Sidney Harold Cope F 34295 (RNAS) & 234295 (RAF)

[LCpl Lee Cope]

Hello folks,

I'm on the mission impossible task of tracking down my Great Grand Uncles medals; I know this is a long-shot, but I still have to try.

Any assistance or leads that anyone could give me would be very much appreciated, and I'll link a few attachments for anyone who would like to take a look.

Sidney joined the RNAS in 1917 and served as an Air Mechanic for the duration of 'The Great War' before the RNAS/RFC amalgamation into the RAF in 1918.

As far as I know he earned (as many did) the 'Victory & Great War Medal', although I do not have access to his RAF documents until the AIR 79 files are uploaded for viewing.

All hints and tips are welcomed...

[LCpl Lee Cope]

Here is Sidney's medal card.

[horatio2]

His Victory and British War Medals were issued by the Air Ministry (AM).

[LCpl Lee Cope]

Oh, thanks Old Sweat, I was going with the assumption that 'A.M' could have possibly meant 'Air Mail', but now you've cleared that up for me.

From what I read, the Air Ministry was formed in 1918 and fell in-line just before the Royal Air Force was formed. So Sidney would have received his medals from the Air Ministry upon his new RAF posting I presume...

[LCpl Lee Cope]

I just found this list of medal issue abbreviations and it would have been useful to me a few days ago, but it proves quite rightly what you have said Old Sweat.

So Sidney's medals were issued to the Air Ministry in order to be issued to Sidney... But what if they weren't? Sidney died at the age of 36 as far as I have discovered on 'Ancestry', and is buried somewhere in Wolverhampton. His widow and he never had children so the medals (if issued) would (I assume) have been left with his widow... So many variables, but I shall not give up!

So if I go on the assumption that Sidney never received his medals, where would I need to look. I'm aware that lots of WW1 medals were destroyed and no re-issues are available.

My ultimate withdraw from this venture would be to get replicas, but I've only just begun and It would be a shame to give up so soon.

when I received my Iraq medal I had to sign for it. I'm assuming that this would also have been the case with the Air Ministry. Where would I need to look for Sidney's signature upon receiving his medals?

[LCpl Lee Cope]

Ok, I still need to read through this myself, but I think it may come in useful at some point.

Late issue and duplicate medals

Contrary to popular belief, WW1 campaign medals to the Naval Forces were not issued automatically. Admiralty policy required claims to be made by the man himself, his Legatees or Next-of-Kin. The War Office infamously despatched medals to all Army 'Other Ranks' recipients, regardless of their preference, although Army Officers were required to claim their medals, as per the Admiralty's policy.

Naval medals were, therefore, issued as and when they were applied for from 1919 onwards. A supplementary volume recording all WW1 Naval Campaign Medals issued from January 1936 to April 1975 can be found at The National Archives under class ADM/171/196. Unfortunately, supplementary records for the issue of medals pre-1935 and 1975-1991 are missing. All medals issued up to 1989, however, are recorded in the Rolls. Medals issued from 1933 onwards were classed as either '1st issue to Late Claimants' or 'Duplicates' to replace those lost or stolen. Duplicate issues were clearly recorded as such in the Rolls.

The Admiralty employed a six-figure reference number system, beginning at '392000', for recording the 1st issue of medals to Late Claimants after January 1933. This six-figure number referred to the 'Medal Issue Paper' (M.I.P.) and was entered on the Roll in the 'How Disposed of' column. (It is believed that the number 392000 was used as a starting point because this was the approximate total of Naval Medal claimants up to 1932).

Below is a link to list of M.I.P. numbers and the corresponding dates taken from the Rolls and ADM/171/196. Numbers in brackets are the approximate total of 1st issue medal claims that year.

View the Medal Issue Paper (M.I.P.) Number Series here (PDF 130kb)

As can be calculated from the above list, nearly 4000 men claimed their 1st issue medals between 1933 and 1962. The start of the Second World War saw an increase in claims, with many former WW1 Naval personnel returning to service. A small increase also occurred prior to and after the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

From 1 September 1962, the six-figure M.I.P. number system was supplanted by a new 'M' prefix number reference for 1st issue medals. This same new 'M' prefix number system also replaced the old Duplicate number system from January 1962.

Duplicate medal issues employed a separate numbering system and these numbers were recorded on the Rolls from late 1931 to 1961. Duplicate medal issue numbers were also recorded in the ADM/171/196 medal issue book 1936-1961, along with the six-figure M.I.P.s for 1st issue medals.

View a list of duplicate medal issue numbers and the corresponding dates taken from the Rolls and ADM/171/196 (PDF 113kb)