I know there are some special functions in the US military that dress in a kilt for special occasions, and of course there are probably lots of them in Britain that wear them. However, I have no clue what those functions may be, or if this guy really is military. He looks rather official, but he doesn’t look like the drum major for a marching band, so what could his clothing signify about him? Although the photo is dated May 1956, he looks military enough to me to include in this series.
This photo feels British to me, if only for the curlicued mustache on the man to the right. The uniforms are rather ornate, and on enlargement you can see that all the action is taking place with Mr. Right Hand Man. He is holding some sort of hat, has a sword sheath and some very ornate cording decoration. His eyebrows are really interesting, as they are almost white or white-blonde, and with his hair swept back he has a rather theatrical look about him. Mr. Left Hand Man has one of those pencil thin mustaches that are sometimes associated with dashing film stars like Errol Flynn and Clark Gabel. These two men are standing in front of a curtain, which suggests some sort of ceremony….?
This photograph is of different quality than the snapshots I have been showing you for the past few days. It feels a little flimsy, and it was glued onto that black photo album paper, then rather poorly cut out of the album altogether. This group of men does not actually look American to me, but I can’t make a guess at what nation’s military they represent. The fellow front and center (sitting on the bucket) has a different cap than all the others, so perhaps he is the captain?
Here we have four soldiers surrounding a woman, posed on the front stoop of some type of official looking building. I can’t quite tell what type of hat the lady has on, so I’m going with a wedding hat. The officer in front of her is her newly minted Mister, and the boys are his buddies and her brother.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
This snapshot shows a great angle on the big guns of a destroyer or other big Navy ship. Once you look past the size of those guns, you notice the fellow in shorts on his hands and knees…doing something. Even closer inspection reveals a volleyball net being strung and another fellow in shorts standing just next to the superstructure, below the kneeling guy. Busy day on board ship, I guess. :-) I’m going to guess this is in the 1950s rather than the 40s, just by the casual atmosphere.
Who Were They? 