Dave M Posted 2 May , 2023 Share Posted 2 May , 2023 Hello Good people of this forum. I am hoping that you can help me in trying to trace the medals of my family's Great War hero. He was: Percy Montague Gibson, DoB January 1894, joined the Army Service Corps in August 1914. He volunteered to transfer to the infantry, and reverted from Sergeant to Private to do so. He was awarded the Military Medal in April 1917. He was commissioned in April 1918, and returned to France as a 2nd Lt. (service number F/3756) on August 28 he was awarded the Military Cross. He was wounded on 2nd September 1918, and died of his wounds on 6th September, a month before the Armistice, at the age of 24. We know that The medals were donated to the museum of the Middlesex Regiment in June 1963. We have a letter acknowleding receipt of the medals. (see attached image)The acquisition was written up in the Journal of the Middlesex Regiment in Vol. 15, No 6 October 1963. It is believed that the Middlesex regiment artefacts were passed to the National Army Museum. Enquiries with the NAM have drawn a blank. It has been suggested that, as the majority of his service was spent inthe ASC, the medal group may have been passed to their museum. I have now hit a "brick wall" and am looking for any leads or advice on how to progress my search. Thanks in anticipation Dave Letters from Middx Regt aknwedging aquistion of PG Medals.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Bach y Sowldiwr Posted 2 May , 2023 Share Posted 2 May , 2023 (edited) Have you tried the Royal Logistics Corps museum, they being the successor unit of the ASC & RASC? https://www.royallogisticcorps.co.uk/museum/contact-the-museum/ Edited 2 May , 2023 by Dai Bach y Sowldiwr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave M Posted 2 May , 2023 Author Share Posted 2 May , 2023 I hadn't, but I have now. Thanks for the link. I await their reply with interest. Thank you for your help. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
303man Posted 2 May , 2023 Share Posted 2 May , 2023 I am afraid that medals donated, do not always stay with the Museum. They sell them on if there are duplicates in their collections or need cash! Example as per this thread: https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/289837-collection-of-the-soldiers-of-the-oxfordshire-battalion-medals-up-for-sale/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mancpal Posted 2 May , 2023 Share Posted 2 May , 2023 Have you thought of the British Medal Forum? I’m thinking that had a museum subsequently sold on the medals it may be a member has knowledge, not necessarily ownership but perhaps memory of them coming to market. I understand that you can set up an alert on Ebay to warn you if they become listed. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner 87 Posted 2 May , 2023 Share Posted 2 May , 2023 (edited) My family recently recovered my GGGF's Indian Mutiny Medal from the-saleroom.com after setting up an alert. This will notify your if the medals are auctioned in one of their many houses. It is very easy to do. Register an account and list the item you are looking for. https://support.the-saleroom.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115000069074-What-are-Auction-Alerts- Edited 2 May , 2023 by Gunner 87 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner 87 Posted 2 May , 2023 Share Posted 2 May , 2023 (edited) Dave, You could also search and register them with Token Publishing Medal Tracker https://www.tokenpublishing.com/medaltracker Edited 2 May , 2023 by Gunner 87 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave M Posted 2 May , 2023 Author Share Posted 2 May , 2023 303man - Thanks for the info. Thats sad to know. Surely the family should get first refusal/ be offered the group back before they go to the sale room??? Gunner87- Thanks for the links. Ive just entered the dtails on Token Publishing Medal Tracker, and will do the same with the-saleroom.com next. mancpal - Thanks for the heads up i will investigate the British Medal Forum. I'm new to all of this so your pointers are much appreciated. As a side question, can anyone give me an indication of the "desirablity", if thats the right term, of a group containing an MM, an MC (awarded in that order), and a Mons star, or put another way, how many MM and MC combinations were awarded? The family holds a painting of Percy Montague Gibson wearing just these three ribons. As the MC was awarded days before his death on 6th September 1918 the painting must have been commissioned afterwards? I assume the British War Medal and Victory medals had not been issued at the time of the painting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner 87 Posted 2 May , 2023 Share Posted 2 May , 2023 (edited) 32 minutes ago, Dave M said: 303man - Thanks for the info. Thats sad to know. Surely the family should get first refusal/ be offered the group back before they go to the sale room??? Gunner87- Thanks for the links. Ive just entered the dtails on Token Publishing Medal Tracker, and will do the same with the-saleroom.com next. mancpal - Thanks for the heads up i will investigate the British Medal Forum. I'm new to all of this so your pointers are much appreciated. As a side question, can anyone give me an indication of the "desirablity", if thats the right term, of a group containing an MM, an MC (awarded in that order), and a Mons star, or put another way, how many MM and MC combinations were awarded? The family holds a painting of Percy Montague Gibson wearing just these three ribons. As the MC was awarded days before his death on 6th September 1918 the painting must have been commissioned afterwards? I assume the British War Medal and Victory medals had not been issued at the time of the painting. Dave. Noonans can give a good indication of the value https://www.noonans.co.uk/departments/medals-and-militaria/ They also offer a free valuation. Edited 2 May , 2023 by Gunner 87 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucass Posted 7 May , 2023 Share Posted 7 May , 2023 Hi Your family medals are in existence and in the collection of a Middlesex Regiment Collector - I will pass on your details for him to establish contact if of course he wishes to do so. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave M Posted 8 May , 2023 Author Share Posted 8 May , 2023 Hi Paul, Thats great news. I hope that you can persuade the Middlesex Regiment Collector to contact us as the family would very much like to establish that the medal do still exit and are somewhere that they can be appreciated. As a side note, I see from his medal roll card that Percy had an SS prefix to his ASC number and then an F prefix to his middlesex Regiment number. Can you explain the significance of these, please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave M Posted 8 May , 2023 Author Share Posted 8 May , 2023 Sorry, Wrong Gibson! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucass Posted 8 May , 2023 Share Posted 8 May , 2023 Hi I will try my best for you. The SS in front of his ASC number means Supply Special and the F in front of his Middlesex number denotes Footballers battalion which was for the 17th and 23rd battalions. ie they were originally mainly men drawn from Professional Footballers. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucass Posted 3 June , 2023 Share Posted 3 June , 2023 Hi Just an update. I have spoken to the collector who is the custodian of Percy Gibson's medals but he is not quite ready to let the group go. If you could let me have a contact if and when he is willing to part with them, he has promised to let me know. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted 4 June , 2023 Share Posted 4 June , 2023 I know its a bit of a long shot, sometimes, a collector/ current custodian of medals may take a similar grouping in exchange, always worth a try. dont anticipate getting them back for free as often relatives may have sold them off before and who knows if the next generation will decide they are surplus. The collector/custodian will probably have paid a decent price and if through an auction house, a hefty commission charge. 3 of my great uncles trios, 2 with plaques, came to my notice a couple of years ago, last seen in the seventies, an auction alert from The Saleroom and a nudge from a BMF forumite pushed me towards the groups. £800 , was a big price to pay , but realistically that was market value individually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave M Posted 21 June , 2023 Author Share Posted 21 June , 2023 Hi Paul, Apologies for slow reply, been on holiday and am just catching up with the Admin. Thanks for the info re the prefixes to Percy’s regimental numbers. Any more you can give me on the role of “Supply Special” troops? Did they deal with particularly unusual/dangerous supplies? For the Footballers regiments, I’m sure I’ve seen somewhere that he joined the 17th, but I am unaware that he was any sort of footballer. Thank you for contacting the collector that currently holds the medals. Do you know if he has the citations for them, as these were also donated to the museum by Percy’s sister? The family’s main concern at this time is to trace the medals and be assured that they are in safe keeping and somewhere that they are appreciated. If they were to become available, we would welcome the opportunity to return them to the family’s safe keeping. We have a portrait of Percy and his original letters home which mention the award of both medals and his time at the officer training establishment. It would be wonderful to have them all back together again. My email address is (removed by moderator) Please feel free to contact me direct if you wish. Regards Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave M Posted 21 June , 2023 Author Share Posted 21 June , 2023 Hi Chaz, Thanks for the suggestion, but we have nothing to offer in return. We are just a family trying to track down a relative's medals, and somwhat stunned to learn that artefact deposited with museums in good faith can end up on the open market! Regards Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 22 June , 2023 Admin Share Posted 22 June , 2023 Dave, I’ve removed your email address from your post. It’s not a good idea to post information like that on a public forum as we do get spammers visit. Members can contact you via private messaging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave M Posted 22 June , 2023 Author Share Posted 22 June , 2023 Hi Michelle, I thought that might happen. Thank you. How do I access private messaging? I couldnt see anuything that seemed to be a link for such?? Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 22 June , 2023 Admin Share Posted 22 June , 2023 You need to click on the members username then click on the envelope icon. This opens up a dialogue box. Type your message, then send. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave M Posted 22 June , 2023 Author Share Posted 22 June , 2023 Got it! Thanks Michelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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