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A mammoth panoramic photograph featuring over 600 members of the '49th Course of Physical & Bayonet Training. Officers & N.C.O.s of the British Army Overseas Contingents & Royal Naval Division Headquarters Gymnasium Aldershot September 1918'
1918réf. 117433London: Panora Limited 1918. London Panora Limited September 1918. A vintage gelatin silver photograph visible image size approximately 178 × 1408 mm matted and behind glass in a period-style moulded wooden frame external dimensions an impressive 330 × 1565 mm. A couple of tiny blemishes to the sky near the left-hand edge and a few vertical creases with light surface cracks do not detract from this impressive display item. 'In the pre-war period an officer or NCO seeking to become an instructor would have attended a six-week preliminary course at a Command gymnasium followed by an intensive and wide-ranging four-month course . at the HQ School Aldershot; this in turn was followed by a three-month probationary period back in his unit before fully qualifying as an instructor. September 1914 however witnessed a dramatic truncation . the pressure to dispatch the men to units to begin physical and bayonet training meant the AI Course at HQ Aldershot was cut to 21 days . These HQ courses would run for the duration of the war with the numbers of trainees in each class soon raised from just under 200 to 500' Nikolai Bogdnovic: 'Fit to Fight - A History of the Royal Army Physical Training Corps 1860-2015' Bloomsbury 2017. Bogdnovic makes clear that these courses included Territorials and Commonwealth Dominion troops Canadians New Zealanders Indians and Australians and later Americans as well. Panora Limited unknown
