Postcard in P W & M Vello Series - Portobello Beach - 17th Lancers 'Laying Horses' exercise

Post Cards - PWM - Vello Series

Portobello Beach

17th Lancers 'Laying Down Horses' Exercise

The Photograph

Here is an unusual postcard of Portobello - not showing the pier, donkeys and holidaymakers, but the 17th Lancers 'Laying Down Horses' exercise on the beach.

There is also at least one other postcard in the same series featuring 17th Lancers on Portobello Beach. It looks to the west along the beach with Portobello Pier in the background. It can be found in the books of old picture postcards of Portobello by Archie Foley and by Margeorie Meikie.

Date of the Postcard

When was this photograph taken? The date on the postmark is unclear, and the stamp appears to have been added after the card was sent through the post.

The franking mark in the middle of the stamp on this card does not match the franking mark surrounding the stamp - AND the stamp on the card is a 'half-penny' stamp from 1934-36, by which time the postage rate had long been 'one penny'.

This card, with the message "This is one for your collection". The 17th Lancers lost their separate identity and joined with the 21st Lancers to become the 17th/21st Lancers in 1922.

[Source: British Empire web site and Wikipedia]

Perhaps the card was published in the early 1900s. Following the Boer War, the 17th Lancers returned to Britain in 1902 and were posted to Edinburgh for three years then to Glasgow.

The Lancers would have been based at Piershill Barracks, when in Edinburgh. The barracks were about a mile to the west of Portobello.

[Source: Queen's Royal Lancers web site]