Scratching the Surface

28/07/2026  -  2.16

Roger Slater

I thought I’d hopefully get you thinking about something to do over the summer!! We all have those bits of memorabilia, old programmes, newspaper cuttings and maybe old photographs in a scrap book or a file or a drawer. In among them there will be faces you don’t know, teams even that you may not recognise, but in amongst the mystery there is always a clue. Now, part of the reason that it never got looked at, will be time but with the close season upon us, there is little to stop you. Find the clue then find the internet and share it. You may well be surprised by the answers. It’s what I did.

My interest in ‘Football and War’ isn’t just a way to memorialise those players who died in world wars or other conflicts, nor is it just about those key events like the London Irish Rifles (Loos) and the Surreys (first day of The Somme) kicking a ball over the top, or stories about the Christmas Truce of 1914. It has become all encompassing, looking at the ‘day-to-day’ – football as part of a serviceman’s recreation at home and abroad, and what I find never fails to surprise me and helps drive me on to the next challenge.

In both world wars there are many mentions in newspapers and such like of games at home and abroad, of leagues held in Prisoner of War Camps on both sides, and inter-battalion sports and competitions across the globe – little difference then, in times of war and in times of peace. Letters home from serving players to their clubs in wartime are more prevalent but press reports and details from any number of different sources are available to us day-to-day, even minute-to-minute with social media and the internet in general. The question is, do we actually delve into a subject or just glance at the headline?

I was given a picture by a friend of mine, Clive Leaper – he found it in an antiques shop and gave it to me as a ‘thank you’ for some research I had helped with about his family in World War One. This is the photo:

Guess the Team? Source: Author’s Collection

It was more than a gift, it piqued my interest. The digging began – Who? Where? Why? When? A little bit of time and a little bit of luck and it’s surprising what information a simple bit of research can uncover.

On first sight, the photograph is obviously World War One era and I knew by the uniforms it would have been taken later in the war.  Out came the magnifying glass to tell me that the writing on the ball says “No1 Office RAFC”. The RAFC element is an easy identification, backed up by the cap badges and insignia on show – Royal Artillery, so where better to start than the Royal Artillery themselves, to see if they can identify any further details about “No1 Office” or offer a clue to the location or date. An email sent with the picture to the Royal Artillery Museum. The wait began, but surely they’d be able to help…

Two days later a reply appeared and I opened the email and read: 

“Thanks for sending the picture. We have no idea what No1 Office may be, but we can confirm that most of the soldiers are wearing uniforms and caps with RA cap-badges, so they are Gunners. The uniforms though do not have white Royal Artillery shoulder lanyards and some cap-badges missing. That would suggest the picture was taken probably in France or Belgium. As the soldiers look war-weary, it suggests the picture would have been taken near the end of WW1, 1917 or 18 probably.”

In truth, nothing I hadn’t or couldn’t have worked out for myself, though the reply did at least confirm my initial thoughts.

Label Behind the Team Photo. Source: Author’s Collection

In the two days waiting for the reply, my inquisitiveness had taken over and I’d removed the picture from the frame to see if I could un-cover any further detail. What I found was this label. Greenlees Boot and Shoe Manufacturers, 171 Saracen Street Glasgow, with a long list of other branches.

Back to the internet, and to wikitree - https://www.wikitree.com. I found the family tree associated with the company which in a very different form still exists, so I sent them an email. Nothing (it’s a couple of years now, so I’m not holding my breath!). I may try and contact them again one day, so I guess that’s a thread that remains open.

A read of the company biography (online) gave a little more information on the family and indicated that an Arthur Greenlees was most likely the man in Glasgow in the branch during the Great War period, but that too is currently a dead end with no further details know – not least, why a shoe manufacturers advert should be used as backing for a Royal Artillery photograph, possibly taken in France or Belgium!

Back to social media on t’interweb. I’m a member and occasional contributor to a Facebook Group about World War One photographs, so I gathered up the images and composed a little script of the known details then posted them online to see if any other group members could shed some light on the picture or add a detail or two.

This is where luck played a hand as I got a reply from Taff Gillingham, a Tour Guide, a Military Historian and a Consultant on most things Military. Among other commitments, he is also a group member and he saw the picture. With the information I had posted he replied:

“…most of the Officers have a bronze ‘V’ under their collar badges. That would indicate they are members of the Volunteer Force, not regulars. With the link to Glasgow it’s likely to be the City of Glasgow R.A. (Volunteers), based in Jardine Street.

They were a Signal Company and that ties in with the activities in the photo. If so, the Officer on the right is Captain J.E.Naismith, 2nd left Adjutant T/Captain T.B.Grierson, a TF Officer with a 1914 Star ribbon and 3 three blue Overseas Service chevrons. Third left is Major E.T. Gislin. The other must be either 2/Lt Morris, Bewsher, Wilson or Lindsay.

It turns out that the previous owners of the house were the Lindsay family...”.

Within a matter of days after over 100 years, the information had brought some of those people pictured to life, but the search continues.

The Imperial War Museum database online offered another picture (below) of Major J. Naismith, Royal Field Artillery, pictured on 23rd August 1917 leaving Buckingham Palace after receiving his Distinguished Service Order (DSO) (and returning to the picture this summer, the next task for me is to look into the records of all those named, hopefully identifying some of the others in the picture along the way).

Major J. Naismith. Source: Imperial War Museum

I posted online again, this time another friend, Stephan Coutts (@FWGProject) responded from his Falkirk home. He’d been brought up around the Jardine Street area of Glasgow and thought he could identify the building, still in use and still military (now by the 32 Signals Regiment), though the actual area where the photograph was taken is now a car park.

Alongside some more research on the Military Records, a visit with a camera is on the cards!

I’ve also used an online app at myheritage.com to give an initial colourisation to the original picture, adding a little colour to the history below and I’ll try and touch this up over the summer too……if I get time!

City of Glasgow R.A. Volunteers Football Team. Source: Author’s Collection

Note

A version of this article was published in the Where’s The Bar magazine. 
Find out more about the magazine at - https://www.wheresthebar.co.uk  

Biography

Roger Slater was born in Harrow in the late 1950s and has moved around a bit and retired to Devon with wife of 24 years, Helen. He originally trained as an Electrical Engineer but worked for almost 40 years in Building Services Technologies, primarily HVAC control systems and Electronic Security. Roger retired in 2018 having run his own Engineering Consultancy for almost 15 years.

For relaxation and hobbies, he writes, mainly about his football club, Wealdstone FC and has published eight books including a club history since 2002. He does not class himself as a historian, just an enthusiastic amateur.

He also writes for a fanzine/magazine called Where’s The Bar that has just relaunched.
Otherwise, hobbies are upcycling and building ‘strange’ lighting out of people’s rubbish and occasionally painting, though he also buys and sells at auctions and on the internet (mainly football related or antiques).

In respect of other sports, he will watch most but follows the Toronto Blue Jays avidly in baseball, as a result of working on and off in Canada in the early nineties.

Roger also reads and collects books on World War One, in particular personal biographies and war diaries as opposed to battle histories…

All of that could change tomorrow or on any other day if something else takes his fancy as he will give most things a try if they appeal!!