I like many others remember my ancestors every day in some way or another, but it’s good to all come together at this time of the year to remember those that fought and died in the past on Remembrance Day🌹their memories should live on.

Old Photos are always a wonderful way to remember our ancestors if you are lucky enough to have them. As you all know I have been researching more about my own family these last few months. I have scanned many of my Dad’s old photos that he took while serving in India during the 1920s and 1930s with the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry.

It’s really nice to be able to share them with other family members as now that they are being digitised it makes it all so much easier, I still have some negatives of Dad’s that are in very poor condition also lots of slides that he took that were popular in the late 1960s and 1970s as colour photos really took off, that all need converting into digital photos.

Just recently someone from the Photomyne company made contact with me after seeing my old photos on social media. They have given me the opportunity to try out all their different Apps. How wonderful. So I’ve been experimenting and testing them out.

All the photos I’m sharing here on this Blog are my first attempts on the FilmBox App by Photomyne. I could probably do a lot better with more practice! It’s not only fun but honestly, I have been blown away by seeing all of these fabulous images. The images have magically appeared on my screen from negatives in such a very poor condition. Every photo has been emotional, seeing what my Dad saw about 90+ years ago, with some of my Dad taken with his camera. I don’t have any of these in photo form, so every single one is such a treasure.

Interesting to see the Barracks in India below, I just wish I knew exactly where they were. I should have taken more notice back then. I know they had a view of the Himalayas at one of their barracks. Names I remember my Dad mentioning are Bareilly, Lahore, Kashmir.

All these forgotten faces, my Dad is left to right photos: Centre back. Second from left. Far-right.

I would love to be able to put names to these faces so if you have any ancestors who served with the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry in India before World War Two please take a good look and let me know if you spot anyone you know.

Underneath a tree in the shade, my Dad on the left.

Were any of these men in these photos a Batman or a Punkah Wallah? I remember my Dad speaking about both many years ago, wish I’d taken more notice back then, I do know that he tried to get his Batman a passage to Britain to begin a new life when he himself came back to England but he wasn’t able to, I don’t remember the details. Life was very different then especially abroad.

Wikipedia: ‘Batman or an orderly is a soldier or airman assigned to a commissioned officer as a personal servant‘.
‘In British India and elsewhere in the tropical and subtropical world, a large swinging fan, fixed to the ceiling, and pulled by a Punkah Wallah, during hot weather‘.

This photo above is super isn’t it, don’t they look smart, my Dad is on the right here. Such a shame it is a double negative all over my Dad’s face, really surprised it’s come out so well.

A snapshot of life in Barracks for the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry.

The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry has a wealth of information on their Museum’s website and also at their Museum at THE KEEP in Bodmin, Cornwall, it’s a wonderful Museum to visit.

Link here: https://bodminkeep.org

What a great photo of my Dad in a boat. I am so grateful to be able to see all these photos for the very first time, when he died in 1984 I couldn’t look at all the treasures he’d left behind and as time goes on it’s so easy to forget to actually deal with all these things. I have in the past considered taking them to be converted into photos but have always been afraid that they might have been lost or damaged. So now I have been able to convert them myself is just so wonderful.

If you want to check out Photomyne If you’re accessing via your phone here’s the direct link to their App: https://bit.ly/3UGfXuQ and here’s the link to their website: https://photomyne.com/

I have more from India to share with you all in Part 2 coming in a few days.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.

 Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. 

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, 

We will remember them.

🌹By Laurence Binyon and first published in the Times on September 21, 1914 – just two months after the First World War began on July 28. As relevant today as it was then🌹

Till next time then……..