Prisoner of War Medal(s) [and related alternative Letter(s) of Thanks]

[Matlock1418]

 

Recently found this MIC amongst the usual one at Ancestry/Fold3 [British WW1 Medal Rolls Index Cards]

BERLANGER, Leon. - appears to have been put up for a "Letter of Thanks" [as a "PoW Helper" it would likely seem I guess] - whether he got one is unknown.

Image courtesy of Ancestry/Fold3

 

I wondered more widely what a "Prisoner of War Medal" was. ???

Origins and eligibility etc.?

:-) M

 

 

Edited 29 January , 2021 by Matlock1418

[Keith_history_buff]

Hope this is of interest
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_Subjects'_Medal

 

ALLIED SUBJECTS MEDAL (PRISONERS OF WAR HELPERS)

'Shortly after the cessation of the First World War it was proposed that services rendered to the Allied cause, specifically by those who had helped British prisoners of war to escape, should be rewarded by a medal. The decision to go ahead was delayed on account of disagreement between the War Office and the Foreign Office, but eventually the first awards were announced in November 1920, with supplementary lists in 1921 and 1922, Medals were issued unnamed and almost half of the total issue, namely 56 silver and 247 bronze medals, were issued to women.' The medal roll is available via Ancestry's "UK, WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920" data set.

[Matlock1418]

8 minutes ago, Keith_history_buff said:

Hope this is of interest

Thanks - Wiki had previously been consulted.

However it does not really explain the details of its origins and implementation in the level of detail normally/often expected by GWF members.

The hunt goes on ...

:-) M

[Alan24]

There is a 'Medal Roll' Here

 

All in the Roll are shown as French or Belgian. 

 

Edited 29 January , 2021 by Alan24

[Alan24]

On the above Roll, 

M = Silver Medal

m = Bronze Medal

LT = Letter of Thanks

 

So it looks like he didn't actually receive a medal, just a letter. 

 

[Matlock1418]

3 minutes ago, Alan24 said:

On the above Roll, 

M = Silver Medal

m = Bronze Medal

LT = Letter of Thanks

 

So it looks like he didn't actually receive a medal, just a letter.

Alan,

Thanks for your valuable input.

The suggestion from the MIC was that the was only going to get a letter.

= Has any one seen, or better still got, an example letter they can please share with us?

:-) M

[Keith_history_buff]

In addition to a total of 104 silver medals & 525 bronze medals, 1055 letters of thanks were sent. (Source: British Gallantry Awards authored by Peter Duckers.)

[Matlock1418]

1 hour ago, Keith_history_buff said:

Medals were issued unnamed and almost half of the total issue, namely 56 silver and 247 bronze medals, were issued to women.'

 

9 minutes ago, Keith_history_buff said:

In addition to a total of 104 silver medals & 525 bronze medals, 1055 letters of thanks were sent. (Source: British Gallantry Awards authored by Peter Duckers.)

Thanks again Keith.

Admittedly, the maths doesn't work quite exactly - but interesting never the less.

One might easily speculate that generally the recipients were women and older boys & old men as the young men were probably otherwise engaged in more martial war activities.

:-) M

[Keith_history_buff]

If 56 silver medals were issued to women, it would be safe to speculate that 48 were issued to male recipients.

[RNCVR]

Basically the description of the Allied Subjects Medal in the 'Medal Yearbook' (2017) says the same as Keith has already posted above,

but here is a photo of the medal & ribbon.

Edited 29 January , 2021 by RNCVR

[Keith_history_buff]

Bryan, thank you for taking the time to share images and text (on a fair use basis) from one of the august publications on WW1 medals that are used as go-to reference materials (Medal Yearbook, BB&M, British Gallantry Awards, Ribbons & Medals, Great War Medal Collectors Companion).

Thanks
Keith

[Hedley Malloch]

Just come across this. To thank those non-British subject who had helped 'PoWs', (many of whom were soldiers on the run, who never saw the inside of a PoW camp), the British Government institute a hierarch of awards, namely:

CBE and Letter of Thanks

OBE and Letter of Thanks

Allied Prisoner of War Helpers silver medal and Letter of Thanks - see above. 134 awarded.

MBE and Letter of Thanks

The Medal of the British Empire and Letter of Thanks

Allied Prisoner of War Helpers bronze medal and Letter of Thanks - c570 awarded.

Letter of Thanks

There is a register with all their names and awards at TNA WO 329/2957. Prisoner of War Helpers Medal. 1914-1920. It has some 800+ names.

Many of the awards went to women for the reason that most of the men were away in their armies or working in German-organised labour battalions. The two medals were originally designated as 'gold' and 'silver' but were downgraded to 'silver' and 'bronze' on grounds of cost. The awards process was shot through with British notions of class and status. For example, the Army Council did not want the 'medals' to be awarded as medals since, in their view, medals could only be awarded to properly qualified soldiers - you know, British blokes carrying rifles and wearing uniforms. As a result, the 'medal' was designed to be hung around the neck, rather than mounted on the breast. For many of the French and Belgian recipients, this made them look like the type of award given out as 3rd prize in the local village pétanque competition and they were thrown away in the back of drawer. For this reason, they were sometimes cheaper to buy in France or Belgium than in the UK. I think there were 16 recipient of OBEs, but some of these were downgraded to silver because they had died in the interim, some with the help of a German firing squad. Membership of an Order can only be given to the living and not the dead, so no OBEs for the deceased shot by the Germans. Tough. 

There is at least one very brave Frenchwoman who received a bronze medal but merited much more, who never received her proper recognition because I suspect she was black-balled by one of the British officers for whom she had risked her life to save. He dismissed her as a mercenary. Other recipients were well-networked into the British political establishment and come the time for recommendations for awards, they appear to have marked their own homework.

 

Edited 10 April , 2022 by Hedley Malloch