10741 Pte F . Blank Royal Berkshire Regiment

[stuart morgan]

Hi

I looking for information about a Military medal group to a

10741 Pte F . Blank royal berkshire regiment

Found his medal card but haven't found out anything else,how he won the MM.

I'm going to the national archives on tuesday and if anyone can tell me anything.

Or how I go about search for the details at the national archives as I haven't searched there before.

also can you search WW2 records there as I have a group of 11 to a paratrooper that I would like to find out about.

Many Thanks for any info.

stuart

[Ken Lees]

Stuart,

Welcome to the Forum.

You may struggle to find details of the reason for the award at the National Archives (TNA) as citations for the Military Medal were not saved generally.

Do you know the date the award was published in the London Gazette? That will be your start point. Then you can access the Battalion War Diary at TNA working back from the date of the Gazette.

With the GSM on the end of the medal group it looks likely that he served on into the 1920s so his service record will probably not be at TNA. It is more likely that it will still be held by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). If that is the case, under the Freedom of Information Act you are entitled to request a copy of his papers from the MoD - for a fee.

The most likely source for details of the award of the MM would be the regimental museum or local newspapers which sometimes published details.

It might be worth adding your man's details to this post as others may be able to help with more information.

[rksimpson]

Stuart

With WW2 records, the only things online are if they died - at CWGC or if they were awarded a gallantry award.

All other information is at MOD - http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/service_records.html

regards

Robert

[kenf48]

There is on Ancestry a card for the GSM and Clasp his number is given as 5328399.

This earlier thread may be of interest - esp post 3

 

The above post shows he was serving with the 1st Bn R. Berks. so as above it looks like he became a Regular at the end of the war as evidenced by what appears to be the new post-war number series.

The London Gazette shows he was with the 5th Bn when awarded the M.M. http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/31405/pages/7679 unfortunately although the awards are listed in the diary it looks like by the time this was gazzetted the diary was no longer being kept as the 12th (Eastern) Division disbanded on 22 March 1919 (LLT). I'd suggest the award was for actions in the last couple of months of the war. Unfortunately the most significant actions in September 1918 are shown as an appendix in the diary at the Wardrobe.

The Regimental Museum is 'The Wardrobe' and the war diaries are searchable online http://www.thewardrobe.org.uk/home (the museum is closed until February).

You will need the information on the cards to search the Rolls at the TNA and that will tell you which he Battalion he was with when he qualified for the medals. You may also want to see the war diary for the 5th Bn which may have the Appendix referred to above. http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=C7352672

Unfortunately due to the dates the local newspaper in Reading is probably the best bet.

Ken

[purley]

He was reported in the Reading Mercury 28/6/1919

He enlisted 31/8/1914 as 10741 and went to France 30/5/15 with the 5th R Berks

His MM was awarded LG 17/6/19 page 7679 for gallantry in operations 18th to 30th October 1918

he went on to join the 1st Bn and got Army number 5328399

regards

John

PS if this is useful you might care to make a donation on the Wardrobe's website