Fattyowls Posted 13 May , 2019 Share Posted 13 May , 2019 Arthur Berry was a skillful amateur winger with various clubs including Everton and Liverpool who also won two Olympic football medals before the war. A Wadham man and a local solicitor in later years, he would later serve as director and chairman of the Anfield club. He was transport officer of the 2/9th King's Liverpool serving in France and Belgium between early 1917 and 1919. Thanks to Colin Taylor I have Arthur's officers file and access to the war diaries of the 2/9th on Ken Lees' excellent website. The former contains a letter from WW2 in which Mrs Berry mentions that Arthur was mentioned in dispatches on March 16th 1919. Try as I might I can't find any reference to this; I've searched the forum for mentions of mentions in dispatches to make sure I'm not on a wild goose chase but I'm still a bit unsure. Would a grown up be able to point me in the right direction? I have a feeling that this will be like trying to find something in the supermarket: when you ask for help you find you are standing right next to the shelf with the item on it, and you've walked past it three times already........ Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBrook Posted 13 May , 2019 Share Posted 13 May , 2019 Pete, The link to the gazette notification https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31439/supplement/8583 Harry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawryleslie Posted 13 May , 2019 Share Posted 13 May , 2019 Mentioned in Despatches should be annotated on his Medal Index Card as MiD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Taylor Posted 13 May , 2019 Share Posted 13 May , 2019 Pete, Thanks for the mention! I'm no expert but the MiD may have been a recommendation for general good work; on the other hand if it was for a specific act he might get a mention in war diary during the latter stages of the war. Regards Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRC Posted 13 May , 2019 Share Posted 13 May , 2019 (edited) General Sir Douglas Haig's despatch of the 16th March 1919 contained a very, very long list of names that had been brought to his attention for special mention. They appeared in a supplement dated 10th July 1919 - Harry has already beat me with the link to the relevant page. Cheers, Peter (Definately not the adult in the room :-) Edited 13 May , 2019 by PRC Typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 13 May , 2019 Author Share Posted 13 May , 2019 Thank you all gentlemen, that's exactly what I was hoping for. My guess is that it was for general good conduct prior to demobilisation, Arthur is another of my interests who went through the last couple of years of the war without being noted, but who would appear to have done a good job with the battalion transport. Pete. P.S. Colin, remember I still owe you a pint or two for all your assistance, and I wouldn't mind getting the book signed too. I'm hoping to get out to Arras and walk the Tunnel Trench sector sometime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Lees Posted 19 May , 2019 Share Posted 19 May , 2019 Other London Gazette references for Arthur Berry: 05/06/17 - "Liverpool Regt. - The undermentioned officers relinquish their temp. rank. 6th June 1917:- 2nd Lt. (temp. Lt.) A. Berry". 22/10/17 - "Liverpool Regt. - The undermentioned 2nd Lts. To be Lts. 1st July 1917, except where otherwise stated:- A. Berry". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 19 May , 2019 Author Share Posted 19 May , 2019 37 minutes ago, Ken Lees said: Other London Gazette references for Arthur Berry: 05/06/17 - "Liverpool Regt. - The undermentioned officers relinquish their temp. rank. 6th June 1917:- 2nd Lt. (temp. Lt.) A. Berry". 22/10/17 - "Liverpool Regt. - The undermentioned 2nd Lts. To be Lts. 1st July 1917, except where otherwise stated:- A. Berry". Thanks Ken. As I think the 2/9th and 2/10th were together for much of their war I went searching for any reports of brigade or divisional football, since Arthur was still active and Wilf Toman, another ex Everton player of the 2/10th may have been persuaded to turn out. No luck unfortunately; it's not like the Scots Guards who have whole sections of the war diary with just the football results. Hope all is well in Ormskirk or the Somme. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clk Posted 19 May , 2019 Share Posted 19 May , 2019 (edited) Hi Pete, On 13/05/2019 at 21:16, Fattyowls said: Olympic football medals before the war Do you have any images of those that you could post, and do you know what the qualification criteria might be? I haven't been up there for donkeys years, but I recall that my mother has one in her roof space from (circa 1912???) London? - bronze in colour? I've just presumed that the use of the word 'Olympic' isn't how we understand it in the modern context (i.e. global). Regards Chris Edit: To be on topic, my query does relate to a WW1 man Edited 19 May , 2019 by clk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Clifton Posted 19 May , 2019 Share Posted 19 May , 2019 The Olympic Games were held in London in 1908. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRC Posted 19 May , 2019 Share Posted 19 May , 2019 Arthur Berry was in the Gold Medal Winning GB Football Team at the 1908 Summer Olympics. The Wikipedia site has a picture of the team, so it may prove possible to identiy him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_at_the_1908_Summer_Olympics And of course he also gets his own Wiki page which also has him in the gold medal winning team at 1912. It states he gace up playing in 1914 nwhen he became a barrister! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Berry_(footballer) The Liverpool Football Club History site also has a profile of him which is one of the sources quoted from Wikipedia. He would go on to become chairman of the Liverpool Football Club. https://www.lfchistory.net/Players/Player/Profile/539 Cheers, Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clk Posted 20 May , 2019 Share Posted 20 May , 2019 Thanks Ron and Peter. KR Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 20 May , 2019 Author Share Posted 20 May , 2019 19 hours ago, clk said: Do you have any images of those that you could post, and do you know what the qualification criteria might be? Chris, putting London 1908 Olympic medal brings up a design with two semi naked young women jointly placing a laurel wreath on a completely naked young man with George and the dragon on the obverse. 33mm diameter, and looks quite art nouveau, not to my taste artistically. But just to muddy the waters there seem to be at least one other design for various participants like judges and umpires. As far as the football teams were concerned I think I've seen a photo with each member wearing a medal, but that might be 1912. It's been useful for me having a look as I discovered that the 1908 team included Harold Hardman who also played for Everton and went on to become chairman of Manchester United in the 50's, including the period of the Busby Babes and the Munich Air disaster. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clk Posted 20 May , 2019 Share Posted 20 May , 2019 Many thanks Pete. When I'm over there next, I'll have to dig it out and refresh my memory. KR Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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