Young Man in Uniform
W. D. Wil (probably William Donald Wild)
Laing Art Gallery
Date 1915
Medium oil on canvas
Measurements H 71.2 x W 35.7 cm
Accession number TWCMS : C10045
Acquisition method untraced find, recorded, 1969
This young man wears a standard World War One soldier’s uniform, with hat, tunic and breeches. His hat has a British Army Service badge. The black lettering on his red armband may be CD, for cavalry devision. This would indicate that he is a trooper – a private soldier on horseback. Troopers sometimes carried swagger sticks, as this soldier does. (In infantry divisions, only sergeants and officers carried sticks.)
The British army was the only army to go into World War One in a drab uniform. French soldiers were still wearing blue jackets and red trousers for active service until several months into the war.
The artis is probably William Donald Wild, who exhibited paintings at the Artists of the Northern Counties exhibitions at the Laing Art Gallery, and lived locally.