Duke of Cornwall LI Medal card

[Guest papadeltasierra]

All,

Can anyone help me decode the medal card for my grandfather, Frank Moule? He served in the Duke of Cornwall Light Infanty. I would appreciate it if you could also indicate _how_ you decoded the card (OK, I'm a nerd and I like to know things!).

You can find it at http://www.concise.demon.co.uk/medal/moule.jpg, if you are unable to view the attachment.

Thanks for any help you can offer,

Paul D Smith.

[Guest Ian Bowbrick]

29563 Pte Frank Moule DCLI entitled to the British War & Victory medals. The references need to be converted to WO 329 numbers which will access the medal rolls, from which the Battalion(s) he served with should be listed. This latter work would need to be doen at the PRO.

The pair indicates that he first served in a theatre of war after 1 January 1916.

[Guest papadeltasierra]

Ian,

Thanks for the information. I believe that my grandfather may have been transferred into the DofC LI in 1916 (ref: http://www.46thfoot.com/ and regimental ID).

When you say the numbers need to be converted "at the PRO", are you saying that I could nip down to the PRO and find out for myself what these mean or is this something I need to pay them to do?

Finally, if my grandfather was transferred into the DofC LI, would there be an additional medal card for his previous regiment(s)? Thus far I've found 6 medal cards for "Frank Moule". I have his medal for the DofC LI so I know that one is correct but would there be any indication on the medal cards of transfers, or is that information simply lost?

Thanks

Paul D Smith.

[SPotter]

Paul,

Your grandfather may indeed have transferred from another Regiment into the DCLI, but it is this latter Regiment that he was serving with when he first entered a theatre of war, which was what entitled him to the British War and Victory medals. Therefore his medals are named to him as '29563 Pte F. Moule DCLI', as this is with whom he was serving at that time. However had he been promoted to a higher rank whilst in a theatre of war then this higher rank would have been recorded on the card and been impressed on his medals. You can therefore be certain that he remained a private soldier throughout his service.

Yes, you could certainly visit the National Archives (still the PRO to us die hards) and sight or copy the medal roll or search to see if his service papers survive. If you do not already have a reader's ticket you will be required to register, a simple enough process, but one which requires positive ID. I would suggest checking with the NA website before setting out to be sure what is acceptable.

No, if this is the only MIC for a Frank Moule of the DCLI and presumably the Regimental number matches that on your medal, then you have found his card. The I in MIC stands for 'index', which means simply that this is the index of all references to medal rolls which contain an entry for the person named on the card. In this case, the British War and Victory medal Roll for the DCLI, original reference C/101 B9 Page 735. These rolls were given new references; the key to the new references can be found in document WO 329/1. Unless you are fortunate to find his service papers then I'm afraid that yes, his previous service details will be lost.

Hope this helps,

Steve