1 / 8 Worcestershire's, Military Medal, Pte Walter Williams 1917

[AM87]

Hello all,

 

I have had come into my possession a Military Medal awarded to Pte Walter Williams of the 1 / 8 Worcestershire Regiment.  Please could anyone give me a steer as to how i would get a copy of the citation or details of his act.  i have tracked down the war diary (attached) and it only confirms that he was awarded the MM but not what for.  Any advice would be appreciated greatly.

[wandererpaul]

There are no citations remaining for the award of the Military Medal.

 

you have several options to look at.

 

1. Local newspapers of where the soldier is from. See if it’s memtioned. Some are and some say where and why he was awarded this for bravery.

 

2. Look at his MM index card. This gives a reference number and some on here can cross reference this number with a list to give an approximate date/period of when it was earned.

 

3. Find the mention of the MM award in the London Gazette. Note the date and then work back through the War Diary, last three months usually, of any action and you could get an approximate action this was for.

 

4. Another option is if there’s a book on the battalion. This can also, sometimes, give a possible citation.

 

hope this is useful?

 

 Paul 

Edited 10 July , 2018 by wandererpaul

[wandererpaul]

These are two mentions of Pte Williams being awarded the MM, but noting more personal, yet.

 

both from FMP newspaper archives. Both dated 6 November 1917. First one is Birmingham Daily Post & second one Birmingham Mail.

[wandererpaul]

His MIC and medal roll mentions his old number; 4857.

 

The MIC has him as Private. The Medal Roll has him as L/Cpl  for 241661.

 

 

[AM87]

Wanderpaul - i am most grateful for your efforts particularly with the newspaper articles.  If you find anything else then of course i would be interested.  Do you know why a serviceman would be given a new regt number?  the only thing i can think of is if they changed battalions?

Edited 10 July , 2018 by AM87

[MaxD]

In his case it was because he was in a Territorial Force unit and given the short number when he joined up.  At that time, numbers were not unique and there would have been a number (!) of 4857s in different regiments.  Had he changed to a different regiment, he would have been given a number from that regiment's system.  That doesn't apply to him but in 1917 the TF were all  renumbered because the duplication of numbers was causing administrative problems due to the increasing numbers (of men) involved.  So he was given the longer number from a block which was unique to 8 Battalion Worcesters.

Detailed explanation which covers more of the complexities at:

www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/renumbering-of-the-territorial-force-in-1917/   and associated pages.

 

Max

Edited 10 July , 2018 by MaxD
minor addition

[kenf48]

The citations for the DCM  (and MC) have survived, that for Pte Taylor mentions 'concrete emplacements' which are mentioned in the war diary in a description of the attack on the 27th August.  So my guess is that it was probably awarded for bravery during this action.  What Pte Williams actions were that led to the award of the MM,along with the specific acts of his comrades will probably remain a mystery.  It was a successful operation and in spite of the losses it was always easier to be recognised for a successful engagement.

 

The cuttings above were lifted by the local paper from the Supplement to the London Gazette 2 November 1917 (p.11345)

 

Ken

[MaxD]

I would support Ken's reading.  The 144 Brigade war diary has a detailed account of the action on 26/27 August as does the 1/7th Worcesters (which actually mentions its recommendations for awards).  The list of awards to 48 Div units for that month is in the Div diary with the 1/7th list as per the battalion list and the 1/8th as per their battalion list.  It was an action bedevilled by the weather, flooded shell holes and mud hampering the movement of the men who had to await the start of the attack sitting waist deep in shallow trenches for about 12 hours.

 

AM 87 - suggest you look at the 144 Brigade diary, the 1/7th Worcesters and the 48 Div diary for the period from which you can piece together a picture of the action.

 

Max

 

 

[Mark1959]

Looking at the Stacke regimental history there is good idea of what the 1/7 and 1/8th did in the attacks of 26/27th. Several MMs are mentioned but he is not one of them. Those MMs mentioned - Protheroe, Norris and Sneyd(Bar) - all have the same Gazette date as Williams (2/11/1917)

 

Edited 12 July , 2018 by Mark1959

[Guest]

The Berrow's Worcester Journal reported on 3/11/1917:

 

"Private W Williams, Worcestershire Regiment, has been awarded the Military Medal for signalling in the open in front of the German lines for three hours during the recent British advance.  Private Williams, who is 22 years of age, and resides at High Street, Cradley Heath, joined the army in 1915 and has another brother in the Royal Engineers."

 

The schedule number for his MM followed on from two other men who were awarded MMs for the 27th August 1917.  It seems that the men of the 1/8th Worcestershire Regiment in August 1917 were given original copies of their MM citations.  Most of them were published in the local newspapers - some word for word.  I've had two original docs (one to a Pte A Corbett and another to L/Sgt Birch which I returned to the family).

[John(txic)]

FYI there's an enormous thread over on the British Medals Forum trying to accumulate MM citations:

https://britishmedalforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=53195

 

Whenever I come across one in a local newspaper I load it on here.