Guest Posted 16 November , 2020 Share Posted 16 November , 2020 My Great Uncle Henry Stanley Boyd from Lisburn, Northern Ireland fought with the RACD. Only came to light while looking through my Grannys photographs who had pictures of him in Russia and the trenches in Romania. https://photos.app.goo.gl/tR8eN3uYXDMLQDjP7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 16 November , 2020 Share Posted 16 November , 2020 James, your Gt.Uncle is mentioned by name here ... http://www.reservesandcadetsni.org.uk/sitefiles/resources/pdfs/bravereport17russianacd.pdf MB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 16 November , 2020 Share Posted 16 November , 2020 My Great Uncle Henry Stanley Boyd from Lisburn, Northern Ireland fought with the RACD. Only came to light while looking through my Grannys photographs who had pictures of him in Russia and the trenches in Romania. https://photos.app.goo.gl/tR8eN3uYXDMLQDjP7 Thanks, had located and read the report. Some adventure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 21 November , 2020 Share Posted 21 November , 2020 Can anyone help. I'm trying to find information on William Richard David who was in Russia. In his son Dennis 'Hurricane' David's autobiography he mentions that his father got a Russian medal for bravery. Can anyone concur and if so tell me which medal? Many thanks, Sarah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 21 November , 2020 Share Posted 21 November , 2020 His medals are listed here - https://sites.rootsweb.com/~pbtyc/RNACD/RNACD_Russian_Awards1.html His RNAS ldger record of service is here - https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6808004 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 21 November , 2020 Share Posted 21 November , 2020 His two WW1 medals are here;- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 21 November , 2020 Share Posted 21 November , 2020 Here is the original medal roll for Russia:- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 21 November , 2020 Share Posted 21 November , 2020 Silver Breast Medal:- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toontraveller Posted 16 February , 2021 Share Posted 16 February , 2021 Hi, good afternoon. I am currently researching Metropolitan Police Officers who served in World War One . I was hoping some members of the forum who are knowledgeable in relation to the Russian Armoured Corps history might be able to assist further. This is a new area of WW1 for me and have very limited knowledge as this aspect of the War ( actually pretty much none!) I have just come across some information that a Police Officer PC Evans (X) Division volunteered for the Royal Navy in December 1914 . It was noted that as a Chief Petty Officer Evans he was reported as being awarded the Russian Cross of St George and the Order of St. Stanislaus whilst a member of the Anglo Russian Armoured Car Corps. I have access to ancestry and Fold 3 pensions. From research I have identified :- 1. PC 211 X Division (Warrant Number 10281) Thomas Francis Evans joined the Metropolitan Police on 26th May 1913 and retired to pension on the 21st April 1940. Retired as an Inspector (CID 2nd Class) on Thames Division. 2. Born 19.3.1891 in Clapton, East London. 3. Joined the RN allocated service number F2706 14th December 1914. (service record attached below) 4. Transferred to the Anglo Russian Armoured Corps in January 1917? (Not 100% sure can not read clearly the service record ) 5 I have located his RN service record, and Medal Rolls for WW1. 6. I have a record of why he was awarded the Russian Medal of St George ( 4th Class) (Number 1151307) for action on 18th June 1917 . (attached below) 7. Pensions cards on Fold 3 , I don't know why he was awarded a pension? He returned to the MP and continued his career after WW1. A few questions hopefully the forum members can help me with ? A. I can not find any information on the award of the Order of St, Stanislaus , why he was awarded it and where if possible I can locate the information? B. Would he have been wounded and thus received a pension which was reduced as he recovered from wounds? C.. Any other information gratefully received about the action they were involved in on the 18th June 1917 . Documents below courtesy of ancestry.co.uk Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForeignGong Posted 16 February , 2021 Share Posted 16 February , 2021 Hi I only have him as the St George Cross 4th Cl and that is under File: ADM 116/1717 Record of service: Ratings with Russian armoured cars 1916-24 which only repeats what you have on ADM 171/74. Very nice to have a Citation / recommendation for a foreign award as they are very hard to find. These awards are NOT gazetted, but the Admiralty File is the authority to wear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toontraveller Posted 16 February , 2021 Share Posted 16 February , 2021 13 minutes ago, ForeignGong said: Hi I only have him as the St George Cross 4th Cl and that is under File: ADM 116/1717 Record of service: Ratings with Russian armoured cars 1916-24 which only repeats what you have on ADM 171/74. Very nice to have a Citation / recommendation for a foreign award as they are very hard to find. These awards are NOT gazetted, but the Admiralty File is the authority to wear. ForeignGong, thank you so much for your quick response, I really appreciate the information and your knowledge.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 16 February , 2021 Share Posted 16 February , 2021 (edited) Like ForeignGong, I cannot find him on the St Stanislas list - https://sites.rootsweb.com/~pbtyc/RNACD/RNACD_Russian_Awards3.html I also note that ADM 171/74 lists him as CPO whereas his RNAS record shows he was not advanced beyond Petty Officer Mechanic (POM) and he is listed as POM on the main ADM 171 Roll for his WW1 trio. 1 hour ago, Toontraveller said: B. Would he have been wounded and thus received a pension which was reduced as he recovered from wounds? Quite possible although nothing in his record. I am not sure whether pensions for wounds were reduced in the case of later recovery. Seems a bit unfair. Edited 16 February , 2021 by horatio2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matlock1418 Posted 16 February , 2021 Share Posted 16 February , 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Toontraveller said: Pensions cards on Fold 3 , I don't know why he was awarded a pension? He returned to the MP and continued his career after WW1. 1 hour ago, Toontraveller said: Would he have been wounded and thus received a pension which was reduced as he recovered from wounds? As a survivor the two cards now seen on Fold3 under EVANS, Francis Thomas, F/2706 are for a disability claim [quite common on discharge if had been wounded or ill - many claims were rejected/not successful] What we can see from the two cards F/2706 does not indicate what was claimed or any magnitude and if anything was successful. Claims and any pension [if awarded] were always initially 'conditional' before being made 'final' - dependant on level of disability final might mean a one off gratuity [for a minor disability] or an on-going pension [for something more significant] - or rejected outright. :-) M Edited 16 February , 2021 by Matlock1418 tweak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toontraveller Posted 16 February , 2021 Share Posted 16 February , 2021 horatio2, thank you for checking, I had no idea where to look for this particular award. (I had not previously heard of it but have now looked it up!) I did wonder about the POM abbreviation and the difference between CPO and POM. Perhaps I was being too cynical about the pension award , but nothing surprises me about how some of the men were treated. You always hope they would be treated fairly after everything they had to endure...... Thank you for the response and information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toontraveller Posted 16 February , 2021 Share Posted 16 February , 2021 Matlock1418, thank you for the insight on the two pension cards . I wasn't sure how to interpret these particular pensions cards. From what I can see he returned to the Metropolitan Police around March 1919 and went onto have a successful career, retiring as an Inspector on Thames Division (River Boat Police) so hopefully the illness or injury wasn't too serious. Grateful for your response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toontraveller Posted 16 February , 2021 Share Posted 16 February , 2021 Hi, thanks to the responses from ForeignGong, horatio2 and Matlock1418 above I have the answers to questions A & B but was wondering if anyone knew if there are any documents /reports /or War Diaries relating to the events around 18th June 1917 ? Thank you A. I can not find any information on the award of the Order of St, Stanislaus , why he was awarded it and where if possible I can locate the information? B. Would he have been wounded and thus received a pension which was reduced as he recovered from wounds? C.. Any other information gratefully received about the action they were involved in on the 18th June 1917 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 16 February , 2021 Share Posted 16 February , 2021 (edited) 6 hours ago, Toontraveller said: was wondering if anyone knew if there are any documents /reports /or War Diaries relating to the events around 18th June 1917 ? You could try taking a look at ADM 116/1626 which contains Locker Lampson’s narrative of events. 18th June 1917 was round about the time when the Russian Army rapidly went into melt down. MB Edited 16 February , 2021 by KizmeRD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toontraveller Posted 17 February , 2021 Share Posted 17 February , 2021 KizmeRD, good morning. Thank you for your reply. I looked at the TNA files on line regarding the Royal Naval Russian Armoured Division but sadly all the files are not digitised and only accessible with a personal visit to TNA Kew, something I am not able to do for a good while. A little frustrating but not much I can do about that, in fairness TNA have digitised a lot and I have been able to access a lot of documents for free during lockdown. I am reading the previous forum posts to gain knowledge of the subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horatio2 Posted 17 February , 2021 Share Posted 17 February , 2021 12 hours ago, KizmeRD said: 18th June 1917 was round about the time when the Russian Army rapidly went into melt down. Indeed. The Russian ACD was operating in Galicia, at the southern end of the Russian front, in mid-June 1917 and the attack of 18 June was the final (failed) assault of the Brusilov Offensive. All downhill for the Russians thereafter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 17 February , 2021 Share Posted 17 February , 2021 Toon Traveller, I’d recommend you reading ‘The Czar’s British Squadron’ by Bryan Perrett - but unfortunately it is out of print and second-hand copies tend to be priced quite high. Dates are always somewhat problematic when trying to follow events in Russia prior to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1918- what significance does 18th June 1917 have for you? (Could also mean 1st July). MB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toontraveller Posted 17 February , 2021 Share Posted 17 February , 2021 KizmeRD, good afternoon. I was reading about that particular book as it’s referenced from historical posts on the forum. You are right it is expensive second hand cheapest I have found it so far was over £30 plus postage. The significance of the 18 th June 1917 is its the date of the action for which CPO Evans ( whom I am r researching) was awarded his St George Cross. I have attached the citation in previous posts. I was trying to find what and where the action took place. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toontraveller Posted 17 February , 2021 Share Posted 17 February , 2021 horatio2, thanks for sharing your knowledge. I’m also ploughing through the historical posts on the forum and learning all the time. This area and time period of the War is all new to me. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 17 February , 2021 Share Posted 17 February , 2021 (edited) If you say 18th June 1917 was the date of a major action, then this can only be the start of the so called Kerensky Offensive aka the June Offensive, aka the July Offensive, aka the (2nd) Brusilov Offensive (1st July in the new calendar). This took place close to the city of Lviv (Lemberg) NE Ukraine. Kerensky (Minister for War in the provisional government) thought a military victory would secure his shaky hold on the country and ordered Gen. Brussilov (a very capable army commander) to plan an attack. Brussilov chose Galicia to assemble the best fighting men and materials at his disposal (Finnish, Caucasian and Siberian Infantry and Cossak calvary). Brussilov was no fool and was well aware that his first bid must succeed as he simply didn’t have sufficient reserves or supplies to sustain a drawn out fight. The Russian attack was launched after two days of artillery preparation and was initially very successful, the Austrian line broke and by the evening of the second day 18,000 prisoners were in Russian hands. A counter-attack by the Austro-Hungarian army was then launched and repulsed, with a further 10,000 prisoners taken. German reserves were then committed and after a couple of weeks of back and forth fighting Brussilov’s troops were nearing the point of exhaustion, they struggled on for a few more days but were soon giving ground, not helped by poor leadership from their officers and a considerable lack of discipline in the ranks. Meeting little resistance, save that of the armoured cars used to good effect to cover the withdrawal, the combined Austro-Hungarian/German forces were able to advance eastwards as far as the Zbruch River (some 150 miles - the limit of their logistic support). MB Edited 17 February , 2021 by KizmeRD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toontraveller Posted 17 February , 2021 Share Posted 17 February , 2021 KizmeRD, thank you very much for the update. I really appreciate you taking the time to provide the information. I'm off to read a few reports about the battle and outcome in order to understand a little bit more about where CPO Evans and his team were when they were involved in the action for which they won their medal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 17 February , 2021 Share Posted 17 February , 2021 The medals were probably given out as a political gesture on the eve of battle in order to bolster the spirits of the Armoured Car Division(s) which were serving under Russian command (the Belgians also had an armoured car unit involved in the battle). Kerensky was making a personal tour of the Galicia front line at this particular time - meeting soldiers, making patriotic speeches and generally doing his very best to raise the moral of his troops and get them in a mood to go forward and fight. After the rout, the armoured cars retreated east to Poskurov. MB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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