mariantho Posted 19 January , 2014 Share Posted 19 January , 2014 Hello All I have been trying to do some detective work to get some rough idea of when my grandfather, James Henry Jordan, got him MM. The citation in the London Gazette is dated 18th October 1917, and gives his unit as the 7th Batt. Suffolk Reg. There was a small article and photograph of him in the local paper, the Suffolk Mercury and Chronicle, dated 21st September 1917. This article does not give any details of how or where, but just says he had been wounded three times since the start of the war. We know Jim started the war in the 1st Batt. (he had been a serving soldier since 1907), and that he must have been wounded some time before the batt. disappeared to Salonika in October 1915. We believe he then served in the 2nd Batt. From reading previous posts on the forum, I believe that it was the unit he was attached to at the time that gave out the award, so he must have earned his MM while in the 7th. I've been reading the War Diaries of the 1st, 2nd and 7th, and seen there was a new draft of men into the 7th on April 16th, described as quite a good lot, so presumably some battle hardened or regular soldiers among them. On 16th June there was a parade and medal ribbons given out. I don't know the timescales involved between a gallantry award being recommended and eventually given to the soldiers, so not sure whether its a possibility he received his medal ribbon on this occasion. It seems the only thing I can do now is to scour the local papers for mention of injuries etc. Can anyone throw any light? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you PS - there are no surviving records for Jim, presumably all burned at Kew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphjd Posted 19 January , 2014 Share Posted 19 January , 2014 Time scale from the winning of the award to appearing in the LG approx 3 months I believe. Ralph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 19 January , 2014 Share Posted 19 January , 2014 I'm sure that Ralph is about right - three months as a general rule of thumb is a good starting point. Marion - over the years on the forum there have been simply dozens of us doggedly trying to unpick the details of particular Military Medals; if you use the search facility, you will come across threads from past months and years which may give you extra hints about how people have gone about similar detective-work as yours. William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Strawbridge Posted 19 January , 2014 Share Posted 19 January , 2014 Can anyone throw any light? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you PS - there are no surviving records for Jim, presumably all burned at Kew Not burned at Kew. They were in storage in a warehouse elsewhere in London. Herman Goering and his team destroyed them in the blitz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mariantho Posted 19 January , 2014 Author Share Posted 19 January , 2014 thank you everybody for very prompt and helpful responses, especially William - I will certainly have a good search of previous questions on the forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFayers Posted 27 January , 2014 Share Posted 27 January , 2014 For a Gazette entry of 18th October 1916, your probably looking at an event around the start of August. (For example, a couple of MMs to the 11th Suffolks gazetted on 21st October 1916 were awarded for actions on the 5th / 6th August.) Ultimately I guess the date of the gazette would come down to how soon the recommendation for the award was put foward after the action. If you have the 7th Battalion war diary for the end of July / begiining of August 1916 it might give you some further clues. I'll have a look at my copy of the regimental history tonight to see if it sheds any further light as to the 'doings' of the 7th Battalion around this time. All the best Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFayers Posted 27 January , 2014 Share Posted 27 January , 2014 Hi mariantho, First of all apologies - I miss-read your first post, and see that the gazette date is 1917 rather than 1916. I would think the award in this case was most likely for a large-scale trench raid the 7th Battalion carried out in the Monchy Sector (Arras) on 9th August 1917. This verbatim from The History of the Suffolk Regiment - 1914 - 1927 by Lt. Col. C. C. R. Murphy: "This raid, rehearsed over dummy trenches designed from air photographs, was carried out by parties from three brigades acting simultaneously, that furnished by the 35th Brigade consisting of 350 men from the 7th Battalion. As soon as it was light the artillery began to bombard a belt of enemy trenches 2000 yards long by 300 yards deep, the bombardment being continued throughout the hours of daylight. While this was in progress the front line was very thinly held, the bulk of the battalion being in caves in its own headquarters line. During the evacuation of the front line Captain L. A. G. Bowen, M.C., and 2nd Lieut. A. Green were gassed with phosgene shells. At 7.45 p.m. the strong patrols and raiders, accompanied by small demolition parties of Royal Engineers, began moving forward under a creeping barrage, the 7th Battalion heading towards Bois du Vert and the Mound. Within a short time prisoners began to trickle in. As soon as the German first line had been reached a box barrage was put down and his second line raided. The operation was a marked success, and though the casualties were heavy, valuable information was obtained and great damage inflicted. The battalion brought back sixty-nine prisoners and two machine guns. Captain Morbey was killed on his own parapet, after the raid was over, by fire from a German aeroplane. The casualties included the following officers - Killed: Captain C. F. W. Morbey; Lieut. H. Ranby; 2nd Lieuts. C. LeChaminant and S. N. Smith. Wounded: Captain J. C. G. Matthews; 2nd Lieuts. C. W. B. Palmer, C. T. Postlethwaite, and J. R. Tamlyn. For this raid Captain J. C. G. Matthews and Lieut. D. S. Black were awarded the M.C." If you can get, or maybe you already have, the 7th Battalion diary for August 1917 (and any appendices, which should include an after-action report) this may give some more details. It is also possible that later in the month, or possibly in the September entries, a list of awards for the action may be listed. All the best Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mariantho Posted 18 February , 2014 Author Share Posted 18 February , 2014 Hello Steve Sorry it has taken me so long to say a big thank you for your time in writing this comprehensive reply to my post. I have only just seen it! I have now got the War Diary for the 7th Batt and will certainly take up your suggestion. Thank you very much Marian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarsA Posted 18 February , 2014 Share Posted 18 February , 2014 Also worth checking DCMs for the battalion for this period. ATB, Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFayers Posted 18 February , 2014 Share Posted 18 February , 2014 You're welcome Marian - glad to be of some help. All the best Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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