26th March 1917, Pt John Frederick Jones, 23, Royal Welch Fusiliers 7th Bn

[Lloydy]

My Great Uncle, John Frederick Jones, was born 28th June 1894 in Llanidloes, Montgomeryshire, the eldest of 7 children, son of Thomas and Jane Jones of 39 Smithfield Street.

He was killed in action in the Battle of Gaza, Egypt on 26th March 1917 and his name is inscribed on a memorial panel in Jerusalem Memorial.

Last night I re-subscribed to Find My Past and downloaded his service papers.....What a find!!
I found it quite sad to read the entries "Missing" and "Death accepted for official purposes".

He was awarded 2 medals, Victory & 15 Star.  I have the 15 star, still in it's original box, and it is something that I treasure.

[km1971]

He would also had been awarded the British War Medal. You could not win the Victory Medal on its own. There will be ditto marks against the BWM.

The 1914-15 star was issued about 12-18 months before the other two. The BWM was one ounce of silver and was often pawned or sold in the 1930s if times were hard.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/medal-index-cards-ww1.htm

His earlier 716 number shows that he joined the Territorial battalion pre WW1 when they were part-timers.

Ken

[Lloydy]

Thank you for your very interesting reply.

I should have mentioned that I do have his medal card - copy attached -  and did see the ditto's but it didn't cross my mind that they meant anything.

I have no idea where his other medals went but, like you say, were probably sold as Freddie's family were poor.  I'd love to find them.

I intend to hold on to his 14-15 star medal 

[km1971]

Medals were often split when someone died with two relatives wanting something to remember their lost brother etc by. You could look for who was living in the family home when his last parent died. or who cleared out the house. His memorial plaque is also missing.

His sixth digit number shows he was in the 7th Battalion and that he was the 81st longest serving member in March 1917 when they were given the six digit numbers. There headquarters was in
Newtown.

Ken

[Lloydy]

Thank you Ken for the information.

Freddie's only relatives left are me, my Dad, my Uncle & my cousin...unfortunately, the other medals must be long gone. I do, however, have a feeling I know who would have sold them!  His youngest sister Millicent died in 2000 and she was a bit of a devil with family heirlooms......selling them on without us knowing   However, she did give me an old antique box containing his 14-15 star medal, confirmation books, bible, photos etc so I can't complain.