Mentioned in Despatches

[Lyffe]

Apologies if this is the wrong forum to ask this question, but I'm researching a Captain C J P Cave of the Meteorological Section, Royal Engineers, who is recorded in the 1952 Edition of Burke's Landed Gentry as being Mentioned in Despatches for his WW1 service. I'd like to find the year in which the MiD was recorded, but I've been unable to find his service details in the National Archives. Nor does the 'award' appear in the London Gazette.

Awards (across the whole range) to RFC personnel were often reported in the aviation magazine 'Flight', and I'm wondering if there contempory magazines for other parts of the Army. I appreciate that within the Army as a whole the RFC was relatively small, and it was probably not possible to record all awards, especially minor ones, for other units, but if anyone could offer some advice on a way forward it would be much appreciated.

Brian

[nhclark]

but if anyone could offer some advice on a way forward it would be much appreciated.

Brian

Brian,

There's an interesting obituary in The Times 20th December 1950, where his work is mentioned. Unfortunately no dates are mentioned except 1915, when he was commissioned in the Royal Engineers. Elsewhere in The Times this commission was reported on 14th July 1915.

His medal card gives a few more dates. It seems that he was in France with the Royal Engineers for less than one month. He had earlier service with the British Red Cross Society as a volunteer driver. There's no mention on the card of an MiD. I wonder whether that's a furphy? Like you, I can find no mention of an MiD in either the Gazette or The Times. Interestingly, there's no mention in his obits. of his service with the British Red Cross either - I wonder why? However, there is independent confirmation of some service with the Red Cross here (use CTRL/F "Cave" to find him): http://www.archive.org/stream/fordauntless...00biny_djvu.txt

He was pretty well off in the end - he left over 200,000GBP!!

Here's the medal card:

Noel

[nhclark]

Here's an image from the book "Dauntless France" showing Cave's name.

From http://www.archive.org/details/fordauntlessfran00biny

Noel

[Lyffe]

Thank you very much Noel - both the Medal Card and 'For Dauntless France' are new to me and very helpful. His grandson has no knowledge of an MiD, but that didn't surprise me greatly given the passage of time and the fact it's not really something that one tends to discuss.

The obituary is interesting for what it doesn't say - and the fact that some of what is recounted is wrong - but that's really the reason one researches these things.

Apart from recording that Cave went to France during the summer of 1915 the obituary ignores all his other wartime service. He was commissioned on 18 June 1915 (LG 13 July) and was actually in France less than a month. When he returned to the UK, it wasn't to train recruits but to become meteorologist-in-charge of the meteorological office at the Royal Aircraft Factory at South Farnborough - a post he held for nearly 2 years. During that time he initiated research into the tracking of thunderstorms by radio-detection finding - the credit for which is always erroneously given to Sir Robert Watson-Watt.

In Jan 1918 he became the first OC of the newly created Met Section R.E. (Home), based at its HQ at RFC/RAF Stonehenge; he resigned his commission in Feb 1919.

My thinking is that if he was MiD it was because of this last year's work, the only period of his Army career (other than three weeks in France in 1915) that he served under a senior officer and was actively involved in military matters.

As an aside he was considered a 'gentleman of leisure' and when he went to France as a voluntary driver for the British Red Cross he took his own Rolls Royce for use as an ambulance - or at least some form of medical transport!

Looks like I shall have to gracefully admit defeat, but thank you again.

Brian

[SteveE]

I've been unable to find his service details in the National Archives.

Brian

His file is held at the NA under reference WO339/108212 CAVE C [1914-1922].

The index to Officer's long number papers records him as Cpt. C. J. P. Cave, R.E.

Regards

Steve

[Lyffe]

Brilliant Steve. When I couldn't find it I assumed it was one of those lost during the fire in WW2. Thank goodness there's someone who knows their way round the system.

Many thanks,

Brian