Military

I don't know anything about the photo, although I am willing to make some comments to help further research. First comment, regarding the inscription and considering the date is *circa* 1914, I would suggest the possibility the unit is not the 189th but the 139th - depending on the handwriting the two numbers could easily be confused. IF it is the 139th, and considering the date associated with the image is given as June 4th, the year is most likely 1916 as the 139th was authorized 22 December 1915, sailed to England in September 1916, and was disbanded 21 May 1917. Second comment, the drums in the foreground at right appear to be stacked for a 'drumhead service' where they are typically used in place of an altar. While today this is perhaps most commonly associated with the consecration of colours, it could easily be a Sunday service (as it happens 4 June 1916 was a Sunday)

Apologies if this is a duplicate - I started working on a comment earlier, but can't remember if I submitted it or not. As the image is at Cobourg, I would suspect the unit given in the inscription transcribed here as "Sergt. [W]uger, 189th -----att,Barr[s]f--d" should read "139th" which further suggests a date of 1916 (the 139th was recruited about November 1915, and authorized in December of that year, was in Valcartier by August 1916 and shipped out to England in September 1916 before being disbanded in early 1917.) The stack of drums visible to the right suggests this is some sort of religious ceremony (a so-called Drumhead Service) - given 4 June 1916 was a Sunday it could just be an ordinary church service, or it could be a more significant event such as the consecration of the units colours. Given the pictured audience in attendance I would expect a mention of the event would be found in the newspapers of the time. No person with a surname of [W]uger, or anything obviously similar is found in the nominal rolls of either the 139th or the 189th... it would be helpful if a scan of the inscription was also availabl. As the war diaries of the 139th do not appear to be available it is difficult to decipher the transcribed "-----att,Barr[s]f--d", but it seems likely to be the location the individual was stationed at the time.. if the name could be deciphered the individuals Record of Service might provide additional clues.

One additional comment.... The entry for the 139th Battalion in the LAC Guide to Sources Relating to Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force states "Colours presented by the citizens of Cobourg on 27 May 1916" I strongly suspect that is what this picture shows and that the individual's reckoning of the date (4 June) was simply off by a week.