Military Medal to 44727 Sapper Donald F. Allen

[Dominion-of-the-North]

Greetings All:

I am trying to ascertain the background to the awarding of the Military Medal to Sapper Donald F. Allen, Gazetted 23 Aug 1916. See: http://www.london-ga...upplements/8359 for the generic (and therefore rather unhelpful) notification. Allen seemingly served in the 17th Sig Coy, R.E. when he won this decoration.

Whenever I see an MM for the summer of 1916, I always wonder if/how it was connected to the Somme offensive. (Can any one confirm or dismiss this assertion?)

If the Gazette Notification does not include a citation for the MM, is there any other route for tracking down the circumstances under which he was awarded the Military Medal? (I should note that, as discussed in

I shall also be trying to see if anything can be gleaned from the relevant War Diary -- if it exists. Of course, I will also do the basic "Ancestry.com" searches.)

FYI, Donald Frederick Allen was born in June 1896, and enlisted in the Royal Engineers in September 1914. He first went to France on 12 July 1915, where he won the M.M. and (by all accounts) remained employed in France until the War’s end. In September 1921, he transferred to the Royal Air Force as a Clerk, eventually rising to the rank of Wing Commander in the Accountant Branch, being awarded the OBE for his work in Ceylon during WWII (which, given my interests, is what piqued my desire to learn more about him).

As always, any thoughts or suggestions greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

and thanks,

Glen,

In Our Dominion of the North

[sotonmate]

Glen

17 Divisional Signal Company War Diary for the period you seek is under WO95/1994 in the NA Catalogue.

There is also usually a 3 month or so lead in time from award of MM to it being published in the LG,so may not be Somme Offensive related.

Sotonmate

[Dominion-of-the-North]

Glen

17 Divisional Signal Company War Diary for the period you seek is under WO95/1994 in the NA Catalogue.

There is also usually a 3 month or so lead in time from award of MM to it being published in the LG,so may not be Somme Offensive related.

Sotonmate

Thanks very much Sotonmate. I appreciate this.

Cheers,

Glen

[aglastonbury]

Glen,

3-4 months is considered a general rule of thumb from action to gazette but could be quicker or a lot longer.

Citations are not usually given with the MM. However doing MM research in my own family tree, the Regimental Museum had some but not a lot. War diaries & local papers are your best bet,

Alex