Lt Col T.H. Boardman DSO

[Mark Hone]

I am trying to trace a citation for this officer's award which was published in the London Gazette in January 1917. He was CO of the 8th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 16th Division. He was killed in August 1917 and is buried in Brondhoek New Military Cemetery close to Noel Chavasse. The Inniskillings were able to provide me with an obituary which gives a detailed description of his death but not of the reason for his DSO.

[charlesmessenger]

Mark

His DSO was in the New Year Honours List and citations were not given for these or the Birthday Honours Lists. It was therefore probably in recognition of his general good service while commanding the 8th Inniskillings rather than for a specific act, which would have been the subject of an immediate award and a citation.

Charles M

[Marco]

His DSO was gazetted 1-1-1917 and part of a loooooooooooong new year's honours list which was simply headed “...for distinguished service in the field....”

The admiralty was far sparser and therefore could be more detailed.

I know, this does not help.....

Regards,

Marco

[Mark Hone]

Thanks for the replies. I suspected this to be the case but wanted to confirm it with people who had more specific knowledge. I shall have to consult the 16th Division History (written fairly recently I think) for any references to him pre-1917. He had transferred from the Royal Fusiliers during the Battle of the Somme. For the record Col. Boardman was the most senior and highly-decorated old boy of Bury Grammar School to die in the First World War. Before the war he was Head of Science at Christ's Hospital School in Horsham and commanding officer of the school's OTC (Having been an early member of Bury Grammar School's cadet corps, founded in 1892 and still going strong).