mancpal Posted 15 January Share Posted 15 January (edited) I have long been aware of Pte Readitts gallantry which earned him his V.C. A conversation today led me to look up his citation on behalf of a friend whose family were from Clayton. I only noticed today that Pte Readitt also received the Bronze Medal of Military Valour (Italian award). Could anybody tell me if this was connected to his V.C. actions (in Mesopotamia) or was it something else? If unconnected how would I find out what it was for and do citations survive ? Readitt was a childhood and post war friend of my grandfather, he was a clogger and cobbler who post war made and repaired football boots for Manchester United (their current team appear to be playing in his clogs!). Thanks, Simon Edited 15 January by mancpal I got spellchecked dammit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin kenf48 Posted 16 January Admin Share Posted 16 January I imagine the award was mentioned in the War Diary WO95/5156/2-3, which can be downloaded from TNA if you have not already seen. The diary includes Daily Orders and is free if you register. As you may be aware whilst his VC recommendation was passed up the chain of command and may have taken some time to be awarded foreign awards passed down the chain of command and were in the gift of his CO or other senior officer and were awarded immediately. Citations were seldom noted for foreign awards, in one memoir in France it was noted that a French staff officer turned up with a bag of awards and staff officers were invited to choose which one they wanted before they were passed down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mancpal Posted 16 January Author Share Posted 16 January Thanks Ken, I haven’t yet downloaded the war diary as I only found out about the Italian award yesterday afternoon, I’ll look into it. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan1892 Posted 16 January Share Posted 16 January 10 hours ago, mancpal said: I only noticed today that Pte Readitt also received the Bronze Medal of Military Valour (Italian award). The award was announced in the Manchester Evening News, 1 September 1917 (image courtesy of Find My Past) As he won his VC in February 1917, the Italian awarded could well be for the same action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mancpal Posted 16 January Author Share Posted 16 January Allan, I had wondered whether it may be connected to the same incident but I’ve no previous dealings with foreign awards and don’t have subscriptions to any of the usual sites. Many thanks. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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