Do you know the background on the picture? Did he serve in one of the Scot units during the war?
Rathbone served with the Liverpool Scottish Regiment during the First World War. The Liverpools are a Territorial unit (much like the American National Guard), and were recruited from Scots living in Liverpool -- there were also Scottish & Irish units from London and Tyneside.

During his service, Rathbone won the Military Cross.

http://www.liverpoolscottish.org.uk/erquinghem1.htm

http://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk/Me...l_Rathbone.htm

This web site has a story from his service:

Rathbone served Great Britain as a captain, an intelligence officer, with the Liverpool Scottish, second battalion in World War I, and his younger brother John died in that war. In an interview with Edward R. Murrow in 1957, Rathbone related the story of how he disguised himself as a tree to get near the enemy camp to obtain information. "I went to my commanding officer and I said that I thought we'd get a great deal more information from the enemy if we didn't fool around in the dark so much . . . and I asked him whether I could go out in daylight. I think he thought we were a little crazy. . . . I said we'd go out camouflaged -- made up as trees -- with branches sticking out of our heads and arms . . . . We brought back an awful lot of information, and a few prisoners, too." Basil Rathbone received the British Military Cross for outstanding bravery. (Click here to read his citation from the London Gazette.) Rathbone's service to Britain and his brother's sacrifice contributed to his decision later on in his life to remain a British subject even though he had been living in the United States for many years.

-- http://www.basilrathbone.net/biography/
Cheers,

Todd

ps: apologies to Hank for "stealing" his post!