Mentioned In Despatches

[eagleeye]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me where I can find out the circumstances that led up to the awarding of an MID.

I have looked at the London Gazette, it is mentioned in there, but there are no details of the particluar action, only a brief extract of Sir Ian Hamiltons report.

Any ideas

Thanks

Rod

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

Mention in Despatches,were basically just that,"A Mention",& it its rare to find any details of the action or deed that warranted it,often they were sent in for men who had given stalwart service for a long period,as well as specific gallant acts,there were many thousands of "Mentions" & for the powers that be to have noted every act would have filled many volumes,it wasn't even done for all MCs & hardly ever for MMs,

Remember that the London Gazette date for MiDs is a collation of Mentions covering a Period by the Recommending GOC & save for a few early Mentions of 1914,no "Action" as such is given,rather "operations in, to & from" so it might be difficult to pin point a particular action from a LG Date or Mention Date{The Certificates state " Gen;/FM So & so's Despatch of X of Month 19XX"}

[ALANJONES]

It might be worth looking at War Diaries of the unit or next higher formation to see if they describe the action or circumstances - an outside chance is that there is a citation.

Alan