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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Death Plaque


topdeer

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I have now a death plaque Named to Brigadier General Edwin Hills Hazelton Died 24 July 1916 Royal Army Indian Veterinary Corps

that I am researching but I am not great on reading the Medal Index cards. I can't work out if he reserved a trio or just 

a pair of WW1 medals I have found most of his family history but no Service records on Ancestry or Find my past. Have found only one photo of him on a horse but are looking for a better one. Any help would be great 

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Neither the trio or the pair ...... according to his MIC he was awarded the single BWM for service on the Staff in India.

 

Edited by TullochArd
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...... I found 2 entries of earlier service (1893 to Capt RAVC followed by in 1903 to Lt Col RAVC on Staff in South Africa) in the London Gazette.  The latter is 1903 so we're not looking for any South Africa war medals although the handwritten notes on the photo you have suggests there may be a China War Medal 1900 (Relief of Pekin) in a drawer somewhere. 

 

The entry on his MIC of "28 Aug 1985" suggests that enquiries were made around this time.  I cannot confirm if the date "1922" is when the medal was despatched to his NOK as I do not have sight of the back of the MIC which usually has notes and an address.  Officers, or in this case the NOK of deceased officers, had to actually claim their medals.

 

His Great War service seems far less exciting than his early cricketing career.

 

 

Edited by TullochArd
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He was a high ranking officer so I would of thought he would get a good group of medals. I know he served in China and received the China war medal 1900

with Relief of Pekin & Defence of Legations bars.

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2 hours ago, topdeer said:

He was a high ranking officer so I would of thought he would get a good group of medals. I know he served in China and received the China war medal 1900

with Relief of Pekin & Defence of Legations bars.

Just the Relief of Pekin clasp. Not entitled to Defence of Legations.

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Careful Topdeer you will have the forum medal police after you for calling it the Death Plaque. 😂😂😂
Dead Man's Penny, Death Plaque or Death Penny as it is often called is frowned on my some forum members who only want it referred to as the Memorial Plaque which is its formal name.

Edited by Lawryleslie
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  • 9 months later...
On 18/12/2020 at 12:38, topdeer said:

I have now a death plaque Named to Brigadier General Edwin Hills Hazelton Died 24 July 1916 Royal Army Indian Veterinary Corps

that I am researching but I am not great on reading the Medal Index cards. I can't work out if he reserved a trio or just 

a pair of WW1 medals I have found most of his family history but no Service records on Ancestry or Find my past. Have found only one photo of him on a horse but are looking for a better one. Any help would be great 

Hi Topdeer

I have only just stumbled across this post, almost a year late. I have a couple of photos of this Officer which I have attached. The first is from the Veterinary Record in 1901 when he was part of a Military Delegation to Peking. The second is from the Veterinary Journal in 1916. I also have a short obituary for him from the Veterinary Record that I can send if of interest. 

I hope these photos are still of use to you and apologies for the quality, they are photos of the originals. 

Kind regards, Pete

93874843_HazeltonVRphoto2.JPG.ebfcf2505136e29fdfb9df84942c14e4.JPG1656106588_HazeltonVJphoto.JPG.8347a494f31fec8f227602db2822dd2d.JPG

 

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7 hours ago, topdeer said:

Hi Pete,

    These photos and anything else you have on him would still be of great use.

Thank you

Andrew

 

Hi Andrew, 

I've attached the Vet Record Obituary. It gives a reasonably good account of his career and the illness that led to his death. 

The photo from the Vet Journal in 1916 suggests he only had one medal at the point the photo was taken... not clear in the image but presumably this is the China War medal 1900 to which we know he was entitled. He must have been a much respected officer with the obituary suggesting that both the Commander in Chief, India and the Viceroy attended his funeral. 

I've also attached the full image of the photo taken in 1903. 

It may be of interest that Big Gen Hazelton is the highest ranking veterinary surgeon to be commemorated on the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons war memorial. 

Kind regards, Pete

 

 

 

 

194798988_HazeltonVRphoto.JPG.53a83b69683708483386fa60ee1f3dca.JPG1554790021_HazeltonVR.JPG.17e820f70646a8147eb9483d2624a959.JPG

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I may be wrong but my understanding is that the three terms to which you refer you note some  forumeers will find offensive.The terms were in common parlance during the Great War and used by those who served they also referred to Pip, Skweek and Wilfred without wishing to sound in the least insulting? One  of the few veterans I was fortunate to meet met  early in the days of the WFA the terms in conversation. Whilst the formal term may be preferable l cannot take any exception to the less formal terms being used I am afraid. 

Regards

David

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1 hour ago, David Filsell said:

I may be wrong but my understanding is that the three terms to which you refer you note some  forumeers will find offensive.The terms were in common parlance during the Great War and used by those who served they also referred to Pip, Skweek and Wilfred without wishing to sound in the least insulting? One  of the few veterans I was fortunate to meet met  early in the days of the WFA the terms in conversation. Whilst the formal term may be preferable l cannot take any exception to the less formal terms being used I am afraid. 

Regards

David

David,

Although the Memorial Plaque was designed in 1917, and chosen in early 1918 from a number of designs entered in an open competition during that year, the terms referred to would have only been used post WW1, because the Memorial Plaque was not issued to the next of kin until circa 1919 to 1923.

When I first started collecting seriously circa 1980 many dealers referred to the WW1 trio as Pip, Squeak and Wilfred and the WW1 pair as Mutt and Jeff, the use of such names was accepted as the norm for many years, but this has gradually died out and are rarely heard nowadays. The case for the Memorial Plaque is similar.

I don't believe that it is offensive to call either the plaque or the medals by other names, but really it makes sense to call them by their proper names--doesn't it?

Best,  Robert

Edited by Old Owl
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Robert,

Thanks for the corrective. My apologies. You are of course correct. I had totally overlooked /missed the fact that the Memorial Plaque was issued post war and winced at the error I had made . Certainly the few the veterans I spoke to used the term which led to conclude they had been used during the Great war. One frequently wore his trio to WFA meetings. and every pre Christmas meeting sang Ticklers Jam to great applause. I agree, proper names are preferable but since I know veterans used the unofficial terms openly I see no problem in them being  used. I have two my wall along with another framed trio, a Border Regiment cap badge, and a rather rarely found pair of  his St Dunstans badges. 

Regards 

David  

Edited by David Filsell
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