1914 Medal Roll question…

[Tommy]

Hello all,

I was just wondering if the C in the record of disposal of decoration would mean that the medal was either returned or never issued?! The medal office have cast the British war medal and victory medal for Arthur Jarman, but are saying there is no proof the 1914 star was returned… I’m hoping this is good enough!  Any help would be gratefully received.

Tom 

[Matlock1418]

The "C" does rather look like it indicates it was "Taken into Stock" but only the MO can tell you if it is going to be good enough.

M

[TEW]

The medal card for Hutchings gives no indication that any of his trio was returned.

Jarman's card shows his pair were returned under KR 1743. 14 Star would have been sent out earlier and was not returned.

Change of address or circumstances of the recipient is the usual explanation for returned medals.

I suspect if you scrolled back to the start of that section of roll you might find 3 Medals HO on page 36. This should mean that the three entries with the C were Held Over as the circumstances were different which required further admin or verifying the NOK.

TEW

[Keith_history_buff]

On 20/10/2023 at 17:38, Tommy said:

Hello all,

I was just wondering if the C in the record of disposal of decoration would mean that the medal was either returned or never issued?!

The "C" in green is indicative that a clasp will be sent out to the NoK. This is documented on page 57 of the following "bible" of medal publications

• Williamson, Howard J. (2011). 
  The Great War Medal Collectors Companion Volume I.
  privately published by Anne Williamson. ISBN 978-0-9527544-4-2. 
  The book includes: – Campaign Medals. Full history of each medal, including Army Orders, Army Council Instructions & award criteria.

In my experience of going through the medal roll for the South Wales Borderers, there were C1, C2, C3, C4 & C5 batches.
 

[Keith_history_buff]

An old thread that has mentioned this
Can anybody tell me what C3 would mean on a 1914 medal roll for the Gordon Highlanders

[Keith_history_buff]

Some other threads on the topic

Lincolnshire Regiment fatalities with green C notation

Northamptonshire Regiment fatality 9908 Richard Counsell with green C notation

 

[Keith_history_buff]

On 20/10/2023 at 17:38, Tommy said:

The medal office have cast the British war medal and victory medal for Arthur Jarman, but are saying there is no proof the 1914 star was returned.

I would agree with the Medal Office. There is no evidence on the medal roll that the medals did not get delivered, and were returned as a consequence. 

Working on an exceptions basis, the card and roll would only be annotated where the medal had been returned. No comments would imply the medals got to their intended destination.

When a medal was returned, the War Office clerks completed a Certified Receipt Voucher. Quite often, you see CRV references on medal rolls. The medals were retained for ten years. In the event that a reclaim had not occurred, the medals were then destroyed.

I would hazard a guess that the 1914 Star medal, riband and clasp were sent out together. At a later date, the BWM & VM were sent out, but the NoK had moved on, so these two medals were returned.

Image courtesy Ancestry

[Keith_history_buff]

It would appear the 1914 Star was issued to the next of kin in August 1919 1921, where Clasp/2/2922 is mentioned on the medal index card for the deceased soldier concerned.

Edited 22 October , 2023 by Keith_history_buff
strikethrough of typo in red font

[Keith_history_buff]

I think the way forward here is to go to the Worcestershire Medals website, and order a 1914 Star and a clasp. In that way, you have your trio of medals that you have framed.

[Keith_history_buff]

Bombardier Alfred Jarman's next of kin was his father William. The WFA pension card records advise that his address in 1918 was 

50 Pole Street, Stepney, East London

The street has been demolished and is now Stepney Green Park, as per the map
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17.0&lat=51.51848&lon=-0.04847&layers=168&right=BingRoad

Also of interest

https://londonwiki.co.uk/streets/RedmansRoadE1.shtml

[Keith_history_buff]

At the time of the 1921 Census, the Slater family and the Mays family are living at this address. The Scaford and Jarman families were appearing at the address on the 1911 census.

At some point in 1923, the BWM and VM were sent to the address, but were returned in the post, with the result that the CRV was created on 4 August 1923.

Image courtesy Ancestry, medal roll archive reference WO 329/105

 

[Tommy]

Thanks for all your help on this gents, I thought it might be of interest to let you know the MO have agreed to re issue the 1914 star and bar for Arthur Jarman.