Tracing Your Great War Ancestors by Simon Fowler

Author:Simon Fowler [Fowler, Simon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REFERENCE / Genealogy & Heraldry
ISBN: 9781473851887
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2015-02-28T05:00:00+00:00

An iconic shot of an Anzac soldier carrying a wounded comrade to a dressing station.

Sue Light has an excellent guide to medical records at www.scarletfinders.co.uk/125.htm.

A dressing station at Suvla Beach. Here men were either treated or made ready for transfer to a hospital ship.

GALLANTRY MEDALS

Gallantry medals were awarded for acts of heroism and bravery on the field of battle. Some medals were awarded immediately for special acts (sometimes referred to as being awarded ‘in the field’), while others – known as non-immediate – might be awarded weeks or months after the act. Inevitably medals were issued on an almost indiscriminate basis: some men who won them probably did not deserve them, while other men’s heroic acts remained unrecognised. Tim Travers cites the example of Private Albert Wilkin of the 7th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, who was bravely defending his position against a rain of Turkish bombs. He courageously threw several bombs back before they could explode, but the fifth one he picked up exploded, blowing him to pieces.

The best known gallantry medal is undoubtedly the Victoria Cross. A register of VC winners can be found in series WO 98 at Kew, together with copies of their citations, and other information is also available online on Discovery. Details of the three dozen VC winners at Gallipoli is given at www.gallipoli-association.org/content/men-of-gallipoli/gallipoli-vc’s. More information about each of the winners and how they won the award is given in Gerald Gliddon, VCs of the First World War: the Side Shows (The History Press, 2014).

The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) was normally awarded only to senior officers, while the Military Cross (MC) was awarded for acts of bravery to officers of the rank of captain or below. The equivalents for non-commissioned officers and other ranks were the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) and Military Medal (MM).

In many cases non-immediate gallantry awards were given out almost randomly to members of a platoon or company who had seen action. Often men were asked to nominate comrades who should be honoured.

If there isn’t a family story about the award of a gallantry medal, or you have the medal itself, there may be a note on the Medal Index Card or, more rarely, in the service record. Details of all gallantry awards were published in the London Gazette, sometimes with a citation (that is, a short description of why the medal was awarded). At the very least you will find the man’s name, service number (not officers), rank, regiment and the date when the award was made. For awards of the Military Medal (MM), this is the only information you are likely to find. If your man was in the Royal Artillery, Findmypast has a list of RA men who won the Military Medal with the date their award was gazetted. Citations for awards of the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) can be found on both Ancestry and Findmypast. They usually duplicate what is in the London Gazette but are certainly easier to use.

If you are lucky, you may be able to work out exactly why the medal was awarded from the war diaries.

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