June 1915 - First leave, and a trip home to Derby
Some time in June, Leslie Payne must have been granted a few days' leave, as were many of the Canadian soldiers keen to see the bright lights of London or visit family. Unfortunately the leave was not noted in his service records, but I am fairly sure that he did take leave at this time for a couple of reasons.
The first of these relates to a postcard sized photograph (at left) of Leslie taken by the studio of E.M. Treble in Derby. In the head-and-shoulders portrait he does not have any corporal's stripes on his uniform, suggesting that it was taken prior to his promotion in early July. It is also possible that he just hadn't sewn the stripes on yet, although I think this is unlikely. The bandolier is different from the one he is shown wearing in the photos taken in St John, New Brunswick, suggesting that it was after their equipment had been replaced in England. The cap badge and collar dogs are of the "General Service" type, which mean that it certainly wasn't after he had transferred to the Canadian Machine Gun Corps, the following year.
Also, Leslie withdrew a large portion of his pay in June and July 1915 - a total of $82.50 - and the only other times during his service that he withdrew large amounts was immediately prior to going on leave. A later posting will show that Leslie assigned $25 of his monthly pay packet to his "sweetheart" Con (Constance May Hogg) at the beginning of August - it seems very likely that this took place soon after he had seen Con while on leave. Constance (shown in the portrait above) was an elder sister of William Percival Hogg, who had joined up on the same day as Leslie, and the Hogg family were obviously known to the Paynes in Derby. Their father, William James Hogg (1862-), was a land and estate agent in Litchurch, Derby, as was Leslie's father, Charles Vincent Payne (1868-1941).
The first of these relates to a postcard sized photograph (at left) of Leslie taken by the studio of E.M. Treble in Derby. In the head-and-shoulders portrait he does not have any corporal's stripes on his uniform, suggesting that it was taken prior to his promotion in early July. It is also possible that he just hadn't sewn the stripes on yet, although I think this is unlikely. The bandolier is different from the one he is shown wearing in the photos taken in St John, New Brunswick, suggesting that it was after their equipment had been replaced in England. The cap badge and collar dogs are of the "General Service" type, which mean that it certainly wasn't after he had transferred to the Canadian Machine Gun Corps, the following year.
Also, Leslie withdrew a large portion of his pay in June and July 1915 - a total of $82.50 - and the only other times during his service that he withdrew large amounts was immediately prior to going on leave. A later posting will show that Leslie assigned $25 of his monthly pay packet to his "sweetheart" Con (Constance May Hogg) at the beginning of August - it seems very likely that this took place soon after he had seen Con while on leave. Constance (shown in the portrait above) was an elder sister of William Percival Hogg, who had joined up on the same day as Leslie, and the Hogg family were obviously known to the Paynes in Derby. Their father, William James Hogg (1862-), was a land and estate agent in Litchurch, Derby, as was Leslie's father, Charles Vincent Payne (1868-1941).
posted by Brett Payne at 10:00 pm
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