Military Medal

[Guest]

Hi, I’m looking into the history of 5854 L/Cpl Wilson Troughton who served with the 8th Border Regiment in WW1 for my friend Wilson is her grand father. Wilson was awarded the MM in 1917 but we are unable to find out why. Can anyone point me in a direction on how to find out?

Kind Regards

Lee

[rksimpson]

Hi

 

Read these -

 

http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/how-to-research-a-soldier/records-of-gallantry-and-bravery-awards/

http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/research-award-military-medal-mm/

Finding out why may be very hard, unfortunately.

 

regards

Robert

[Loader]

In the case of MMs, local newspapers are the best source of a why it was awarded. IF she knows where he was living when he went into the army then that paper might have an entry for his award. Very few citations survived for the MM but they were well earned & almost always under fire. If she knows more about his service it may help. For instance, if he was a signaler in the Bn he may have been cited for repairing telephone wires that had been cut by arty fire. Many awards to signalers for that kind of act. Or a runner carrying messages from Bn or Coy HQ under fire. May have brought in a wounded man from no man's land under fire or helped dig out men from trench blown in by shell fire or a dugout same way. Good luck in the search. Someone with better knowledge may give you the London Gazette date of the award announcement & that may give a clue as possible time of the event. Please note** The LG date is NOT the date of the action that earned the medal, merely the date it is officially listed. Some use a rule of thumb of about 3 month from time of the action to the award being listed but not always the same. Seems much potential for research here so good luck & please keep the forum posted on what you find.

[RaySearching]

LG Entry link

 

SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 28 JULY 1917

 

 

Ray

[John_Hartley]

It will be worth checking the battalion  war diary. As already noted, the action is usually around 3 months before the London Gazette date. Depending on the diary writer, there may be a mention that he had been awarded the MM for actions on a certain date. Also worth an email to the regimental museum at Carlisle.