Hello Rob,
Everything in the photograph was also worn, used and carried in the Great War at home, moreover, when a person is applying for a pension, as this man did, I would expect to see a full service history, which would be to his lasting benefit, in particular, when you take into to account his discharge becomes necessary, because of a prior injury, if he had served before, it, along with campaign and medal details would normally be shown, as would the use of any alias.
Regards Frank
robccc wrote: Hi Frank, apologies for the late response.
According to his descendants he served in both the ABW and WW1 (the latter of which has been proven). My first post in this thread shows a photo of young William Joseph ZANNETTI taken around 1899 wearing a uniform of that period.
I don't think that the name he used on enlistment may have been intentionally used to defraud the army. He was born out of wedlock so it may have been that he used his mother's maiden name(GUNNER)in his early years until his parents married later in his childhood.
Four of my grandfather's brothers served on the Western front during WW1. Their real family name was MASTROCOLA but they all enlisted using the family name Di ROSA which (for reason's I have never discovered) was a business name that their father traded under. It is only on 1918 records that their real family name begins to appear on records (list of absentee voters, medal rolls). The use of an alias at the time of recruitment did not appaer to have had any adverse impact for any of them.
