Chats1 Posted 22 November , 2011 Share Posted 22 November , 2011 Hello there! I'm a bit confused about the service and medal record of my Great Grandfather, 2nd Lt Leslie Jackson Dewson of the London Regiment. he was born in 1900 and we have his officer journal which shows that he was sent to France in late September 1918 (he even has a Christmas menu in French, presumably Christmas 1918, which his fellow officers have signed, plus the notes on lewis gun training and various other documents), we have a record of his promotion to 2nd Lt from the website of the London Gazette, but can find no record at all of his medal card or service records. His brothers are all there and I presuming as he served in France before the end of the war that he would be eligible for the Great War Medal and Victory medal but we do not have them, my Gran has no memory of them and we can't find any record of them. We do rather tantalizingly have the ribbons of the Great War and Victory medals which were found in my Great Aunt's sewing box, but without any proof that they were his! Does anyone have any idea as to why this record would be missing from the archives and can anyone let me know what reason there might be as to why he wouldn't get a medal for his service. If anyone can let me any information at all that would be amazing - it would be great to let my Gran know! Thanks, Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave ricketts Posted 22 November , 2011 Share Posted 22 November , 2011 Andrew, It might be that if there is no Medal Index Card, then he didn't apply for the Medals for which he was eligible. ORs' medals were issued as a matter of course, but Officers had to apply for them. Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveE Posted 22 November , 2011 Share Posted 22 November , 2011 His Personnel file is held at NA, Kew. It's not available online and needs to be viewed at Kew. WO 374/19488 DEWSON, Lieut L J 1918-1920; 1939 Regards Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chats1 Posted 22 November , 2011 Author Share Posted 22 November , 2011 Thanks for the reply guys - really helpful. Steve is there any reason why his personal file wouldn't be online? I'm just up the road from Kew so can drop in - be interesting to see what it says! Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveE Posted 22 November , 2011 Share Posted 22 November , 2011 The service records that are online are basically those of the "other ranks", no officers. The officers' files haven't (as far as I'm aware) been digitised yet by the NA, Ancestry or FindmyPast but I'm sure they will be one day, until that day comes then the only way to view them is a trip to Kew. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chats1 Posted 22 November , 2011 Author Share Posted 22 November , 2011 Okay thanks Steve. I'm presuming that the personnel file will include his medal log if he has one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveE Posted 22 November , 2011 Share Posted 22 November , 2011 I very much doubt it. The personnel files are, in essence, correspondence files and whilst many of them make interesting reading and contain real gems of information others do not. Many have been heavily weeded and contain little relevant information, it's all a bit hit or miss as to what each file will contain. If no Medal Index Card has surfaced on either the NA website or Ancestry then there is the distinct possibility, as Dave has already stated, that your Great Grandfather never applied for medals he may have been entitled to. Regards Steve 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