Gt gt gt Uncles Medals

[Jamieatto]

Good evening all,

 

Thank you for allowing me to join your forum.

I have recently started my family history search and as above my 3 x great uncle served and was killed in action during Battle of North Ancre on 03/09/1916. I have conducted a google search and have found his death penny and medals were sold on in 2013 in an online auction.

 

long shot I know but if anyone knows or has these medals or death penny I would like to buy them back so they can be placed into a little memorial frame.

 

I can prove any appropriate lineage or can answer any questions.

 

below is the screenshot of the sale from the auction site.

 

Thank you all.

Jamie

[chaz]

Might be a long shot , but ask the auctioneers. They may have a note of name,

otherwise, the Britishmedalforum has a looking for family section.

if priced low, a dealer may have bought to sell on, so set up an eBay search or google search.

 

 

dont give up , it's taken many years but I've finally got three of my great uncles groups this year. Two to go...

Edited 7 June , 2020 by chaz

[PRC]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

 

While there are a number of medal collectors on the forum, my understanding is that the British Medal Forum runs an area for those looking to be reunited with family medals, so may be worth trying them as well.

https://britishmedalforum.com/ucp.php?mode=register

 

As the auction header says, your three times great uncle actually died of wounds, (source Soldiers Died in the Great War), rather than killed in action. If you have a look at his webpage on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2853229/atkinson,-arthur/ and scroll down to the bottom you will see there is a tab headed "Concentration". The original document you can see there shows that his body was exhumed from Beaucourt Cemetery, (Map Reference Sheet 57d. Q. 18.b.5.6) in late 1919 and moved to its current resting place at Ancre British Cemetery, Beaumont Hamel. Incidentally the Concentration Report gives the map reference for the new Cemetery as Sheet 57d.Q.17.d.9.1 Of the 10 bodies recovered from this location, only two were named, (one totally incorrectly) and the grave marker for Arthur only had his service number and so originally he was recorded as an unknown British Soldier. It's worth a look at the tab "Grave Registration" to see some brief notes on attempts to identify those men.

There are applications like Tmapper and forum members that can make more sense of those co-ordinates than I can

 

So unless his grave marker was destroyed in the subsequent fighting, it seems odd that he was recorded as died of wounds. Just in case he was originally reported missing I also checked out the website of the International Committee of the Red Cross but there is nothing obvious there for an Arthur Atkinson of the KRRC.

 

I can see surviving service records for him on FindMyPast and they should be on Ancestry as well. These do indeed show he was originally recorded as missing - the first report says wounded and missing. The records also included Form W.5080, a post-war declaration by the next of kin of all the immediate relatives who were still alive, which can be a goldmine if you are researching your family history.

 

There is a possibility that originally he was buried by the Germans - the Ancre Cemetery wasn't created until after the fall of Beaumont Hamel in November, so the area was still hotly contested at the time of Arthurs' death.

 

To the best of my knowledge in the official nomenclature there is no Battle of North Ancre. In fact the the four day Battle of Guillemont commenced on the 3rd September 1916. 17th Battalion, KRRC were in 117th Brigade, 39th Division. They were in reserve on the 3rd as the 16th KRRC and 17th Sherwood Foresters attacked to the north of the River Ancre alongside two battalions of the 116th Brigade, but would have been close to the front line, exposed to the artillery fire as the Germans tried to cut of the advancing troops from supply and support, and expected to provide carrying parties. All but one of the units were unsuccessful in their attack on this day and all ended up back at the start line.

 

War Diaries are currently free to download from the National Archive if you register with them. It almost certainly won't mention your relative by name, but will give you a picture of what they were up to.

 

I believe this is the one you want although sometimes it can be better to go for the brigade one for the period you are interested in https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7354218

 

Good luck with your search,

Peter

 

 

[Jamieatto]

WOW @PRC Thank you so much...there is so much information here for me to look into...I am so grateful!!

 

@Chas Thank you. I have emailed the auctioneers to see what they can do. I have also emailed a quite reputable medal dealer from the Bromley, Kent area to see if they are able to try and locate them. Thank you all so much for your helps..Great forum also guys and girls I will be looking daily at this for all my information.

 

Thanks

Jamie

 

 

[travers61]

If you belong to ancestry you can write a comment (top R/H of screen) by any record relating to him expressing your interest.  This should be seen by anyone who maybe browses his records there. If they were up for sale again potential purchasers may see this comment & alert you.

[Jamieatto]

Thank you @travers61 I will do this now. I have had an email from auction house and they have stated that due to the sale being 7 years ago they have no record of seller or vendor.

 

Im really stuck now!!

[Coldstreamer]

you are lucky that you know the medals are most likely still about

 

also try the magazine Medal News

[Knotty]

Hi Jamieatto

I have also looked on the Forum thread https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/52929-here-is-a-list-of-the-names-on-my/page/21/?tab=comments#comment-2020394.

 to check if anyone has them, unfortunately there are no medals registered in the name of Arthur Atkinson.

Members of the Forum can register, if they wish, medals that they have in their possession or have passed on. I took on the task of updating the listings and I created a link to the lists on post #764. 
I have to admit that there has been very little to add, and I have yet to log any of the latest inclusions. Don’t worry I have checked on them to see if they were there as well.

 

John

 

 

 

 

Edited 8 June , 2020 by Knotty

[Jamieatto]

36 minutes ago, Coldstreamer said:

you are lucky that you know the medals are most likely still about

 

also try the magazine Medal News

Thank you, I have registered with the magazine and completed an online and hard cover request.

3 minutes ago, Knotty said:

Hi Jamieatto

I have also looked on the Forum thread https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/52929-here-is-a-list-of-the-names-on-my/page/21/?tab=comments#comment-2020394.

 to check if anyone has them, unfortunately there is no medals registered in the name of Arthur Atkinson.

Members of the Forum can register, if they wish, medals that they have in their possession or have passed on. I took on the task of updating and I created a link to the lists on post #764. 
I have to admit that there has been very little to add, and I have yet to log the latest inclusions, I have checked to see if they were there as well.

 

John

 

 

 

 

Hi John,

 

thank you very much for your assistance.

 

It is greatly appreciated.