dottie59 Posted 26 September , 2009 Share Posted 26 September , 2009 I have a photograph here which I believe to be my grandfather William John Laker Bedford Regiment taken in Croydon probably.....year unknown can anyone guess for me please..... William John Laker the man who I believe to be my grandfather, has his hands on his hips, he is wearing one War Medal only..which would fit with my grandfathers information I already have.......anyone any idea of the medal? Silver War Badge would fit nicely.... Thanking you in advance for your help........... I have the picture but cannot upload it, larger than should be, can anyone help me if I e mail it to them please, would be very grateful....... http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab216/d...akercropped.jpg Hope this works.... Thanking you in advance for your help........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pighills Posted 26 September , 2009 Share Posted 26 September , 2009 Dottie, upload your photo to somewhere like Photobucket. This will automatically set it to the correct size for this forum. You can then upload it to this forum using the buttons on the fast reply screen - the one which looks like a postcard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 26 September , 2009 Share Posted 26 September , 2009 dottie I don't think it would be a Silver War Badge on his uniform,that was for wearing on his civvy clothes to show that he had done his bit and been discharged to wounds or sickness,and saved nasty remarks. He did in fact have a SWBadge,for which he seems to have been discharged on Christmas Day 1917 (nice present). His Medal Index Card seems to show only the British War Medal,whereas normally both that and the Victory Medal are issued as a pair,but it might be a case of interpretation as there are no ditto marks to join them together on the Card. I would say that if he was wearing it on his uniform then it wouldn't be a WW1 medal as they didn't get processed for issue until his service was over. Maybe he served before the War began ? He also seems to have had another service number,shown on the back of the Card,287972, which was issued, through the Bedfordshires,to the 1st Battalion Hertfordshire Regt. in the 1917 re-numbering of the Territorial Force. He might have been posted to a Home unit when it was found that he was unfit for further front line duties. Other bits and pieces on the Card,a date which is possible the date he joined the Army, 20.4.1915,and a reference for his discharge,which is Para 392 XVI,which means "no longer fit for further service". If you want to find which Battalion he served in you can trace it through the Medal Card data shown as these letters and numbers: British war Medal(and maybe Victory Medal too):K/2/104A page 9. This can be traced at Kew through to the original Medal Roll, which will show the Battalion. For interest the SWBadge is on K/201/2 which will show the number stamped on the back of the badge,but if you already have that you don't need to know,unless you want to confirm it is his ! Sotonmate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dottie59 Posted 27 September , 2009 Author Share Posted 27 September , 2009 http://i865.photobucket.com/albums/ab216/d...akercropped.jpg I hope this works, even an approx year would help me.. Thank you so much Kim for introducing me to the delights of PhotoBucket ......... Sotonmate -Yes have most of detail you entered already, thanks to Steve Fuller and Nigel Lutt of the Bedfordshire Musuem, but the piece of information I didn't have was the other Service Number 287972, a big thank you for this....... If I learn anymore I'll post back here to let you know, thank you both very much for your time, assistance and knowledge..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dottie59 Posted 4 October , 2009 Author Share Posted 4 October , 2009 Can anyone help me please. I have searched through my Surrey Recruitment Registers CD for my grandfather William John Laker Private 23961 Bedfordshire Regiment , and only found a J. Laker 18 years old 22nd Training Reserve Battalion, ( to young,) although I know for definite he enlisted on the 20th April 1915 in the Infantry, at age 46, discharged 1917 25th December. As far as I am aware William was residing either in Croydon or Caterham at the time..... thank you for your time and expertise... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveE Posted 4 October , 2009 Share Posted 4 October , 2009 William John Laker the man who I believe to be my grandfather, has his hands on his hips, he is wearing one War Medal only..which would fit with my grandfathers information I already have.......anyone any idea of the medal? Silver War Badge would fit nicely.... dottie My twopenneth for what it's worth but I don't believe that medal is Great War era. With the exception of the 1914 Star, which this obviously isn't, none of the Great War medals were issued with clasps, the one in the picture appears to have at least two. As it appears to have a couple of clasps and a straight suspender for the medal it suggests, to me at least, that it might be the Queen's South Africa Medal for the 2nd Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902. I only suggest it 'might be' that medal because the ribbon doesn't look quite 'right' but I can't think of any others that it could realistically be, perhaps an expert on medals will be able to help. Regards Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dottie59 Posted 5 October , 2009 Author Share Posted 5 October , 2009 thanks Steve, every little bit of information helps..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted 5 October , 2009 Share Posted 5 October , 2009 Agree with Steve, not WW1, and not a South African Ribbon. The dark centre stripe and what appears to be a shield on the Obverse, I would say it is the British North Borneo Company medal, 1899-1900. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 5 October , 2009 Share Posted 5 October , 2009 The other possibility is the India General Service medal 1895. Clasps were issued in the late 1890s for the Chitral, Malakand, Tirah and Waziristan campaigns. See: http://www.northeastmedals.co.uk/britishgu...service1895.htm Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveE Posted 6 October , 2009 Share Posted 6 October , 2009 The dark centre stripe and what appears to be a shield on the Obverse, I would say it is the British North Borneo Company medal, 1899-1900. The other possibility is the India General Service medal 1895. Clasps were issued in the late 1890s for the Chitral, Malakand, Tirah and Waziristan campaigns. From what I can see on the photograph I'd be inclined to lean towards Alan's suggestion as the greater probability. Although the ribbon looks as if it's a possible, the suspender bar appears straight which is why I'd originally ruled out the IGSM. Regards Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dottie59 Posted 7 October , 2009 Author Share Posted 7 October , 2009 Thank you to everyone who has contributed with information, I am very grateful and will try and find out what I can Where would we be without you....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now