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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Italian Bronze Medal for Military Valour


NeilEvans

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Thats a breathtaking group of medals, thanks for posting them as a collector having recognition and earning a foreign award makes them doubly fascinating 

 

Regards

Richard

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  • 2 years later...

I've been doing some family tree research and stumbled upon this site. I've already learned so much from other members and it's fascinating. There's one thing I'm struggling to get any information on and that's details surrounding the awarding of the Italian Bronze Medal for Military Valour. The person in question is John Reid who was a Royal Navy Reservist who was called up in World War 1. I know he patrolled in Malta and from some documents I've found on Ancestry, I know he was awarded the Italian Bronze Medal for Military Valour in 1917 but can find no other details. Is there any way I can find out what he did to receive this honour. I'd love to share the information with family. We knew absolutely nothing about this until recently.

Thanks in advance, Cass.

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Hi @Cassiemit and welcome to the forum.

As it's quite a common name it may help if you can give us a service number.

In case others can't come up with anything specifically, you may not to see if you can track down any contemporary local newspapers online. Sites like the Britsh Newspaper Archive, FindMyPast and (I believe) Ancestry offer access on a subscription basis - although if you in the UK most local libraries subscribe to the BNA and either Ancestry or FMP, (and sometimes both), allowing you free access via one of their compiuters.

I know from my own time going through local newspapers at the County Archive that a number of local skippers, crews and their trawlers from ports like Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft worked as netguards and minesweepers on the Taranto barrage and some received the various classes of this reward as a result of their actions during the raids on the barrage by Austrian ships, and also rescuing Italian sailors from sinking ships.

Good luck with your search,

Peter

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Hi Peter, thank you for such a prompt reply. I've been using Find My Past to try and locate news articles or other documents relating to this but no such luck so far.

Your information about local skippers and trawlers working as minesweepers etc is a great lead. John Reid was a trawlerman working in the ports around the north east of Scotland (Fraserburgh, Avoch, Cromarty etc) so this is a likely possibility. That will give me something else to go on.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate you taking the time to reply and giving me some more suggestions. 👍

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Had a quick look at the page from the London Gazette and some of those names rang a bell in connection with the May 1917 raid on the Otranto Barrage.

Cheers,
Peter

 

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14 hours ago, PRC said:

Had a quick look at the page from the London Gazette and some of those names rang a bell in connection with the May 1917 raid on the Otranto Barrage.

There was a John Reid in the trawler Jean who was at the Otranto Barrage episode described in that linked thread and was killed 5 months later when the Jean was sunk. but his number was DA 7650 (Dartmouth). He did not get decorated. His Service Record is here

John Reid who earned the Italian Bronze award was numbered C 2917 (Chatham) and survived the war. His service record is at NatArchives here. He ended up a Petty Officer.

 

The National Archives records are currently free to download if you register. So you need to confirm which one is your John Reid (I presume the latter) then download a copy and start asking questions on this forum to help you decode where he was , on what vessel and when. There are experts lurking.

 

Charlie

Edited by charlie962
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Peter and Charlie, yet again thank you for all of the information and tips you have provided. It has been extremely helpful. It was the latter John Reid mentioned in the previous post and I have just downloaded his record from the National Archives. 

I still can't find exactly what he did to earn the award but given the location of some of his service and the fact he was the skipper of a trawler, I think the Otranto Barrage is looking very likely.

Many thanks!

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3 hours ago, Cassiemit said:

and the fact he was the skipper of a trawler, I think the Otranto Barrage is looking very likely.

He was not a Skipper at the time of his award. I think you are off course.

Very faint on his service record but it suggests he was 'saved?' from the barque Consul N Neilson. There is a fascinating story about this barque 28th May 1917 when she was twice stopped by German Submarines. An armed Naval guard had been put on board to divert her from Copenhagen to Stornway with her cargo of linseed. Could it be his part in this work?

I don't think he went to Malta until 1918.

@horatio2 is good on this sort of thing.

Charlie

 

EDIT-  Lt Joseph Millar Kelly, who wrote the report I linked and who commanded the Naval guard, was also awarded the Italian Bronze Medal in the same Gazette as Reid. So it probably relates to this event.

In fact that Gazette entry for Kelly is under a heading: Batch Gazette 17th November 1917 (C.W.74247). "Virginian". Danish barque "Consul N. Neilson".  source 

ADM/172 Book/Page No  172/089  (as per my source, FindmyPast)
Edited by charlie962
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Hi Charlie, firstly thanks for the correction on my use of 'skipper'. He was a civillian skipper of a fishing trawler in his later years so I think that's where my confusion arose.

Secondly, I am extremely grateful for your interpretation of the wording on his naval record. Like you, I found it very faint and difficult to read in parts. Clearly, your knowledge in this field has helped you decipher some of the information I found it impossible to understand. 

This extra information is fascinating and will give me lots more to explore. Thank you very much for your assistance. It is appreciated.

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