Military Medal recipients

[Stephen Nulty]

As a general rule, LG citations for the MM were published some three months after the date of the action for which they were awarded, though this could be longer at "busy" periods.

[colfi]

Hi All
I am new to your forum and I have read the posts above and find a lot of assumptions and incorrect info in them.

My father was awarded the MM and also the bar (second award) in 1914 in the retreat from Mons he was Mentioned in Despatches, in July 1916 he was awarded the MM, backdated to 1914. He was then awarded the Bar to the medal in September 1916, he was a member of the RFA both times. As far as his 'Citation' goes, this was usually given to the recipient at the time the medal was given, copies were rarely kept (Kew Records Office)  In my father's case the M.I.D is mentioned in Sir John French's book of Despatches, printed in 1919, which I, luckily have a copy, however, there is no record in the battery, Brigade or Battalion diaries of his awards.

My last avenue to find details of why he was issued the Bar is the Artillary Museum at Woolwich London who have two  27th Brigade Diaries for the period 1914 to 1917, there might just be a mention there.

And, the MM was never issued to Officers and only rarely to Warrant Officers, as implied by a post early in this thread.

The MM and rations comment should be taken like the rations, with a pinch of salt, if you read the M.I.D despatch of my father's he had rifle fire at 100 yards and MG fire at 200 yards whilst he and another Driver hauled the gun out of it's trench and got it back to the retreated lines in good order. The Battery Officer and other men had long retreated with the breech block some time before, so they really were issued for Bravery In the Field.

If anyone wants a copy of a Despatch during the Aug 1914 to Nov 1916 period, email me and I will gladly supply it, they make for interesting reading, just supply the approximate date and the name please. colfi1@bigpond.com

keep well all.

Col

[v i c k y]

This has been an interesting discussion.

Just want to throw in first that I am in awe of the brave men named in the given examples above who were awarded the MM for their incredible courage. A medal for what they did and what they gave really isn't nearly enough.

I'm trying to find details of my great-grandfather's MM. I've seen the announcement in the Gazette and have been fruitlessly searching the British Newspaper Archive [http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk] for a mention in a local newspaper.

I have his medal card and the MM is not included there, so I'm at a loss. I don't know which battalion he was in, so going through the regimental diaries is obviously taking an age.

Can anyone please advise me? His name, should anyone reading this have an interest in the regiment, was Cpl George Charles Dwan of The Queen's (Royal West Surrey), Reg No G/5805. Gazetted 06-07-1917 (Issue 30172, Page 21).

The unusual name is often misspelled, which makes things even more fun.

Kind thanks in advance,
Vicky

[jess5athome]

Hi Vicky, I can fully sympathise with you regarding your search, my OH grandfather was awarded the MM while serving with the Machine Gun Corps, one of the problems is that the citations were never published for MM awards unlike the Military Cross.
However if you have his medal index card there will be a reference on it to the Medal Roll which could be searchable at the National Archives, this may well show his Military Medal and also the battalion in which he served, that would give you a little extra information.
I only know this because that is how I found the mention of "our" Military Medal as that was not mentioned on the Medal index card also.
Regards always,
Frank.

[colfi]

Hi Vicky
Like you, my Father's MM, his first award of the MM, was mentioned in the Edinburgh gazette in 3 Oct 1916, not the London gazette, yet the London gazette of 27 Oct 1916 and the Kew Records Office had recorded an award of the MM. I always assumed the two mentions were for the one award.( the bar is missing from his MM) However, it was much, much later I found the first award (Edinburg gazette) was a backdated award to 1914, given at the retreat from Mons, this one was gazetted but not on the Medals records cards. His second award was at the Somme and gazetted in the London Gazette and is on the medal cards at Kew Records Office, The cards show a small 'mm' to one side of the medals awarded and there is a seperate set of cards for the MMs. Maybe he was a backdated award, who knows??

[v i c k y]

Thanks, Frank. That must have been a nice surprise for you!

It could well be a backdated awarded, Col - thanks for that. I think I'll be trawling through the regiment's war diaries for some time yet!

I have requested a quotation from the National Archives, as the medal card shows the roll/page reference alongside the Victory and British medals. I'm not able to get to Kew to see for myself just yet, unfortunately.

Annoyingly, there's nothing listed on the medal card for "Theatre of War first served in" or "Date of entry therein", either.

You'd think the frequently misspelled name - Dwan - would be enough of a challenge for me, but no...

What I do know for sure is that he lost a finger at some point and was a "Disciplinarian" in the RAF from January 1918. So I'm working on the theory that the loss of his finger might have been due to whatever action he earned his MM for, and that this injury meant a switch to a new role.

[colfi]

Hi Vicky

His Regimental number should direct you straight to him, if you have the medals or an index card copy it's on there, also try the RAF diaries after April 1918 ( when the RAF was officially formed), it may have been a late war award. you can also try his battalion Musuem, (if they have one) most Regiments do, the museums keep a lot of the war diaries in their libraries. That is how I found the information that I needed. Good luck either way. and the librarians only ask for a donation not an arm and a leg fee.

Col

[v i c k y]

Ah, I found his MM card. His name had been misspelled.

Finally, it shows his battalion, so I'm really pleased about that. £3.36 well spent.

There is a Registered Paper and Schedule Number given, andI read that these probably relate to citation documents, but none seem to have been preserved. What a shame.

I have requested two quotations from the National Archives to digitise and make records available for download. One came back at £2.80, so that's not so bad. Just waiting on the other.

[colfi]

Hi Vicky

I have the same problems with my Father's citation(s) He was a Driver in the RFA (Royal Field Artillary) Thankfully, their records were mostly stored out of London during WW2 so the blitz didn't burn them.

The Artillary Museum at Woolwich, London have the Battalion and Brigades diaries for 1914 to 1917, I am hoping to find some mention of his Citations in them when I visit London in June, hopefully the rain will be gone by then. I am in Tasmania Australia, so all my research has to be done at a distance.

Keep searching, you may get lucky.

Col