Can anyone suggest the best way of chasing up a photograph of the members of a squadron?

Were 'official' photographs taken, along the lines of a school photo (and if so are they likely to be held anywhere), or would it be simply a matter of luck in finding one - a photographer happened to take a picture and it just so happens that it ended up in someone's collection and one might just happen to chance upon it?

Thanks

Tom

Imperial War Museum, London has a huge number of photos. If you can identify it as one of theirs they can copy it for a fee.

The local paper might have taken a snap and it might have been published. Newspaper quality likely to be poor though and you'd need to check with the current version of the paper (if any) as to whether the glass negatives have survived. Unlikely...

Otherwise hope that someone somewhere has a copy tucked away but finding it is the problem! Air museum? Archive office near to the plane station? (assuming its in Britain).

Bernard

Hi Tom.

If the photo you are trying to find is of a soldier that died during WW1 try this site ww1photos.com and maybe you will find him there.

Best Regards,


Vincent Borg
Naxxar,
Malta.

Thanks Bernard and Vincent.

The man I'm after was fortunate enough to survive the war - though as a prisoner of war.

I know there was at least one photograph of him because he himself showed it to me back in the 1970s but I've no way of knowing what happened to it. I wondered whether there might be one of those photos of the entire squadron similar to those battalion photos you see so often.

I'd got myself a rail ticket to go down to the NA at the beginning of December to research him but I've now discovered (thanks as ever to this wonderful forum) that they're closed then!

Tom

Don't assume that the NA will have many photos. That is the repository for documents and maps with photos coming up a poor second (in my experience). I'd e-mail the IWM and ask if they have any of the unit as a start.

Bernard

Bernard,

Just as a matter of interest, is it the case that the IWM will search their archives on my behalf and let me know if they have a photo?

I know that they offer some kind of online access to their archives - would I be right in assuming this is fairly limited?

Thanks

Tom