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General => Armed Forces => World War One => Topic started by: curiousgeorge1 on Thursday 15 May 25 21:06 BST (UK)
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I wonder if anyone can tell me how i would go about finding out why the following person was awarded the Military Medal.
I know it was for non commissioned officers. I have his war cards and this extract from the London Gazette. Edition published Tuesday 16th October 1917. I know he was in France, I have the medal.
As you can see he was in the Cameron Highlanders . His first name was Thomas.A
S/14032 Pte. (L./C.) T. Shumacker, Cam..
Highrs. (Glasgow).
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I'm sure someone will correct me if this is wrong, but I believe that there are no official lists of citations for the specific act of bravery which resulted in the award of the Military Medal. The award will be listed in the London Gazette together with the date.
However, you may be able to find the action or incident for which it was awarded in the operational records (war diaries). It would take some time before the award was listed in the Gazette so you may need to search for some months before that date.
Nell
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Thanks for this
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Are you aware that his service record has survived and can be found on FindMyPast (and probably also on Ancestry)? Unfortunately there is no copy of his MM citation among his documents, although there are his signed receipts for it and his other medals, the 14-15 Star, BWM and VM. As LittleNell says your best bet for finding out why he got the MM is search the Battalion war diaries. You will find them at: WO95/1941/1 (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7352796). Fortunately they have been photographed so once your have registered with TNA, you can download them for free.
He enlisted on 27 Oct 1914 at Glasgow. He served in C Company, 7th Battalion Cameron Highlanders. On 27 July 1918 he changed his name to Thomas Alexander McMurray. I think the reason he did this is obvious.
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I think there's fair chance that his award of the MM would have been reported in the newspaper(s) for his home town (Glasgow?), but nothing has shown up in a newspaper search for the whole of the UK on FindMyPast for 'Scumacker' during 1916-17.
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Thanks for these replies. Since posting I have downloaded the diary and to my great surprise found the entry where he was recommended for the MM. Since at this point I was guessing the battalion and potential date I cannot quite believe I have found it. Now to try to make sense of what was going on with the battalion to merit such an award.
Thank you all for your interest and for taking time to reply.
I have searched in the past searched the newspapers to no avail so this is a real find.
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Andy J2022
I knew about the change of name, and the reason. I wonder how you know the date of his name change. I knew he was awarded the medal as Shumacker and his service record was McMurray and so had guessed the approximate date but you seem to have the exact date.
I also fell lucky guessing 7th Battalion given the service number but I wonder if you could tell me how you found that. I couldn't see it on the war record.
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As I mentioned above, his service record is on FindMyPast. This notes his change of name in a Part II order issued by his battalion (see below). There is also a reference to his next of kin, his mother, and a physical description of him from his initial medical exam.
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Many thanks for this. Extremely helpful.
I have his medal index card but not this information nor the one regarding his next of kin.
I have the short service attestation. Is that the one you refer to?
I don't have anything which shows his physical examination or next of kin. I presume this is under the name Shumacker as at the time of enlistment.
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If you got his attestation from FindMyPast, you need to return to that image, then click the arrow on the right of the image to go on to the next page and so on. From memory, there are around a dozen or more pages, which you can also see on the filmstrip at the bottom, many of them blank. Some of these also tell a story, for instance his blank conduct sheets indicate that he managed to stay out of trouble. There are also details of his transfer to the reserve and his final medical report which shows him as fully fit.
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Thank you for this. I obviously only accessed the first page
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Hi,
If he was Gazetted 16th Oct, then according to the schedules in Howard Williamsons book, that generally covers the battles around Ypres between 31st July 1917 - 18th Aug 1917. Along with the War Diaries you should be able to narrow the dates down a little.
I have the same issue with my G Grandad!
Dave
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Hello Dave
My grandfather serving with the 2nd Batt. Coldstream Guards was awarded the Military Medal it was Gazetted 27th October 1916. Looking at your recent post would I be right in saying I would need to be looking at the War Diaries about 3 months prior to it being in the Gazette.
Thanks
Ryhopelad
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Hi Ryhopelad,
Going on my experience, I would say yes 2-3 months.
Unless he was an officer, there's only a small chance he would get a mention but, you can use it to try and narrow the dates down.
Dave
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Hello Dave
My grandfather serving with the 2nd Batt. Coldstream Guards was awarded the Military Medal it was Gazetted 27th October 1916. Looking at your recent post would I be right in saying I would need to be looking at the War Diaries about 3 months prior to it being in the Gazette.
Thanks
Ryhopelad
I would suggest 4 months prior
My Granddad Earned his 20th September 1917 on the Menin Rd East of Ypres - The Divisional Commander signed the Citation Card on 4 October 1917 presumably at his presentation of it In the Field on that day - But it did not get into the London Gazette until Mid January 1918 - 4 months after the Day Earned
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Thank you both for your replies, I realise that there is not much chance of him being mentioned in the War Diaries but at least with a time scale I may be able to pin down where his unit was.
I did send for his records long before they came online, but unfortunately they did not survive.
Thanks again
Ryhopelad