A six-medal group became a group of seven

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear All,

In a previous topic, I alluded to an unusual 15 Star reverse: W. O./F. R. SWYNNERTON, CUSTOMS DEPT. M.E.F. (in two lines.)

The young Swynnerton was indeed, pre-Great War, a lowly Customs wallah in Bombay. The following BWM and Victory are named 2 LIEUT F. R. SWYNNERTON. The IGS GVR 1908 with clasp Afgh NWF 1919 is more informative: LIEUT. F. R. SWYNNERTON, 2-56 PJBIS. He had taken leave from the Customs and joined the Indian Army Reserve of Officers (I.A.R.O.), attached the 2-56th Punjabi Rifles (F.F.) (Frontier Force). 

Williamson's "Guide" tells us that in 1918, when Swynnerton joined, the unit served in Mesopotamia.

I then (off-topic) discovered his RAFVR service in WWII (Flt Lt but retd as Sqn Ldr), adding a Def and War. THEN, thanks to the connections of the Great War Forum, I contacted the family (already, distinguished military and artistic relatives had been discovered, including a self-portrait of his father). This eventually led to my being kindly presented with four excellent Images of Frederick Richard Swynnerton: one with his war ribbons up, ca. 1945/46; 15 Trio, IGS, F&G Star, Def and War. I thereupon persuaded the local Greek tailor (I live in sw Germany), to graft in the France and Germany Star, between IGS and Defence. Reluctant at first, he made a decent enough job, as the result can be seen. Voila!

Kindest regards,

Kim. 

[headgardener]

Nice story. I have a 15 star to someone whose ‘unit’ is listed as “CUSTOMS DEPT.”. I was told when I bought it (about 30 years ago) that it was an Australian thing. Been meaning to research it, but life kept getting in the way. Completely forgot that I had it until it resurfaced yesterday. And now this.....! What’s the story?

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear headgardener,

I strongly suggest that you beam us on the GWF, a scan of your clearly quite rarely named 15 Star reverse, please!

'The story' is shrouded in mystery. This is how I dealt with it in my MSS:-

Young Frederick was educated in India. He was a Volunteer, spoke Urdu - and was employed with the Customs Preventive Service Department at Custom House Road, Bombay, as a Preventive Officer ‘Class 8^th’. (He was noted in the 1916 Thackers Directory as a ‘Cus. Offr.’ living at Custom House Road, Bombay.)

He apparently served in some military capacity as a ‘W/O’ (Warrant Officer?), Customs Department, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force – perhaps in Alexandria, or even Salonika – in 1915…

Swynnerton's 15 Star is not noted on his Medal Index Card, but (thanks to the RAFVR photos), he was obviously awarded same. Furthermore, his Customs bona fides were established.

As your kind contribution suggests, the Great War Forum is the best place to find out the minutae of such conundrums, which crop so often when researching 1914-1918...

Kindest regards,

Kim. 

[headgardener]

Bear in mind that if it IS an Australian award then it won't show on an Army Medal Office MIC. I recall that my man definitely isn't in the MIC's which supports the suggestion of the guy I bought it from that it was an Australian award associated with the Gallipoli campaign. That seems to tie in with your man's star which references 'M.E.F.'. 

I'll try to dig mine out again and take a photo. 

[headgardener]

Btw, I may be going a bit mad, but I think I can only see 6 ribbons on that photo of your man. It's hard to be certain, but the last medal on the top row looks like the IGS so the previous 3 must be the trio, and then there appears to be only 2 ribbons on the bottom row (War & Def in that order by the look of it).

[RNCVR]

Nice group & story Kim!

 

I think I am seeing same as headgardner - six(6) tunic ribbons:  in 1st row: 1914-15 star trio, IGS, then in 2nd row I am seeing what appears to be a F&G star plus either Defence or War but it sure appears to look like Defence colours.  Do you know when the photo was taken of him in that group as a Fl Lieut.?  Perhaps War medal had not yet been issued\authorized? 

 

Best Wishes!

Bryan

[headgardener]

I've found my original 'research' on my 'Customs Dept.' 15 star. 

I bought it 25 years ago from a dealer who got it from (IIRC) an older knowledge collector. The dealer told me at the time that he knew nothing about it beyond what he was told by the collector (remember that this was back in the days before Internet forums like this one, and 'the knowledge' was something that took years to accrue through visits to the PRO and from conversations with like-minded individuals). The dealer understood that starts like this were very rare and were awarded to customs officials from India and/or Australia (he wasn't certain about this point) who processed ships carrying men and materiel arriving at ports involved in the Gallipoli campaign (presumably Alexandria?) and Mesopotamia (presumably Basra?). He claimed that the number of men involved was very small, and the medals were issued by India and/or Australia. Since making those sparse notes I have failed to find out anything more regarding 'Customs Dept.' medals. I know that customs officials did operate in various overseas ports during the war, but as the war went on their role must have been taken over by the military authorities. I have only ever seen 2 'Customs Dept.' medals - my 1915 star and yours. I'm interested to note that the naming on your medal is different to mine, which I will take a photo of once I've found it. I've never seen a 'Customs Dept.' BWM or VM, and wonder whether they might have been named without reference to any unit.

The claim regarding the possible ports that these men worked from would make sense as there would have been relatively few opportunities for a customs official to qualify for a15 star (presumably the only British port facilities in war zones would have been F&F, Egypt, and Mesopotamia - and possibly Gallipoli, though I can't really imagine a civil servant walking around Suvla with a clipboard checking men and equipment as they were unloading....). 

Does anyone know anything more? 

 

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear All,

I am most pleased with the - perforce vague - description of the (rare) Customs Department involvement in (probably) the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign. 

Swynnerton's 1914-15 Star entry was presumably on an Indian Customs Dept. roll - tantalizingly not available (and ignored by the IARO-era administrators).

It is all rather like groping in the dark, however, the Star is happily confirmed by the photograph.

His ribbons are 15 Trio, IGS, F&G Star, Def. The War Medal ribbons were obviously not yet widely-spread when the ca. 1945-47 (?) picture was taken. The various ribbons of his colleagues can be seen in the full picture, attached: clearly an "end of War" situation. Some had (off-topic) managed a flight on Duty to the war zone, others, not. 

Kindest regards,

Kim.

[headgardener]

58 minutes ago, Kimberley John Lindsay said:

Some had (off-topic) managed a flight on Duty to the war zone, others, not. 

 

Pedants' corner:

That only applied to aircrew. 

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear headgardener,

I am wondering how I could have put it more accurately?

We have before us, a Wg Cdr., possibly two Sqn Ldrs.(one a First War pilot), and eight Flt Lts. (one a grounded Aircrew), all doing an Admin job  (see Swynnerton's End of War appointments.

Looking at their (off-topic) freshly-awarded ribbons, we see that some of those in the back row have a mixture of 1939-43 (later 1939-45) Star, France & Germany Star, Defence - and even one War Medal ribbon up.

These fellows were clearly urgently needed in Europe for Aministration jobs before the End in 1945, therefore qualifying for the F&G Star.

Being RAF, they were not sent by ship, but by the next-best aircraft, chosen from the countless aircraft doing that sort of trip in those days.

Kindest regards,

Kim.

[headgardener]

Don't worry Kim, I'm only being unnecessarily pedantic! I just meant that the 'single flight' in a war zone applied to air crew, and most of those men weren't aircrew so any service in the appropriate area(s) would be enough for them to qualify regardless of how they got there. I suspect that, as non-aircrew, their service once they arrived 'in theatre' would be the qualifying criteria rather than the flight there (if that's how they arrived). 

Now, to find that Customs Dept star of mine..... 

[TullochArd]

20 hours ago, Kimberley John Lindsay said:

Dear headgardener,

I strongly suggest that you beam us on the GWF, a scan of your clearly quite rarely named 15 Star reverse, please!

'The story' is shrouded in mystery. This is how I dealt with it in my MSS:-

Young Frederick was educated in India. He was a Volunteer, spoke Urdu - and was employed with the Customs Preventive Service Department at Custom House Road, Bombay, as a Preventive Officer ‘Class 8^th’. (He was noted in the 1916 Thackers Directory as a ‘Cus. Offr.’ living at Custom House Road, Bombay.)

He apparently served in some military capacity as a ‘W/O’ (Warrant Officer?), Customs Department, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force – perhaps in Alexandria, or even Salonika – in 1915…

Swynnerton's 15 Star is not noted on his Medal Index Card, but (thanks to the RAFVR photos), he was obviously awarded same. Furthermore, his Customs bona fides were established.

As your kind contribution suggests, the Great War Forum is the best place to find out the minutae of such conundrums, which crop so often when researching 1914-1918...

Kindest regards,

Kim. 

 

Is this not 2Lt FR Swynnerton IARO died 18 Dec 1918 and buried/commemorated on Kirkee Memorial, India Face F?

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear TullochArd,

Could you show us all your reference, please?

I attach a London Gazette entry which referred to the erstwhile Customs F. R. Swynnerton.

Kindest regards,

Kim.

[TullochArd]

33 minutes ago, Kimberley John Lindsay said:

Dear TullochArd,

Could you show us all your reference, please?

I attach a London Gazette entry which referred to the erstwhile Customs F. R. Swynnerton.

Kindest regards,

Kim.

 

Clearly not the same FR Swynnerton IARO if he's around in 1920 Kim.  The F (not FR) Swynnerton IARO I refer to is deceased 1918 and is at https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1482103/

 

Regards

 

Ian

Edited 21 August , 2020 by TullochArd
F not FR

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear Ian,

Ah, F. Swynnerton! Deceased 18 December 1918 (disease?)...

I found him in the Index of the Indian Army List of July 1918, but only there: the relevant page of 206g did not carry him.

Kindest regards,

Kim.

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear All,

I idly typed in Customs Department and Bingo! - got this:-

 

An extremely rare unit Great War trio for service in German East Africa...: 1914-15 Star (W.O./G. Nelmes, CUSTOMS. DEPT. M.E.F.). British War Medal 1914-1918 (8  120 VOL G. Nelmes. BOMBAY BN I. D. F.). British issue Allied Victory Medal 1914-1919 (W.O.  G. Nelmes. CVL. ADMN. M.E.F.).  Customs Officer, for the Customs Department, Bombay, who also served as a Volunteer with the Bombay Battalion Indian Defence Force, and also a Civilian Administrator for the (Indian) Military Expeditionary Force in East Africa.  George William Godfrey Nelmes 

George William Godfrey Nelmes was a Customs Officer with the Bombay Military and Civil Administration based at the New Customs Home Wilson Road, Ballard Estate, Bombay, located in that part of the old Britannia port area, now known as Mumbai. As a Officer in the Customs Department George William Godfrey Nelmes served with the Indian Defence Force in German East Africa from July 1915. While still as Officer in the Customs Department he was to serve holding military Warrant Officer status still with the Bombay Customs with the Bombay Battalion of the Indian Defence Force, yet also as a Civilian Administrator with the Military Expeditionary Force. On his MIC he was only allowed due to the unusual nature of his overseas service to be credited with the rank of Private in all his capacities. His 1914-15 trio was issued by the Government of India which was issued in 1922. With his MIC and a copy of page 136 of the Indian Customs Register of European Personal. Medals retaining their original ribbons are deep toned with his BWM black otherwise good V.F. and extremely rare.   

Of course that was a great surprise, when one was thinking of Gallipoli, but certainly not GEA (nor do I have any MIC or information about Swynnerton, ca. 1915). However, Swynnerton was certainly with the Bombay Customs. The G. W. G. Nelmes MIC and the p. 136 Ind. Customs Reg. European Personnel, as well, naturally (!).

Kindest regards,

Kim.

[headgardener]

Well, that is extremely interesting - partly because it looks like my man might be listed directly after yours (the initials aren't right, but could be a typo, my man's initials are 'W. H.'). That seems to indicate that 'M.E.F' stands for MILITARY Expeditionary Force. 

So what would the apparent rank ('W.O') stand for? 

My star is different to both of these in that my man does not have any 'rank' and the abbreviation 'M.E.F.' isn't included. 

Will post a photo when I find it. 

[headgardener]

Did you notice your man's name on that page from the Customs Dept, btw? 

[headgardener]

I've just looked at that other guy's MIC - it's different to yours - it only shows entitlement to the 15 star (no ref to BWM or VM) , entry into E Africa in Jul 1915, star to be issued by Govt of India. The reference in that medal listing you posted regarding his rank of 'Pte' related to his service with Bombay Port Defences rather than his Customs Department. 

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear headgardner,

Yes, the Nelmes MIC shows entitlemnt to his 15 Star only; the Swynnertin MIC concerns only his IARO service for BWM and Victory.

The Custom House Road list does not include Nelmes (who says medal research is easy?), but does included F. R. Swynnerton, 8th Class (!), and H. A. (aka W. H. (?)) Hallahan.

The Nelmes page 136 is from Thackers Directory, not a Customs Register...

Having said that, it seems as if hard and fast documentation of the first, disastrous, GEA expedition, is sparse...

Unless, that is, a knowledgeable GWF member can help us.

AND, when headgardner (aka You) finds, and scans, his 15 Star to Customs Dept. Hallahan!

Kindest regards,

Kim.

[TullochArd]

2Lt FR Swynnerton's BWM and BVM are on an India Office MIC claimed/despatched in 1924 to 24 Aldridge Rd Villas, Wishbourne Pk, W.11. 

 

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7567568

 

I don't have access to NA (and therefore the back page of this MIC) which may possibly mention detail of his Star ........ as with Nelmes? 

 

 

 

 

[TullochArd]

 

On 21/08/2020 at 22:31, Kimberley John Lindsay said:

Dear Ian,

Ah, F. Swynnerton! Deceased 18 December 1918 (disease?)...

I found him in the Index of the Indian Army List of July 1918, but only there: the relevant page of 206g did not carry him.

Kindest regards,

Kim.

 

Dear Kim,

 

Many thanks.  Now, let's call it eliminating potential routes of inquiry, rather than admitting to drifting off post, I'm guessing by your F. Swynnerton (exclamation mark) above you've been down several rabbit holes on this one? 

 

So before I go down a similar rabbit hole:

 

I've got an 7627 Vol. F. Swinnerton (sic) IDF on an India Office MIC for a single BWM at the link below:

 

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7567558

 

Then later we have deceased 2Lt F. Swynnerton IARO attd. Postal Censors Dept. with no obvious medal entitlement at:

 

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/1482103/

 

........ so unravelling Vol. F. Swinnerton IDF and 2Lt F. Swynnerton IARO (neither being the original post subject F.R. Swynnerton) did you come across any detail that might suggest these two are connected?

 

I say this because it seems curious that deceased Swynnerton has no BWM entitlement for his service in India ........... which is perhaps explained should the medal have been issued in an initial rank of Volunteer?

 

Regarding the Swinn and Swynn variations if 2Lt (deceased) is 7627 Volunteer he would not have been in a position to dispute the error in the 1920's.  

 

Regards

 

Ian

 

 

[headgardener]

20 minutes ago, TullochArd said:

 

..... it seems curious that deceased Swynnerton has no BWM entitlement for his service in India ........... which is perhaps explained should the medal have been issued in an initial rank of Volunteer?

 

 

A point that I've never considered is whether a British Indian official or military person (or perhaps both in the case of the Indian version of the VTC?) would be entitled to a BWM if their service was wholly in India. I think British military personnel got a BWM for, essentially, arriving in India from the UK after the outbreak of war or for already being stationed in India on the outbreak of war. Would that necessarily apply to non-UK-resident Brits already in India who joined up after the outbreak of war but who never left India during their period of service? Maybe that might explain why Sw(i/y)nnerton isn't in the MIC's? 

Edited 23 August , 2020 by headgardener

[Kimberley John Lindsay]

Dear All,

Apparently the Nelmes papers were found in India: at the old Calcutta Office Register (!).

Where a Nelmes is, is quite possibly also a Swynnerton...!

I live in sw Germany, so the chance of dropping by the old Calcutta (sorry: new Kolkata) Office Register during office hours is rather slight.

All rather on the frustrating side, as is often the case with Medal Research - or just plain Research, even.

At least I have photos of F. R. Swynnerton (for example non-topic 1940 as P/O RAFVR with ribbons up!).

Kindest regards,

Kim. 

[headgardener]

There's likely to be some info on these men in the India Office Collection in the British Library here in London - I would offer to look for you, but my readers ticket has expired, and in any case I don't think they're open atm due to bloody Covid 19. The IO collection is amazing, though. It's a must of you have an interest in IA or IARO personnel.