This photo is from the collection of Leeds postman Tom Wheldon (also spelt Weldon) who served in 1/8 Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment during WW1 and was a veteran of the Boer War.
There is nothing on the reverse of this photo to identify the subject of the photo but the badge on his helmet shows that he was a member of the Leeds Police Force and the number "42" appears on his collar with the edge of a third number just visible.
A list of members of the Leeds Police Force who died in WW1 is included in Ewart W Clay's The Leeds Police 1836 - 1974. The list includes only one man with a number beginning 42 - he is PC 428 J H Watkinson.
Further investigation revealed that a Private John Henry Watkinson of 16th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (1st Bradford Pals) died on 3 May 1917 (during the Battle of Arras). It seems very likely that this is a picture of John Henry.
In 1911, John Henry (aged 23) was lodging with Mr and Mrs Kendall in Clyde St, New Wortley. His parents John and Ellen lived in Sheffield with his brothers and sisters. Sadly his younger brother Walter, a Corporal in the 2/4 Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment, service no 201196, was reported wounded and missing on the same day as his brother was assumed killed. The brothers are listed on the Arras Memorial - John Henry in Bay 4 and Walter in Bay 8.
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