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Hi all,

As a newbie to medal research and having exhausted my internet knowledge I now turn to the Experts.

I am researching Walter Livingstone HAM  North Somerset Yeomanry 1276 and later Grenadier Guards. His MIC shows he received the MM  and it is Gazetted 22 January 1917. He received a medical discharge in March 1916 though re attested April 1918.

Can anyone suggest where I may find a citation for his MM? Or has anyone come across this chap? He survived the war, married in 1921 and spent the 20's and 30's living around the Tetbury area. He sadly died in Exeter in 1967.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Tim Bickerdike

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local papers are your best bet

its rare to see them in the London gazette Im afraid

there is a huge data base on the british medal forum which is worth searching

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Not related to the MM, but had a look on British Newspaper Archive, and found this - reported wounded in Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Monday 21 June 1915

 

image.png.30386bc1e2eb38537f0763d530b9a133.png

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Thanks chaps every little thing helps  

James ..how are you coping with the lockdown? the book has moved on a pace from intermittent to slow... The Potter 452 mentioned in the article is actually PETHER A E and Pamberton is PEMBERTON.

I would never have thought of looking so far afield for info about individual soldiers although 1276 HAM did die and was buried in Exeter so maybe a family link?? 

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Often worth looking where parents lived.  I've found a few things that way

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His family were very local to Wells and I have checked the local papers but I'll do a different search.

 

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  • 1 year later...

As you know, his MM was listed in the LG 22 Jan 1917: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29912/supplement/832 

Howard Williamson states that this LG was for the Somme and Western Front August-November 1916. The MM was only instituted in March 1916 (when he was wounded), but it is unlikely that this was a retrospective award due to it being in this LG. His schedule no. 66244 is late in this LG range. The absence of a MIC and medal roll may be because he never claimed his service medals??

The 3rd Cavalry Division or 6th Cavalry Brigade diaries may list awards: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7351532

His MM index card image from TNA (ref. WO-372-23-115395) confirms that he was discharged as the time of the award. His 1918 GG reenlistment doc. gives his discharge date as 10 March 1916 'through wounds'):

Screen Shot 2021-08-05 at 05.53.00.png

Edited by Ivor Anderson
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On 11/04/2020 at 22:24, kenf48 said:

Mentioned in war diary on the day in the Gazette but no citation.

War diary entry from TNA - These 5 MMs were awarded together as their schedule numbers are consecutive, and are likely for the same action:

66243 Sgt. H. Britten 290

66244 Pte. Walter M. Ham 1276

66245 Pte. Ernest J. Buxton 890

66246 Sqdn S/M F. A. Goodman 91

66247 Sgt. Sydney L. Harding 1368Screen Shot 2021-08-05 at 06.39.55.png

Edited by Ivor Anderson
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The NSY WD records no actions during Jan-Mar 1916. I suspect the awards may be connected to the wounding in June 1915. F. A. Gooding 91 is listed as wounded in the same newspaper cutting reproduced in an earlier post. The NSY suffered significant casualties on 13 May 1915 near Ypres (3 officers killed & 8 wounded, 25 OR killed & 100 wounded). A MC and a DCM were awarded. If the MMs are retrospective it would be unusual, but it may explain the lack of earlier mention. The NSY WD is very uneventful from August-December 1916.

Looking at the CWGC most of those killed on 13 May 1915 were missing in action and named on the Menin Gate at Ypres.

The DCM was to L/Sgt. Arthur Ivan Chard 389 - Citation from LG 6 August 1915.

The MC to Lt. J. A. Garton in LG 3 July 1915 was very well earned: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29215/supplement/6536

(Capt. J. A. Garton was struck off strength on 17 Jan 1917 after being admitted to hospital on 1st Jan. 1917).

Screen Shot 2021-08-05 at 07.15.16.png

Screen Shot 2021-08-05 at 07.24.01.png

Screen Shot 2021-08-05 at 07.24.14.png

Edited by Ivor Anderson
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Their common register paper/AO ref '68/Gen No./2855' on the MM index cards looks unusual - could it be a general staff reference?

Some other MMs from the same LG, issued under same RP ref.

66263 Pte. A. Turner 1622, Leicestershire Yeo.

66264 Sgt. C. P. Garner 1882, Leicestershire Yeo.

66265 Cpl. H. T. Hack 1756, Leicestershire Yeo.

66268 Cpl. E. M. Knight 2005, Leicestershire Yeo.

66282 Sgt. F. Smy 1655, Essex Yeo.

66283 Sgt. R. D. Turnell 606, Essex Yeo.

6628? Sgt. J. E. F. Walker 767, Essex Yeo.

66285 Pte. A. Rolph 895, Essex Yeo. (Discharged).

66286 Pte. L. Howard 1625, Essex Yeo. (Discharged)

66287 Pte. E. Dorrington 1665, Essex Yeo.

Edited by Ivor Anderson
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