Professionally taken portrait, by Valentine’s, of Folkestone, London & the Provinces, of a recently enlisted George Valentine Harding, of Eydon. 
We know from his diary that he joined the service on August 31st, 1914, in the Northampton 5th Battalion, and was sent for training at Shorncliffe, Kent on 3rd Sept. remaining  with the Northamptons until Oct. 10th when he transferred to the Royal Field Artillery which provided artillery support for the British Army.
He was appointed Shoeing Smith on Oct. 26th. In all this time he remained at Shorncliffe until the first week in March 1915 when they moved to Cookham. They were then made up into the 12th division and the Ammunition Columns were formed. He was put into the 62nd Brigade Ammunition Column in charge of all the Shoeing Smiths and was made Corporal on March 19th 1915 and then  rapidly promoted to Sergeant in March 30th 1915.
This picture was taken between October 1914 and March 1915 and most young men going off to war would have a professional photograph taken of themselves in their uniform to send home as a memento.
His diary gives us a fascinating insight into the manoevres on the Western Front throughout the First World War.
Image lent by Mrs Hazel Jarvis
Connected Images: DK101 | KL103 | KL365 | KL366 | KL367