Can you identify these four young men? What about their cap badges? One is very distinctive. There other three are probably the same. And who was the photographer in the Australian Studios?

December 2013

John Mason (kiwee2 @t optusnet.com.au) of  Hamilton, Newcastle NSW, Australia, writes: I am told via a relative in London that James Henry LAWRENCE b, 1862 in Harwich owned the Australian Studio in Watford in 1922. He previously had a photographic business in Fulham, West London in 1914/15. His whereabouts after 1922 are unknown. He travelled to NZ and Australia in the 1880s in search of gold and returned to England with gold.

I checked the Kelly's Directories for Hertfordshire. They list James Henry Lawrance as a photographer at 71 Queen's Road, Watford, in 1914 and at 64 Market Street, Watford, in 1922 - but neither he, or the Australian Studios, are listed in the 1917 or 1926 directories.

February 2014

Meg in Queensland, Australia, comments: These soldiers are dressed in the typical AIF uniforms of WW1 - they would have a bandana supporting a belt which held their ammunition when at war. I have no idea who they are.