St George Cross 4th Class

[Guest]

I am trying to find out what the St George cross 4th Class was givinen for, I am transcribing my Grand Fathers Service record who was a Sargent in the Royal Marines during the the great war

[Loader]

I think it must be roughly equal to the French Croix de Guerre. It was awarded to troops of allied nations like the CdeG & maybe the MM from England. I've read the medals would be given to the armed forces & asked to give them to deserving men. Maybe 3 to a Bn or such. I've seen a photo of a group of British recovering from wounds in their hospital blues & all are wearing what looks to be DCM & Russian medal could be Cross of St. George. Hopefully other members will be able to offer clearer details. It was awarded to Russian troops of course.

[Uncle George]

See 'Ribbons and Medals', by H Taprell Dorling:

"The Order of St. George...was awarded only for conspicuous bravery in action against the enemy...

"Over two million Crosses and Medals of St. George were distributed to soldiers, sisters of mercy, and members of Red Cross institutions and hospitals during the First World War...

"The Order of St. George was essentially military, and could never be conferred upon civilians except for services actually under fire...

"The black and orange ribbon of this Order meant 'through Darkness to Light,' ..."

A photograph is included, a Maltese cross captioned: 'ORDER OF ST. GEORGE Insignia of the Third Class.' The book does say a Fourth Class was also awarded. As with all the old Russian Orders, it was "abolished in December 1917".

[Sepoy]

What is he chap's name and do you know the London Gazette date for the award?

Many Russian awards given the men who participated during the Battle of Jutland have citations. These are held at the National Archives under the ADM files. Unfortunately, I do not have the precise reference to hand.

Sepoy

[Guest]

His Name was Alfred Enest Hawkinsthe medal was awarded on the 3rd of October 1919

[brianmorris547]

I've only seen one such award in the Bolton Papers. The Bolton Evening News 29/09/1917 pictured L/Cpl Arthur Kemp of the Loyal North Lancashire Regt who had been awarded the "Russian Medal of St George 4th Class" for his actions in recovering wounded at Guillemont in August 1916. He lived at 47 Cloister St, Halliwell. A google check will provide info on the Award.

Brian

EDIT LG 29945 15/02/1917.

Edited 11 April , 2023 by brianmorris547
typo

[brianmorris547]

By coincidence, Arthur Kemp's medals are currently on public display in Bolton Library.

[brianmorris547]

"Images for Russian Awards in World War One" on Google confirms that Arthur Kemp was awarded the Medal of St George, as reported in the paper, and not the Cross of St George. The Medal was associated with the Order of St George but was ranked below the Cross. The Medal (like the Cross) came in four classes. A Gold Medal for Classes 1 and 2 and a Silver Medal for Classes 3 and 4. A bow on the ribbon denoted classes 1 and 3. The Medal was awarded for bravery to Russian and other allied soldiers.

Brian

[ghchurcher]

Its also important not to get muddled up between the Order of St George, issued in 4 classes I think, which is a white enamelled order. This is a top award for gallantry, and very rare to foreign servicemen - and command a high price.

The Cross and Medals of St George, both issued in 4 classes, 1st and 2nd in gold and 3rd and 4th in silver, were also issued exclusively for gallantry, but the silver awards were much more freely issued, and foreigners received them in reasonable numbers - though its still a choice item to find one with matching numbers within a British group. They were also issued widely for out of theatre operations, a significant number were issued to the RN for Jutland for example.

The cross and medal to Savory are both 4th class examples.

Edited 18 March , 2015 by Geoffrey Churcher

[Keith_history_buff]

Hello @ForeignGong

Admiralty Fleet Weekly Order 1774 N 24912 published 30/05/1918

 

Awarded The Medal of St George 4th Class
FINCHAM JAMES J CH YEO SIGS 189726 PO

 

  

1 hour ago, ForeignGong said:

 

Hi thanks again for your help.

Fincham was awarded a Russian Medal of St George 4th Class for Jutland as per Admiralty Fleet Weekly Order No 1774 awards for the Battle of Jutland which have not been gazetted.

This lists 675 Medals but there is no reference to it or the medal on his papers that I can see. Am I missing some thing again.

 

Cheers

Peter

 

I have replied on this thread, as to my mind the pertinent and engaging question that you have asked is a deviation from navy service records.

There is an interesting post on the Russian Medal of St George 4th Class - specifically for Jutland - as awarded to M6893 Leonard Cyril Davies. His citation for bravery and recommendation for this Russian gallantry award were passed on as an enclosure as at 15 June 1917, a year after the battle. By the time of the aforementioned announcement of the awards in May 1918, the Imperial Russian regime was no longer in power.

Could it be that because of this factor in 1918 (i) the awards were not gazetted, and (ii) as a consequence of not being authorised by the King, they were not recorded on ratings' statements of service records? To answer this, you would need to perform a sample of those men with awards, and see whether they have any reference to the Russian Medal of St George 4th Class.

I will post a link to the thread with a bit more info on M6893 Leonard Cyril Davies.

[Keith_history_buff]

There is a fleeting comment on the British Medal Forum, in respect of these awards to ratings, that it is rare to find it recorded on the ADM 188 transcripts.

Link to other GWF thread