Rank/rating shown on British War Medal, Royal Navy

[nhclark]

I hope someone can help me with this query.

 

Edward Leonard Charles Watsham J86934 enlisted in the Royal Navy as a "Boy 2" at the age of 16 on 27th March 1918, from the Training Ship "Exmouth."  His first ship was the training ship HMS Impregnable. On 27th July 1918 he joined the training ship HMS Ganges II; he remained there until 26th February 1919, being made "Boy 1" on 27th December 1918. He was therefore a "Boy 2" when the war started.

On 27th February 1919 he joined HMS Caradoc, where he remained until 29th January 1921, being made Ordinary Seaman on 4th February 1920, and Able Seaman on 13th January 1921. While he was on HMS Caradoc, she was part of the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron, and was in the Black Sea in 1919 as part of Britain's involvement in the Russian Civil War.

 

ELCW served for a total of 27 years until final discharge from the RN on 10th October 1945. Along the way he was awarded three GC Badges and the Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 1935. He also had service in the Second World War on the gunboat HMS Grasshopper on the Yangtse River in China, and was awarded the the 1939-1945 Star, the Defence Medal, and the 1939-1945 War Medal.

 

His medal entitlement for the First World War was the British War Medal and Victory Medal, as shown in the RN Medal Roll on www.ancestry.co.uk. The roll shows his Rank/Rading as "Ord." for "Ordinary Seaman, which appears to date the compilation of the roll as 4th Debruary 1920 to12th January 1921These are noted as issued to him at HMS Columbine (which I understand to have been a shore base in Scotland); he was at Columbine (Verdun and then Tribune) 4th December 1923 to 31st December 1925. So this seems to date when the medals were actually issued.

 

I have always assumed that his medals were issued for his service in the Black Sea (South Russia). I can't see that he was otherwise entitled to WW1 medals. I purchased the BWM and LSGC medals some years ago; they were sewn side-by-side onto a "two-medal mounting bar" and by the wear of the ribbons they had been worn on a number of occasions. The Victory Medal was not present - I assume lost. Neither were the medals for the Second World War present.

 

I recently decided to frame the medals, and duly purchased a good replica VM, and genuine Second World War medals - even if these latter did not belong to ELCW they recognise the service of someone else.

 

The LSGC medal is impressed as expected. from his service record (HMS Excellent at the time of the award). What puzzles me now that I come to look closely at the BWM is that his rank/rating is shown as "Boy 2". He was never a "Boy 2" on HMS Caradoc, and neither does "Boy 2" match the "Ord." on the medal roll.

 

Could someone offer an explanation please?

 

Thank you.

[royalredcross]

As service during the war was totally in the United Kingdom, his entitlement would have been the British War Medal only named in the highest rank achieved during service, i.e. Boy 2.  The navy applied a different rule which was 28 days in uniform anywhere for the BWM. 

 

Norman 

[horatio2]

4 hours ago, royalredcross said:

As service during the war was totally in the United Kingdom, his entitlement would have been the British War Medal only

I agree, he was entitled to BWM only. A glance at the original Admiralty medal roll, however, shows that a 'V' for entitlement to the Victory Medal has been added (as superscript) to the line for his name. With service only in training ships/establishments I cannot see how he could have qualified for the Victory Medal. Probably an error on the roll. The fact that the OP only found LSGC and BWM seems to confirm this.

Compare his record with that of a contemporary rating, Boy.Tel. Clifford RELTON J86937. In training together, they were both drafted to HMS GANGES II on 27 Jul 1918 until March 1919. RELTON qualified for BWM only, as to be expected.

Edited 13 November , 2018 by horatio2

[nhclark]

Surely his service (27th February 1919 up to 1st July 1920) in HMS Caradoc in the Black Sea as part of Britain's intervention in the Russian Civil War is the entitlement to the VM and the reason his rank is shown as "Ord" in the Medal Roll?

ServiceEdwardLeonardCharlesWatsham.pdf

 

I hope people can access that file - I'm having trouble seeing it in the post.

Edited 13 November , 2018 by nhclark

[horatio2]

Thank you for posting the record which clears up the anomaly. He was, indeed, entitled to the Victory Medal for service in CARADOC, the medal continuing in issue in 1919 for Russian Civil War operations (and for post-war minesweeping).

[nhclark]

2 hours ago, horatio2 said:

Thank you for posting the record which clears up the anomaly. He was, indeed, entitled to the Victory Medal for service in CARADOC, the medal continuing in issue in 1919 for Russian Civil War operations (and for post-war minesweeping).

Many thanks for the confirmation.

Noel

[wrightdw]

Eligibility for the BWM/VM, Memorial Plaque and Scroll was extended to cover operations in Russia (North Russia, Eastern Baltic, Caspian, Siberia, Black Sea, South Russia and Crimea) from 11 November 1918 to July 1920.