link. http://www.kaisersbunker.com/pe/pe.htm

Tom.

[Tony]

Hello Tom,

Thanks for the link!

Tony