Hand-coloured photograph of Colour Sergeant William Pocock standing facing forwards with both hands resting on his rifle. He is wearing military uniform with a bearskin and has a sword by his side.

Colour Sergeant William Pocock served with the Grenadier Guards during the Crimean War. Throughout the war Queen Victoria had taken an active interest in the welfare of the troops and on their return from the Crimea she met a number of the veterans at Buckingham Palace, Chatham Military Hospital and Aldershot Garrison. Following these meetings she commissioned a series of photographs of the veterans from the photographers Joseph Cundall and Robert Howlett.