Private John Malcolm, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders

[wellside1911]

John Malcolm was my grand father. The family knew he'd served in the army before and during WW1, but he said very little of his experiences. I've now done a little research and found his Discharge Documents.

He joined the 1st Battalion Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders on 5/1/1905, claiming to be 18 years old rather than the true 16 years. Pre WW1 he served in the UK, Malta and India. The 1st Argyll's were shipped home to the UK at the outbreak of WW1 and he spent Dec 1914 to Nov 1915 in France before the Battalion were sent to Salonika, disembarking 13/12/1915. He spent the rest of WWI in that theatre, eventually embarking for the UK on 20/11/1918. He remained at the rank of Private throughout, with the Regimental No. 9603, and was discharged 19/2/1919 under "Para 392 (XVIA)".

All of the above is taken from his discharge papers. These also detail his service record - including the timings of his increasingly frequent stays in hospitals/field ambulances (mainly malaria), and a couple of spells in the guard house (hence a career Private?!). These papers contain a volume of notations which mean little to me, but may reveal more details to an experienced reader.

The papers (specifically an Army Form B 103 - Casualty Form Active Service) contain a couple of consecutive entries of specific interest. The page covering 1915 to very early 1917 has him as a member of D Company of the 1st Battalion Argyll's. There's an undated entry which states "GHO [under the column "report received from"], Awarded the Serbian Gold Medal, List of Awards no 216 d/20.10.16". The next entry is dated 3/1/17 and reads "to Gazette [under "report received from"], mentioned in General Milne's Despatch dated 8/10/16 for services in the field, in the field [under "place"], and 8.10.16 [under "date"]".

I have tracked down the 8th Oct Despatch as published in the London Gazette on Wed 6 Dec 1916. My grandfather is indeed mentioned, albeit with no details other than the entry Malcolm, No 9603, Pte. J. within a long listing of very largely officers being recognised by General Milne.

Questions

- is it right to assume that the mention in Despatches and award of the Serbian Gold Medal probably relate to some "act of valour", something that he's done above and beyond?

- how can I go about tracing what his act of valour actually entailed?

All suggestions and information welcomed, and let me know if any key information is missing from my above summary.

Thanks.

Jim Smith

[alf mcm]

Hello Jim,

Welcome to the Forum. You may find that your Grandfather is mentioned in local newspapers of the time, due to his awards. You may sometimes find a photograph as well.

Regards,

Alf McM

[ForeignGong]

Hi Jim

Welcome to the Forum.

The Gold Medal that John Malcolm was awarded was the Gold Medal of Zeal, usually awarded for circumstances similar to the MSM. In other words going that extra mile, not necessarily for valour, which the Medal of Valour was used, Gold 55 & Silver 45.

Johns Gold Medal of Zeal is one of approx 179 awarded to Commonwealth troops for WW1 & was gazetted 13 Feb 1917.

So once again I say, this is a RARE award for WW1.

If you require photos please let me know.

Peter

[wellside1911]

Hello Jim,

Welcome to the Forum. You may find that your Grandfather is mentioned in local newspapers of the time, due to his awards. You may sometimes find a photograph as well.

Regards,

Alf McM

Alf - thanks for the suggestion re local newspapers - it's now on my "to do" list and I'll follow this up.

Jim

[wellside1911]

Hi Jim

Welcome to the Forum.

The Gold Medal that John Malcolm was awarded was the Gold Medal of Zeal, usually awarded for circumstances similar to the MSM. In other words going that extra mile, not necessarily for valour, which the Medal of Valour was used, Gold 55 & Silver 45.

Johns Gold Medal of Zeal is one of approx 179 awarded to Commonwealth troops for WW1 & was gazetted 13 Feb 1917.

So once again I say, this is a RARE award for WW1.

If you require photos please let me know.

Peter

Peter - thanks for your response. A photo would be much appreciated.

In the meantime I've found the listing in the 15 Feb Gazette - thanks for flagging it. Finally (and please excuse my ignorance) you mentioned "MSM" - what's this?

Regards.

Jim

[ForeignGong]

WW1 MSM is Meritorious Service Medal it was awarded for extra ordinary service not in the face of the enemy & sometimes for bravery not in the face of the enemy. Also given for extra long service. Usually given to non combatant troops for going to great lengths to ensure that the forward troops got every thing they needed.

Try this for photo

http://www.jkmilitaria.com/Ser/Ser-29.JPG

Peter