Help to identify great-grandfather. Greetings from Brazil.

[kuzmienko]

Hello! My name is Eduardo Kuzmienko and I am a grandson of Ukrainian immigrants. I live in Brazil and I have this one picture of my grandfather.

 I would help to know what exactly he did as my grandfather did not talk about it.

 Thank you all!

 Eduardo Kuzmienko.

[kuzmienko]

Let's try again:

[Mike]

Your great-grandfather was most likely a cavalry NCO, but it might help if you could post (or provide a link to) a much larger image, so that his shoulder boards and maybe even buttons would be seen better.

[kuzmienko]

Your great-grandfather was most likely a cavalry NCO, but it might help if you could post (or provide a link to) a much larger image, so that his shoulder boards and maybe even buttons would be seen better.

Hello Mike, thank you! This is a 600dpi image:

http://www.portoantigos.com.br/digitalizar0016.jpg

If you need a larger image I can post.

What is a NCO? You can tell the period of time of this picture?

Thank you all for your help.

Kuzmienko.

[mardam]

I cannot help you with information about your family, but I "cleaned" the picture for you.

[Forum Admin]

NCO means Non-Commissioned Officer. An enlisted man who earned promotion up to the lowest grade of officer, instead of someone of higher status who trained to be an officer.

[Kalafrana]

Hello

An NCO is a non-commissioned officer, in other words a Sergeant or Corporal (various grades of both). In British parlance a Corporal or Lance Corporal is a junior NCO, a Staff Sergeant or Sergeant a senior NCO, and one of the various grades of Sergeant Major a Warrant Officer.

Your great-grandfather was presumably in the cavalry or some other mounted unit, as he is wearing spurs and a sabre.

It is certainly a pre-1914 photograph.

Ann

[kuzmienko]

I cannot help you with information about your family, but I "cleaned" the picture for you.

Mardam, thank you very much. Beatiful job, thank you!

[kuzmienko]

NCO means Non-Commissioned Officer. An enlisted man who earned promotion up to the lowest grade of officer, instead of someone of higher status who trained to be an officer.

Got it, thanks!

[kuzmienko]

Hello

An NCO is a non-commissioned officer, in other words a Sergeant or Corporal (various grades of both). In British parlance a Corporal or Lance Corporal is a junior NCO, a Staff Sergeant or Sergeant a senior NCO, and one of the various grades of Sergeant Major a Warrant Officer.

Your great-grandfather was presumably in the cavalry or some other mounted unit, as he is wearing spurs and a sabre.

It is certainly a pre-1914 photograph.

Ann

Thanks! My family has a sad story.

 My great grandfather  after the fall of the monarchy wassend to Siberia.

 In 1941 the Germans invaded  Kharkov and took my grandparents to a Labour Camp in Germany.

 In 1945 she was released and had my mother in Germany.

 In 1952 they arrived in Brazil. In 1954 my grandfather died in an accident at work.

 My grandmother kept these photos for years. But he never gave more information about his past. She was afraid of Stalin, even being here. Having spent in Labour Camp it was a sad person.

 I have some pictures of people who do not know the name.

 The information that you are giving is a light for our family.

 I hope to identify the badge for more information.

 Thank you.

[Mike]

The large photo made things clearer. His shoulder boards with two crossed narrow stripes, a black velvet collar, buttons, spurs and a shashka sword suggest that he was a qualified gun-layer with a rank of bombardier [artillery corporal]. In Russian: бомбардир-наводчик. The photo was taken between 1907 and 1914.

[kuzmienko]

The large photo made things clearer. His shoulder boards with two crossed narrow stripes, a black velvet collar, buttons, spurs and a shashka sword suggest that he was a qualified gun-layer with a rank of bombardier [artillery corporal]. In Russian: бомбардир-наводчик. The photo was taken between 1907 and 1914.

Wow! Thak you Mike!!! What a surprise!

Not sure if he's cavalry, is it?

[Nicola De Valeron]

Kuzmienko, you are welcome. Glad that you received help on our forum;).

Thanks! My family has a sad story.

 My great grandfather  after the fall of the monarchy wassend to Siberia.

 In 1941 the Germans invaded  Kharkov and took my grandparents to a Labour Camp in Germany.

 In 1945 she was released and had my mother in Germany.

 In 1952 they arrived in Brazil. In 1954 my grandfather died in an accident at work.

Sad, but at the same time rather typical story for the big 2nd wave of Russian emigre.

My grandmother kept these photos for years. But he never gave more information about his past. She was afraid of Stalin, even being here. Having spent in Labour Camp it was a sad person.

Oh, I totally understand you here! These feelings were very similar to the feelings of my distant Russian ancestors. They also stayed in the USSR and lived there in the twenties and thirties. All the thirties they lived in the centre of Moscow and during Stalin's great terror of 1937-1938 (several millions of killed) simply every night they experienced strange footsteps on the stairs, tapping at the someone's door and another kidnapping and disappearing forever. Every night! Even when they happily emigrated to Spain during WWII (Franco granted them a special pension and give them preferences as a victims of Stalin's terror) and lived in protected country (closed from the USSR), they didn't told us anything worthy about these times till the end. Inhuman type of fear;(.

[Mike]

Not sure if he's cavalry, is it?

No, he was either a gun-layer or, less likely, a mounted artillery scout who had a similar shoulder board pattern. But in the latter case he would be photographed with binoculars.

[Kalafrana]

Mike

Does the lanyard on the right indicate anything in particular?

Ann