3 Brothers' Medals

[Bill Alexander]

Very interesting lot of medals on ebay. How often does one come across three brothers' medals in one spot?

Is the story about the change in naming valid? I have not heard of the army turning down an enlistee because he was the last male in the family to enlist/serve.

(I have no connection to the seller.)

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Very interesting lot of medals on ebay. How often does one come across three brothers' medals in one spot?

Is the story about the change in naming valid? I have not heard of the army turning down an enlistee because he was the last male in the family to enlist/serve.

I do believe I have heard of this before,though rather as a reason for Not having enlisted as opposed to a reason for enlisting,But only in the Commonwealth/Empire;Indeed great play in the Press was made in the UK concerning the enlistment of 4,5 6 & 7 Brothers into the Services;If he wanted to enlist with an Alias it would have been easier to use a completely different name or go to the nex town where he would have been Anonymous~Much more likely & logical to have been a Roll Compilers Error~A bit of "Family Legend" by the sound of things,Usually the reason for a Different name would be one of parentage;I have the three groups of Brothers from Yaxley~Peterborough,Two with the surname "Houseden",Both KiA[7th Northamptonshire Regt; & 4th RWF]The third,the Elder Brother Surname"Colbert";Royal Fusiliers;Who sadly died Post 1918 from Consumption,who was born before the other Brothers,in what was known @ the time as "Out of WedlocK",hence his different Surname.

[Terry]

Hi Bill,

I had just looked at the groups on ebay. Note that one fellow was a 1914 casualty and the 44th Bn fellow was KIA 11 April,1917, obviously during the Vimy Ridge operation. Oddly the Wigney CEF Honour Roll lists the 44th Bn guy but not the R.Sc.Fus. guy. Ted is a very thorough researcher; I am wondering if this group might be a bit questionable; perhaps someone was a collector of medals with that surname.

Running across three groups to brothers is certainly uncommon. Years ago I traded some baseball cards to a fellow for three pairs to brothers from my area. Two were 5th CMR; the other was CFA. One 5CMR fellow was KIA, the other WIA. A year or so later by amazing coincidence I came across the KIA's memorial cross at a militaria show.

[Bill Alexander]

Hi Terry,

Ted Wigney's book only covers "Canadian" casualties, eg CEF, and as such would not include the Royal Scots Fus fellow?

I have had a couple of instances where brothers had immigrated to Canada and joined the CEF and had siblings in the UK serve in the imperial forces as well. (Not in my accumulation of medals, but in research that I have done.)

[Terry]

I thought the same thing, but I looked and found lots of casualties to British units. Some were CEF types who ended up with commissions in British units, but there were also lots of 1914 KIA's, junior ranks in BEF outfits. These were men who had some Canadian link (birth, home, whatever). For example, on page 22, check out the entry for 20765 Pte. Richard George Ashton, 2/Yorks & Lancs Regt., KIA 29 Oct.,1915 (from North Bay,Ont.); or from page 42, 9080 Ptel. William Baxter, 2/KOSB, KIA 18 Oct.,1914.

It seems that Wigney's book, although it it titles "The CEF Roll of Honour", actually lists all Canadian fatalities, including RCN, wetc.

[Bill Alexander]

Terry, I understand that the Book of Remembrance lists casualties that had some sort of Canadian connection. Ted used the Books as his starting point. However, did the family of the casualty have to make a case for the name to be included? Some of the names seemed to have tenuous connections to Canada at best, but without getting into the personnel records of each and every one of these casualties there is some speculation as to the reason for their inclusion in the Books of Remembrance.

[Terry]

Bill,

I agree... some of the links are a tad shaky. Its like the old argument about who is a Canadian VC (or Aussie, or US,etc.) I have commented before about the fact that two American-born VC's actually came to Canada as infants and returned to spend the rest of their lives here, but are still listed on the VC website as US VC's.

Of course we were and are a nation of immigrants, so I have the feeling that a lot of the 1914 BEF casualties shown in Ted's book were recent arrivals to Canada who had hurried back to join the colours. There may also have been Canadian-born individuals who saw a better future in the British military than the tiny Canadian army. I have heard that there were considerably more Canadian pilots in the RAF in the 30's than there were in the RCAF.

That being said, Ted's book is undoubtedly one the the most important books in my library, and I refer to it constantly.

[Bill Alexander]

Agreed Terry. Ted's book on the CEF casualties is a key reference for the Canadian effort in WW1. I wish a similar one existed for the Canadian army in WW2, which is another of my interests.

Your other point about the"nationality" of award winners raises a corollary. How many non-Canadians that joined the CEF, but went to another force are claimed to be Canadian award recipients? I know several British officers were seconded to the CEF, and won honours with the CEF but returned to the imperial forces.