Showcasing vintage male photography, mostly nude. You must be 18 years of age or older to visit this blog! If you hold a copyright on any material shown on this blog, notify me, and it will be removed immediately.
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Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Soldier
The mustache on this French soldier isn't grand, but he does have one.
In WWI, the British army would only initially recruit its officer class from the public (private) schools. This only changed when the death toll rose so high they started running out of men and grammar school boys were allowed to obtain a commission. (This enabled my great uncle to join the officer ranks. He survived the Somme and because of his languages, he went into Army Intelligence.) All the young officer cadets were instructed to grow moustaches to make them look older. There were some very wispy examples. I don't know if that was the case in France, but I think we would be surprised at how this young "poilu" really was.
Do you suppose he had to do a 10-mile hike in that "uniform?" Lol
ReplyDeleteWhy not? I have a picture somewhere of nude WWI doughboys (US Army) on a nude march.
DeleteIn WWI, the British army would only initially recruit its officer class from the public (private) schools. This only changed when the death toll rose so high they started running out of men and grammar school boys were allowed to obtain a commission. (This enabled my great uncle to join the officer ranks. He survived the Somme and because of his languages, he went into Army Intelligence.) All the young officer cadets were instructed to grow moustaches to make them look older. There were some very wispy examples. I don't know if that was the case in France, but I think we would be surprised at how this young "poilu" really was.
ReplyDeleteInteresting about them being told to grow moustaches. It does make sense on a certain level, though.
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