DCM Citations - London Gazette

[Paul Byrne]

Help required please.

4633 Sgt H J PAPWORTH, 15 Hussars was awarded the DCM following his part in rearguard action at Etreux on 27 August, 1914. The award was gazetted , supposedly, on 17 December, 1914. I once read somewhere that if you have the date you can easily find a copy of the citation.

Has anybody ever managed to do this and, if so, can you let me know how to go about doing so.

Thanks in anticipation,

Paul Byrne

[Chris_Baker]

All DCM awards were announced in the London Gazette, with a citation. These have since been compiled into various publications listing DCM awards.

The London Gazette is online and is searchable, although many members have found the search engine to be rather fickle. You need to persevere. There have been some very useful discussions about this on the forum. If you search you will find them. www.gazettes-online.co.uk

Alternatively, there is a complete set of the London Gazette at the National Archives in Kew.

[Andrew Hesketh]

In "Officers and men of the Naval and Military Forces of Great Britain and the Empire Mentioned in Despatches with Related Honours and Awards 1914-15", Sgt Papworth is listed as one of 18 men of the 15th Hussars mentioned in Sir. John French'd despatch of October 8 1914.

The London Gazette page you need is here. (You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader as it's a .pdf file)

Citation:

For bravery and coolness in handling his troop near Bergues on 27th August, and in supporting a company of the Royal Munater Fusiliers, whom he assisted to rally after their heavy losses, thereby enabling them to get into cover.