tom bowler Posted 21 February , 2017 Share Posted 21 February , 2017 I was just browsing the War Diary for the 8th Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and came across this interesting and unusual fact. Why, how , could a British soldier serving around 'Plugstreet' at the time, receive a Russian medal ? I know we were allies during WW1 , but I wonder if we had reciprocal exchanges of personnel ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Upton Posted 21 February , 2017 Share Posted 21 February , 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom bowler Posted 21 February , 2017 Author Share Posted 21 February , 2017 13 minutes ago, Andrew Upton said: But that doesn't say or explain why ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Upton Posted 21 February , 2017 Share Posted 21 February , 2017 59 minutes ago, tom bowler said: Why, how , could a British soldier serving around 'Plugstreet' at the time, receive a Russian medal ? 2 minutes ago, tom bowler said: But that doesn't say or explain why ? I thought Micks post (no. 4) in that thread more than adequately answered your question: "Some foreign medals, perhaps especially the Russian ones, seem to have been made available to the British on a reciprocal basis, and were awarded to men who were chosen by British commanders as being particularly deserving, but who did not, for some reason, qualify for a British gallantry medal. Some French Croix de Guerre were no doubt awarded on this basis too, but I also know of numbers of instances where the recipient had distinguished him or herself in operations carried out in cooperation with French forces, and the award was evidently directly recommended by the French themselves." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianmorris547 Posted 21 February , 2017 Share Posted 21 February , 2017 http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/213631-st-george-cross-4th-class/ Tom See the attached link. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loader Posted 21 February , 2017 Share Posted 21 February , 2017 Yes, British soldier put in for MM, not awarded. Sometime later the BN Co gets word that he is to choose 2 men to receive a Russian award. He recalls Pte. Jones action & MM turned down so he sends in his name & he is given the foreign award. No disrespect but often a consolation prize in a sense. BEF did it too, there is famous photo of French soldiers wearing MM's awarded as well as French medals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForeignGong Posted 22 February , 2017 Share Posted 22 February , 2017 Some of the citations / recommendations for foreign awards I have seen over the years, are similar or better than ones for MM's, DCM's, MC's. As the British system was very sparing in awards, the reciprocal ones were used by units to reward deserving men and women who would otherwise miss out. All foreign awards are very rare when compared to imperial. The approx Russian awards in the London Gazette are Cross of St Geo 1. 2 2. 7 3. 84 4. 288 Medal of St Geo 1. 63 2. 125 3. 184 4. 238 More than 800 awards of the St George Cross, 4th Class and St George medal, 4th Class to non-commissioned personnel of the Royal Navy for the Battle of Jutland alone are listed in Admiralty Fleet Order 1774 of 1918, but did not appear in the London Gazette. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 23 September , 2019 Share Posted 23 September , 2019 I did come across the following file, and wonder if it contains the listings of those soldiers awarded Russian gallantry medals:https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14727886 I have seen the two files in the inverse sense (British awards to French nationals), which is a listing of names, and the respective unit in which they served, so would imagine it is similar in this (digitised) document too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie962 Posted 23 September , 2019 Share Posted 23 September , 2019 18 minutes ago, Keith_history_buff said: I did come across the following file, This subset of the file you found has been digitised. It seems to be copies of the LG pages listing individual awards. It can be 'previewed'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianmorris547 Posted 23 October , 2019 Share Posted 23 October , 2019 From the WD of 1 Div A&QMG. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForeignGong Posted 23 October , 2019 Share Posted 23 October , 2019 Hi Brian Thank you for that. It is interesting that the date of the RO is 18 Sept 16 but the LG date is 13 Feb 17. That's almost 5 months difference. I've been under the impression and so have a lot of members of this forum that it was usually 3-4 months after the event the LG would be announced. Many thanks again, appreciate it. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 6 October , 2020 Share Posted 6 October , 2020 I read the following the other day, which reminded me of this thread: Quote Sol, who had been a signaller in India, had done his first twelve months in France as a rifle-and-bayonet man and had won the DCM and Russian Order of St George, which always went with the DCM in the first part of the war. Page 148, Chapter XV Trenches in High Wood Old Soldiers Never Die by Frank Richards This edition republished by the Library of Wales, 2016, paperback Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith_history_buff Posted 5 November , 2020 Share Posted 5 November , 2020 Interestingly, this man may have had that DCM & Russian Order of St George combination 6834 Thomas Whitehouse, South Wales Borderers. He has a surviving service record that documents his service in the Boer War and WW1. He was discharged on 4 December 1919. He passed away on 10 December 1951 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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