Military Medal Inscription Naming Machine

[TEW]

There's a recent topic that has BWM & Victory to the same name & number but different units. If the pair were impressed simultaneously someone was having a bad day.

TEW

[collectorsguide]

I have put a full reply to this on Graz's post. He states the BWM has the regiment RENAMED so it would have been originally impressed KSLI the same as the VM.

I also reiterate :THE WAR OFFICE CONTRACT WITH THE ENGRAVERS CLEARLY STATES THE BWM/VM MEDALS ARE TO BE NAMED SIMULTANEOUSLY.(For reasons of economy)

                    best w, Howard

[Andrew Upton]

On 05/10/2021 at 20:12, Andrew Upton said:

This may be partially true, but I have also seen original pairs with the same mistake/crooked letter/more deeply impressed letter/etc etc on both the BWM and VM, which would show that they were both named on the same machine, one after the other. My own great-grandfathers brothers pair are like this (his surname mispelled as DeRsley instead of DeNsley and identical lighter/heavier letter stampings on both).

 

11 hours ago, collectorsguide said:

...The medals were named on separate machines to save time adjusting the clamp to accomodate the different suspensions....

As I said above, this may be true in SOME cases but is clearly not true in ALL cases. Just like a typewriter it is clearly impossible that two seperate machines working independently would develop the exact same quirks at the exact same time. In the case of my great-grandfathers brothers BWM and VM pair that were issued posthumously to his widow in the early 1920's "SIMULTANEOUSLY.(For reasons of economy)" clearly meant one after the other on the same machine.

Edit - another example. BWM and VM of 69759 Gnr. Arthur Upton of the RGA. Note especially the identically more heavily stamped number 7 and particularly the letter T in BOTH namings:

Edited 17 October , 2021 by Andrew Upton

[collectorsguide]

The machines were identical and presumably gave identical results ?

[butler]

There were times when the BWM and Victory medal were issued separately, with two receipts for the medals, a couple of months apart existing in the remaining service record of the soldiers concerned. This is often the case with Hampshire Regiment soldiers who formed the Labour Companies of the Hampshire Regiment before being transferred to the Labour Corps.

There are also soldiers whose BWM and Victory medals were issued from different rolls, where the BWM was earnt though service in India, and the Victory medal was issued for service with the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force, although I cannot confirm that they were not issued together as a pair.

 

[collectorsguide]

There will number of anomalies with around 5,000,000 awards. To save post and admin costs both trios and pairs were sent out together when available.The stars for example being held at the record office until the BWM/VMs were ready. A generally unsuccessful attempt was made to send out BWMs where it was the only entitlement ,while waiting for the manufacture of the VMs .1914 stars were sent out largely as singles as were many 15 stars. The single 15 stars MICs were written in red ink (14 stars in black ink) with the issue of BWM VMs recorded in blue ink.Trios issued together are often shown all in blue within a bracket. 

                            Whatever the rules and conventions with WW1 medals you can always be sure there are exceptions to the rule ,often employed with expediency in mind. 

                 best w, Howard

[Andrew Upton]

Another good example currently on Ebay clearly illustrating an example of the BWM and VM being stamped on the same machine, with the exact same faults visible in the naming of both. In this case, a late WW2 reissue pair:

[Andrew Upton]

On 26/10/2021 at 14:38, Andrew Upton said:

...Another good example currently on Ebay clearly illustrating an example of the BWM and VM being stamped on the same machine, with the exact same faults visible in the naming of both...

Yet another good example from a recent auction - the BWM and VM of the 1914-15 Star trio of 2275 Cpl E. H. Watson, Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars). Note the same heavier/crooked L in CPL, the heavier T in WATSON, etc etc:

 

Edited 4 November , 2021 by Andrew Upton