Military Cross for Pell, Morley & Partridge - 1st Bn Dorsets 1915

[cpnorfolk]

Following on from the id of RSM Pell in the "1st Bn Dorsets football team 1913/14" thread:

The Supplement to the London Gazette, 23rd June 1915 which announces the award of the Military Cross to RSM Pell includes my grandfather and two other officers in the same group:

"Awarded the Military Cross

Captain R.E. Partridge.

Second Lieutenant F.J. Morley.

Second Lieutenant C.H. Morris.

No. 3537 Serjeant-Major J. Pell."

For clarity attached are photos of RSM Pell, standing centre, from the football team photo and one of my grandfather, left and Morley, right.

Apologies if this is a thoroughly ignorant question: Were the reasons for the recommendation of an award published? I only have a handwritten copy of Bols's recommendation for my grandfather - see attached. If they were published how would I find the recommendations for Pell and Morley?

[Coldstreamer]

 

you might find something in war diary 

Edited 7 January , 2022 by Coldstreamer

[Coldstreamer]

Have you looked in the London gazette for the citation? Not all are there mind

[helpjpl]

 

1.  Joseph Pell was Mentioned in Despatches for gallant and distinguished service in the field and this was recorded in the London Gazette of 22 June 1915.

a) page 5975

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29200/supplement/1

b)  page 5997

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29200/supplement/1

 

2.  Mentioned in Despatches:

Servicemen and women of the British Empire or the Commonwealth who are mentioned in despatches (MiD) are not awarded a medal for their actions, but receive a certificate and wear an oak leaf device on the ribbon of the appropriate campaign medal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentioned_in_dispatches

 

3.  Joseph applied for his oak leaf clasp on 11 Feb 1920 and this was issued 03 March 1920:

JP

[helpjpl]

1.  Mentioned in Despatches:

Richard Everlegh Partridge was MiD in 1915 (see previous post for London Gazette entry) and again in 1917:

London Gazette 1917 - see page 200:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29890/supplement/1

 

2.  Military Cross 

1915 (King's) Birthday Honours:

• 2nd Lieutenant F. J. Morley, Dorsetshire Regiment
• 2nd Lieutenant C. H. Morris, Dorsetshire Regiment
• Captain R. E. Partridge, Dorsetshire Regiment
• Sergeant-Major J. Pell, Dorsetshire Regiment

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1915_Birthday_Honours#Military_Cross_(MC)

JP

Edit:

MiD Cards and Medal Index Card in this and previous post are from ancestry.

Edited 7 January , 2022 by helpjpl

[cpnorfolk]

16 hours ago, helpjpl said:

1.  Joseph Pell was Mentioned in Despatches for gallant and distinguished service in the field and this was recorded in the London Gazette of 22 June 1915.

Thank you helpjpl for the information about Pell.

I have all the MiDs for my grandfather already - in my blog about him: https://repartridge.wordpress.com/, but it is great to see the handwrittern records.

What I am really after, however, as I say in my original post above, is the reasons behind their recommendations for awards. I have the one for my grandfather, but for Pell and Morley: what actions, incidents, conduct, acts of heroism, etc., prompted the award recommendation? And were and are these published?

[Michelle Young]

Citations  will be in the London Gazette as per @Coldstreamerreply above. 

[PRC]

1 hour ago, cpnorfolk said:

What I am really after, however, as I say in my original post above, is the reasons behind their recommendations for awards. I have the one for my grandfather, but for Pell and Morley: what actions, incidents, conduct, acts of heroism, etc., prompted the award recommendation? And were and are these published?

I think the crux here was that they were in the Kings Birthday Honours List. Opinion vary on this and the New Years Honour List. I go with the opinion that they are rewards for consistantly going above and beyond the expected level rather than for specific acts of gallantry. However that view has been challenged on the forum before now, as the lists do contain, it is said, a smattering of awards that do subsequently turn out to have a citation and relate to specific acts.

So if a citation exists it should in theory appear in the London Gazette. However until someone does a verified transcription of the London Gazette the absense of a citation being discovered by a search engine could be down to poor software & source material, rather than a complete absense.

Cheers,
Peter

[cpnorfolk]

1 hour ago, PRC said:

I think the crux here was that they were in the Kings Birthday Honours List. Opinion vary on this and the New Years Honour List. I go with the opinion that they are rewards for consistantly going above and beyond the expected level rather than for specific acts of gallantry. However that view has been challenged on the forum before now, as the lists do contain, it is said, a smattering of awards that do subsequently turn out to have a citation and relate to specific acts.

So if a citation exists it should in theory appear in the London Gazette. However until someone does a verified transcription of the London Gazette the absense of a citation being discovered by a search engine could be down to poor software & source material, rather than a complete absense.

Thank you Coldstreamer and Michelle. Unfortunately I didn't know what citation meant, my ignorance had led me to believe that it meant the announcement of the award, rather than the reasons behind it.

However, the citations are only in a reduced form, as a list of names, in the London Gazette. helpjpl has helpfully transcribed them in his post above, from pp. 5975 and 5997 of issue 29200.

So I suspect that PRC is correct in what he says above, i.e., that the problem is that they were announced in the King's Birthday Honours List. Maybe due to large numbers they were only cited as lists of names for brevity's sake?

BUT: I have a transcription of my grandfather's citation [in my great grandfather's handwriting] - see attached at the top in my original post. It must have been transcribed from somewhere. A newspaper article seems likely. Is that possible? If that is the case then a newspaper archive might include the citations for Pell and Morley. I don't have access to any of the subscription archives, so I think I have probably reached the end of this quest.

[PRC]

3 minutes ago, cpnorfolk said:

BUT: I have a transcription of my grandfather's citation [in my great grandfather's handwriting] - see attached at the top in my original post. It must have been transcribed from somewhere. A newspaper article seems likely. Is that possible? If that is the case then a newspaper archive might include the citations for Pell and Morley. I don't have access to any of the subscription archives, so I think I have probably reached the end of this quest.

Note he was originally recommended for the D.S.O. It probably kicked around through the approval process and the King's Birthday Honours was a way to resolve the issue by awarding an M.C. Particularly so if other awards for members of the Battalion were going through.

I suspect Lt. Col Bols or someone else like the adjutant or on the brigade staff shared the proposed wording.

My understanding is that it was an officer only award, (so Serjeant Major Pell wouldn't have been held up in the system for the same reason, so not comparable in circumstances), and very seldom awarded below the rank of Major, while might explain the downgrade to M.C.

From the limited samples of his handwriting I've seen so far posted to the forum, I also wouldn't be sure this is Captain Partridges' handwriting. Possibly the London Gazette and date at the bottom could be him.

Cheers,
Peter

[cpnorfolk]

10 minutes ago, PRC said:

Note he was originally recommended for the D.S.O. It probably kicked around through the approval process and the King's Birthday Honours was a way to resolve the issue by awarding an M.C. Particularly so if other awards for members of the Battalion were going through.

I suspect Lt. Col Bols or someone else like the adjutant or on the brigade staff shared the proposed wording.

My understanding is that it was an officer only award, (so Serjeant Major Pell wouldn't have been held up in the system for the same reason, so not comparable in circumstances), and very seldom awarded below the rank of Major, while might explain the downgrade to M.C.

From the limited samples of his handwriting I've seen so far posted to the forum, I also wouldn't be sure this is Captain Partridges' handwriting. Possibly the London Gazette and date at the bottom could be him.

Thanks for the explanation.

As I said above, it is in my great-grandfather's handwriting, not my grandfather's. So, well spotted!

[helpjpl]

 

• 2nd Lieutenant F. J. Morley
• 2nd Lieutenant C. H. Morris
• Captain R. E. Partridge
• Sergeant-Major J. Pell

The above were awarded the Military Cross for distinguished service in the Field (rather than for a specific action or act of gallantry) - hence no citations printed in the London Gazette:

Page 6116:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29202/supplement/1

See page 6123:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29202/supplement/1

JP