Ern Latchford as a member of the 6th Australian Infantry Regiment, aged 18, seen in the back row, second from the left. His friend Rupert Holden is in the back row far right. Taken at Lancefield Junction, 1907.
Officers of the Area 58B (Ascot Vale) Instructional Staff, taken early in 1914 at the Melbourne Showgrounds. Ern is in the back row, second from the right. Compare this with a very similar photo on this page.
In 1907 Ernest Latchford was an enthusiastic member of the Volunteer militia camped at Lancefield Junction with the 6th Australian Infantry Regiment. In 1910 he applied for a position with the Instructional Staff whose role it was to train the thousands of new Senior Cadets produced under the new system of compulsory military training for boys. By 1914 Ern had arrived at the Area 58B Ascot Vale Senior Cadets as Staff Sergeant Major Ernest Latchford. This series of photos shows Ern's progress from the age of 18 to 28, when he was permitted to join the AIF, and Commissioned as an officer with the 38 Inf Battalion. The photos come to use courtesy of Mark Latchford.Other collections of photos and postcards can be seen here.
