Great War army uniform recognition

Question

My grandfather Collins-23501 and his brother in law Handley-1258 served in the Great War, but I am unable to locate any records.  Can anyone identify a possible regiment from the uniforms worn in these photos?

{{Image|file=Collins-23501.jpg
|caption=Thomas Daniel Collins
}}

{{Image|file=Handley-1258.jpg
|caption=William Handley
}}

Thanks to Helen Ford we have an answer for William Handley, so can anyone recognise the style of the uniform and accoutrements worn by Tom Collins?

Edited to add:  A high res scan of a small photo of 1918 made the shoulder badge of the Royal Garrison Artillery visible.  One of Toms brothers enlisted in the RGA, being mobilised in 1916 and demobbed in 1919.  So I think we have an answer.

Comments

Full size on click - - - 

---

Most military records are online and can be searched by  country, WWI soldiers records and their names.

---

British military records aren't as easy to get to as some other countries.  I have been unable to access my grandmother's records, or her brother's.

---

I have found the records for a couple of my great uncles, however some records were destroyed by enemy action during WWII, so there are a few (lots) of records lost.

Nick

---

It looks a little bit like the uniform worn by my grand-uncle and his mates (20th Hussars), but that doesn't mean much, really.  Most "general purpose" uniforms gained their distinctive features by their badges and patches.

---

The military records for the British forces are very easy to locate they are held at Kew.

---

The military records for the British forces are very easy to locate they are held at Kew.

commented by Lynn L 

.

Which is fine for those with access to Kew.

---

Not all servicemen's  records are at Kew. Specifically for  army records (not officers). The records of those  that  remained in service after 1920  are retained by the Ministry of Defence as are those for members of  guards units. As Nick wrote above, a  large number of WW1 service records were  destroyed by during  WW2 https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-soldiers-of-the-first-world-war/

---

https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records

---

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/research/military-records/british-soldiers-ww1-service-records.htm#:~:text=The%20exact%20number%20of%20serving,as%20the%20%E2%80%9CBurnt%20Records%E2%80%9D.

There are also newspapers of the time and history of families and locations which may contain information.  Pension records, medal records.  https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/service_records/sr_soldiers.htm

I learned long ago never to think there isn't a record somewhere.

Answer 1

Are you able to get a close up, with better definition of the cap badge? I'm definitely no expert (just used google) but it looks similar to that of the Coldstream guards but there are others with the star.

There's  another possible clue in the photographer's address  which looks like Caterham. Caterham was the location of the  guard's depot. https://theguardsdepot.co.uk/the-history-of-the-guards-depot-caterham/

Comments

That looks like it.  A family member from the same village joined the Coldstream Guards at the Caterham depot.  Many thanks.

Nick

---

It's certainly an avenue to follow. There are some basic  Coldstream guards records now on Find my Past. (looks like they include date of entry and discharge ) https://coldstreamguards.org.uk/pages/find-my-past