Harbourart Posted 7 February , 2005 Share Posted 7 February , 2005 Hi All, I know its a long shot but can any forum users know of the where abouts, or any places I may find, any medals issued to the following members of my family; Cpl 1830 Ernest Harbour, Aus Inf AIF Pvt 14683 William Harbour, King's Liverpool Reg Pvt 2335 or 200575 Walter Harbour, East Lancs Reg (Not sure why but he seems to have Two Reg numbers at National Archives) These medals dissapered when my grandmother died in the 1960's and I would dearly love to return them to the family. As for Walter if anyone can answer why he has two numbers I would like to know. Any help really appreciated Thanks Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDick Posted 7 February , 2005 Share Posted 7 February , 2005 Try an advert in Medal Tracker (on-line), Medal News (free to subscribers), Southern Medals and also member Derek Robertson has a wants website. You might also want to place a keyword search on ebay, which will alert you via email to any items in a specific category matching a surname. I believe if you do this on ebay Canada you can view international results. Two service numbers within the same unit is not uncommon since battalions issued numbers rather than the Army as a whole (unlike today when a service number is unique). I believe some major renumbering took place during WW1, which could explain this. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Buck Posted 7 February , 2005 Share Posted 7 February , 2005 Try an advert in Medal Tracker (on-line), Medal News (free to subscribers), Southern Medals and also member Derek Robertson has a wants website. I have been wondering what happened to the medals of my two uncles. Can I find out if they were claimed and if not can I as NoK claim them now from MoD? If I put wants on the sources quoted am I likely to get fakes and how can I tell if they are genuine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveB Posted 7 February , 2005 Share Posted 7 February , 2005 Hi Dick, You mentioned there's a facility for ebay to email you if there's something in your search range. How do you do it? Cheers SteveB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 7 February , 2005 Share Posted 7 February , 2005 Peter Welcome to the Forum The reason Walter has two numbers is because he was a member of a Territorial Army battalion. The four digit number is his original one. The six-digit one will have been issued to him in January 1917 (when the TA numbering system was reorganised). John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBettsMCDCM Posted 7 February , 2005 Share Posted 7 February , 2005 Click Here I have been wondering what happened to the medals of my two uncles. Can I find out if they were claimed and if not can I as NoK claim them now from MoD? if there are Medal Index Cards @ The National Archive for them{Search Online } Then they were issued{If They are WW1}as most were automatically sent out,except for Officers,who had to claim them,The Army Medal Office No longer issue WW1 Medals. Should you be fortunate enough to locate the originals it is unlikely they would be Fake,as to rename medals a certain amount of metal has to be removed & this is noticable,if not with the naked eye @ least with engineers calipers,Modern copies are made of base metals,not the original Silver & Bronze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auimfo Posted 8 February , 2005 Share Posted 8 February , 2005 Peter, I don't know if you're aware but there is a lot of information about 1830 Cpl Ernest Harbour, 34th Battalion, AIF, on the Australian War Memorial website (he was nicknamed Scotty by his mates). By checking the Red Cross Files of wounded and missing I was able to locate a rather large file regarding his death. This file includes official records, letters from his mates who were with him when he died and most interestingly several letters from his wife Joan (who was living in Midlothian, Scotland). According to her Ernest came out to Australia without her and joined up here. Harbour was killed in action by a shell during a raid on German trenches near Villers Brettoneux but his body was not able to be brought in and was subsequently lost. It appears it was never recovered and this is why he is remembered on a memorial panel in Crucifix Corner Cemetery. The letters from his wife a quite sad. She pleads with authorities and other members of the 34th Bn to continue checking as she was confident her husband may only have been knocked unconsious and lost his memory. Even after the weight of all the evidence she cannot accept he is dead. I wonder if she ever came to grips with her loss - probably not. There is also another file on the AWM site in the Roll Of Honour. This shows Ernest was born in Cherry Tree, Lancashire. It also lists his parents as Margaret and Thomas (late) who also were from Midlothian, Scotland. It doesn't list whether he had children or not. Good Luck, Tim L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDick Posted 8 February , 2005 Share Posted 8 February , 2005 Hi Dick, You mentioned there's a facility for ebay to email you if there's something in your search range. How do you do it? Cheers SteveB I came across it quite by chance when I searched under a specific topic and ebay came back with no results (it can, however, I later found, be accessed from My Ebay). In My Ebay, under 'My Favourites' or some such, it will allow you to select any keyword and category (or none) to be watched. Ebay will then email you whenever an item containing the keyword appears. It's a bit fiddly to set up, but well worth it. Leave a post if you have any problems and I'll give a more detailed response (can't remember off the top of my bonce). Cheers Ricardo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John F Posted 8 February , 2005 Share Posted 8 February , 2005 if there are Medal Index Cards @ The National Archive for them{Search Online } Then they were issued{If They are WW1}as most were automatically sent out,except for Officers,who had to claim them,The Army Medal Office No longer issue WW1 Medals. Should you be fortunate enough to locate the originals it is unlikely they would be Fake,as to rename medals a certain amount of metal has to be removed & this is noticable,if not with the naked eye @ least with engineers calipers,Modern copies are made of base metals,not the original Silver & Bronze Harry It is still posible to get WW1 medals issued. Had my Great Uncles issued in December 2003. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Buck Posted 8 February , 2005 Share Posted 8 February , 2005 Harry, Thanks! John, Was there a MIC for your great-uncle? How did you find out his medals hadn't been issued? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John F Posted 8 February , 2005 Share Posted 8 February , 2005 Hi Brian My Great Uncle was in the Royal Naval Division & as such had to claim his medals. We managed to get his service records & found he had never claimed his medals. It was a long winded process proving he hadn't claimed them, we were Next Of Kin etc. It took about 3 years all told but the medal office finally admitted defeat & issued them. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harbourart Posted 8 February , 2005 Author Share Posted 8 February , 2005 Thanks guys for the valuable information. I was interested to find the info on Australian War Memorial website though I found Ernest's mother and father originally came from Norfolk, not Scotland. Richard, you mantioned Derek Robertson has a wants website, do you have the url? Good luck to the others searching for family medals. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDick Posted 8 February , 2005 Share Posted 8 February , 2005 Hello Pete Just search for this member under Members (top line of page), or else put his username into the general search criteria (can sort by member) and click on his name to contact him. Failing that, I think it is called Pals' Wanted Plaques or similar. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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