Photographs I've gleaned from flea markets, junk shops and sometimes ebay. The cheaper the better. Anything with a story that can be extracted from hand written notes, location research, local histories, census records......anything. A small band of fellow enthusiasts worldwide have helped me with many of these. Of course there are always mysteries that defy research, but there's even a story inside these. All images can be viewed at super-size on Flickr.

Thursday 28 July 2011

British soldiers in Baku, Azerbaijan. 16th June 1919.

Baku, Azerbaijan. 16th June 1919.

An intriguing old photo I found in a flea market today. It was taken after the end of WW1 in the short-lived Azerbaijan Democratic Republic when Baku was occupied by Commonwealth troops under the command of British General W.Thompson. These must be British soldiers posing with locals.

Written on the reverse "Taken at Baku. June 16 - 1919. Me and Old Tank" I assume 'Old Tank' is the cat.

The back of the photo then seems to have been reused as a piece of notepaper to convey this order: "Officer Inspection at 8.30. All Gun Gear to be laid out by 8.30 for inspection and handing over to Mr Thomas, Section Officer"

They appear to have machine gun corps cap badges, which would maybe explain the reference to 'gun gear'.


Baku, Azerbaijan. 16th June 1919. (enlarged detail)
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1 comment:

  1. Mike Brubaker30 July 2011 at 16:17

    What a great find! A cat and soldier photo from a forgotten military action is doubly rare. The writing on the back - priceless.

    ReplyDelete

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