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military medal


kemp52

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 Hello everyone at the Forum l ,Forgive  me if ive mentioned this before but im now back on the trail  researching a Military Medal It was awarded to Harold Meadows  240105 of the  1/5th and 1/9th KOYLI  in the London Gazette  on 01/09/1916. Apart from the Name, Rank, Regiment  and number would there be details held anywhere as to the  Bravery dates citation for this Military Medal award .

Best Wishes ,Andy kemp

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Hi Andy,

 

All the citation were destroyed in WW2.

 

The best bet for finding a citation is the local newspapers although they are sometimes (not often) mentioned in the War Diary.

 

As a rule of thumb (but not always accurate) the award was made about 3 months after the deed,

 

Regards,

 

Graeme

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The first thing I would do is download the MM Medal index card which will confirm whether he was serving with 1/5th or 9th when the action for the award took place. 

Second thing, once the battalion has been established from step 1, is to look for the war diary.

 

Wasn't the 9th a service battalion? in which case it would be 9th not 1/9th?

 

Alan.

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4 minutes ago, GraemeClarke said:

As a rule of thumb (but not always accurate) the award was made about 3 months after the deed,

 

Both 1/5th and 9th were on the Somme, so could be an early July award. 

 

Alan.

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There is a service record HERE

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Download the MM card, from TNA, as it’s free at present. Then Note the schedule number. You will then hope that a kind person, on here, sees it and they can give you a window of when it was awarded. Then check the war diaries for his battalion and division in the hope something might be recorded.

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I'm sure you are aware that he 'died at home of gas poisoning' at 18 Station Lane, Featherstone, Pontefract, on 17 March 1919 and is buried in North Featherstone Cemetery, Row 69, grave 21 (CWGC): https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/75197528/meadows,-harold/

Married Q1 1914 to Ethel Heptinstall (Hemsworth district). Daughter Ivy b.1-12-1914. Detailed service & pension records on Ancestry.

His MM index card is very sparse on detail. On NA under Cpl. H. Meadows 1/5 Bn., service no. 1894 - no schedule no. on it.

Howard Williamson says that the 1.9.1916 Gazette was for 25 June to 29 July. Largely the 1st four weeks of the Somme (1-29 July).

War diary for 1/5th Battalion for June-August 1916 is definitely worth a look: available to download here (FREE at minute!): 

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7354672

 

His MM is listed in the Sheffield Independent & Leeds Mercury on Thursday 24 August 1916, and the Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough on Saturday 02 September 1916.

Edited by Ivor Anderson
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58 minutes ago, Ivor Anderson said:

Leeds Mercury on Thursday 24 August 1916

Interestingly this paper says he was with 'Infantry Brigade Headquarters' ?

So worth a look at the Brigade Diary. May have been a runner ?

 

Charlie

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Gosh this is all most interesting ,how do i find the  Daily gazette ,Leeds Mercury and Sheffield Independant ? I shall download the War Diary for a good read .

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1/5th Suffolks were part of 148 Brigade, 49th Division.

The Brigade HQ War Diary is available at National Archives. It is split in two, just over the period you are interested in ! But free download so go for it. There is a very good write up of the July actions.  There are some MM citations even, but I could not see Meadows, neither in July nor August ?

 

Oct 1915 to July 1916  here

August 1916 to April 1917 here

 

I looked at the version that is on Ancestry (which is not split). I noticed that the July Appendices and write-up of action are actually before the main war diary. ie the papers are a bit muddled.

The 148 Brigade HQ Diary on Ancestry for July 1916 starts here

 

Charlie

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Thankyou everyone ever so much for helping me in my research .I have downloaded the 1/5th war Diary and also have found no mention of Pte H Meadows but ive found the day to day events very interesting .  Family history says that the  MM award was given as H . Meadows and two other soldiers of 1/5th KOYLI left the trenches under fire to help an Officer who had been left wounded in No Mans Land  .The two others soldiers were shot and killed and H Meadows carried the Officer under fire back to the Front Line and safety .

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If the 1-9-1916 Gazette covered awards from 25 June then an individual action like that could be mentioned at the end of the June 1916 war diary.

Unfortunately June does not seem to be available at the minute?

 

p.s. I notice that the 1-9-1916 Gazette supplement has 17 MMs awarded to 'York L.I.' - considering that it is a relatively short issue at 8 pages.

Most of them are to 1/4 battalion, but the following 4 were awarded to 1/5 (in addition to Harold Meadow's):

Pte. W. H. Addy 3064; Sjt. A. E. Brignell 2385; Pte. A. Davy 3699 and Cpl. J. T. Fletcher 2534.

Edited by Ivor Anderson
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Hi Andy,

 

It seems like he was previously numbered 1894.

image.png.ea9300cddbb0ad51039935f8372dc402.png

Image sourced from Ancestry

 

Routine Orders in the Divisional A&Q diary (Ancestry link) show:

image.png.b63d33e7da5c4719df6a77cb90098803.png

Image sourced from Ancestry

 

So rather than his Bn, it looks like he was serving with the Bde HQ at the time of his medal action.

 

I also thought that these might be of some interest - I haven't seen pension awards on FMP before.

image.png.2814dce67345dc821fd423ca2bab515b.png

 

image.png.1f298323a6028b13a5214cf320ad0047.png

Images sourced from Findmypast

 

Regards

Chris

Edited by clk
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Thank you ever so much you really are most kind to send these wonderful things to me .Best Wishes Andy .

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Hello again ,thankyou  again for the documents . May i ask that if the Corps Commander was going to present the MM Brooch on the 1st August would that in fact be a different decoration to the Actual MM that im sure was delivered to his Widow ? Thankyou ,Andy .

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Hi Andy,

 

From his service file, it looks like the actual medal was sent out, and 'signed for' on 31.3.1918.

image.png.ba857132318860e7ca4f48d5a75a34ce.png

Image sourced from Findmypast

 

Regards

Chris

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3 hours ago, clk said:

So rather than his Bn, it looks like he was serving with the Bde HQ at the time of his medal action.

see post 9 and 12 above

 

The Bde Diary does mention the name of a 1/5th officer attached to Bde; Could Meadows have been his servant ?

Edited by charlie962
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On 07/07/2020 at 20:29, Ivor Anderson said:

I'm sure you are aware that he 'died at home of gas poisoning'

Can I ask the source for that?

The Death Certificate says:

1) Acute Rheumatism (Presumably heart failure due to valve complications of Rheumatic Fever)

2) Morbus Cordis (A vague diagnosis roughly equating to 'Heart Disease'.

No mention of gas, but the death was deemed due to or aggravated by military service, as he was commemorated by CWGC and his family was awarded a pension.

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8 minutes ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

Can I ask the source for that?

 

Sure. It was a statement by his wife in a letter claiming a bronze death plaque (part of his service record on Ancestry):

 

Screen Shot 2020-07-09 at 19.20.06.png

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Harold Meadows died of VDH Vascular Disease of the Heart  caused by Gas 1915 perhaps ,date unsure but Gas <Phosgene ? > for sure 

Mitral murmour of the valve ,Severe pain in the perecardia <Heart Sac > and ascilla  left armpit problems with glands etc etc 

Edited by kemp52
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38 minutes ago, kemp52 said:

Harold Meadows died of VDH Vascular Disease of the Heart 

 

A pedant writes......

It’s ‘Valvular Disease of the  Heart’

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6 hours ago, kemp52 said:

Family history says that the  MM award was given as H . Meadows and two other soldiers of 1/5th KOYLI left the trenches under fire to help an Officer who had been left wounded in No Mans Land  .The two others soldiers were shot and killed and H Meadows carried the Officer under fire back to the Front Line and safety .

Here is a list of 1/5th Officer Casualties 1/7-3/8/16: (courtesy Ancestry and National Archives War Diaries)

1529486048_GWFMeadowsHKOYLIOfficersWoundedJuly1916.JPG.3b09e9509462f4b49e1d9ee4db03ae22.JPG

 

The other Ranks casualties in that period for the Battalion seem to be of the order of 57 killed,  250 wounded and  53 missing.

 

So a lot of work to do finding suitable matches ? The date of wounding of officers should appear in War Diary and the circumstances. Then perhaps CWGC/SDGW for a list of ORS killed in Action that day ? And we don't even know if the officer rescued was 1/5th Bn !

 

Charlie

 

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Thankyou for this , it sure is going to need some good detective work .Ive seen also in the diary that Lt J N Walker was KIA in Spayside ? I think thats a place within Theipval Wood  ?.

22 minutes ago, headgardener said:

 

A pedant writes......

It’s ‘Valvular Disease of the  Heart’

Ah i was close ,thankyou . 

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