A collection of black and white and sepia-toned photographs and postcards documenting the service of a Royal Navy rating during the 1920s. The assembly features various group portraits, including one depicting ratings in front of a brick building with a signboard reading BOYS SCHOOL 108 HMS GANGES, and another showing a large group on the deck of a vessel. Several individual and small group studio portraits are present, showing sailors in square rig uniforms, including white tropical dress. One postcard reverse is inscribed H.M.S. Warspite Stokers June 1922 and Address below Joseph Paul Cliff S.B.T.R. H.M.S. Warspite. A second postcard, dated R.N.B. July 1924, bears the anecdotal inscription The unusual smile was caused by a remark passed by the Photographer. Further personal inscriptions include From your loving son Joe and the name W. C. West written to the margin of a portrait. The collection provides a visual record of life at the HMS Ganges training establishment and subsequent service aboard the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship HMS Warspite.
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