military medal and grandad

[Guest edwinwrg4751]

i seem to be looking for grandad 173868 gnr edwin wrightlike a needle in a hay stack. i have seen his medal card and know he won a military medal.

i have the date it was put in the london gazette in 19/3/1918 but no details.

can any body please help me.as i am new to this site i hope you will forgive my asking the wrong questions but i am at my wits end to actually pin down wher and how he won it.

like all those brave lads in the war he wouldnt talk about it when he was alive.

still the fight goes on lloking for grandads heroic battles,any help in searching would be of tremendous help.

[Stebie9173]

Hello,

Welcome to the Forum.

If we're looking for details of the soldier we'd better have as many facts as you can tell us.

He is presumably this man

http://www.documentsonline.nationalarchive...1&resultcount=1

and this is his MM card:

http://www.documentsonline.nationalarchive...1&resultcount=1

He was Royal Field Artillery.

You have posted this information on the unit and formations thread (from his MIC, yes?):

RFA. b,bty 330 bde (tf) 66th east lancs div

Gazette dates are often about 3 months later than the action in which the MM was awarded, placing the date about Nov/Dec/Jan 1917.

The London Gazette will not give a citation for MMs.

It seems from CWGC that "C" Battery 330th Brigade was in Ypres (Passchendaele) around the middle of November 1917:

http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/casualty_...?casualty=98733

To locate the Battery exactly you would need to look up the War Diary at Kew. The War Diary may also mention your grandfathers Military Medal action. But only MAY mention it. You will need to visit the National Archives at Kew to read it, or someone else here may have access to a copy.

War Diaries are held under the reference WO 95.

Here is some general information on Artillery Brigades:

http://www.1914-1918.net/whatartbrig.htm

Sorry for "merging" both your threads.

I hope this helps,

Steve.

[Guest edwinwrg4751]

Hello,

Welcome to the Forum.

If we're looking for details of the soldier we'd better have as many facts as you can tell us.

He is presumably this man

http://www.documentsonline.nationalarchive...1&resultcount=1

and this is his MM card:

http://www.documentsonline.nationalarchive...1&resultcount=1

He was Royal Field Artillery.

You have posted this information on the unit and formations thread (from his MIC, yes?):

RFA. b,bty 330 bde (tf) 66th east lancs div

Gazette dates are often about 3 months later than the action in which the MM was awarded, placing the date about Nov/Dec/Jan 1917.

The London Gazette will not give a citation for MMs.

It seems from CWGC that "C" Battery 330th Brigade was in Ypres (Passchendaele) around the middle of November 1917:

http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/casualty_...?casualty=98733

To locate the Battery exactly you would need to look up the War Diary at Kew. The War Diary may also mention your grandfathers Military Medal action. But only MAY mention it. You will need to visit the National Archives at Kew to read it, or someone else here may have access to a copy.

War Diaries are held under the reference WO 95.

Here is some general information on Artillery Brigades:

http://www.1914-1918.net/whatartbrig.htm

Sorry for "merging" both your threads.

I hope this helps,

Steve.

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[Stebie9173]

The War Diaries for 330 Brigade Royal Field Artillery are under WO 95/3127.

Catalogue Page:

http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov....llDetails=False

These will be hand-written documents dating from when they were first written in 1914-1918 and are not available online.

Have you looked through the war history of 66th Division?

http://www.1914-1918.net/66div.htm

It is outline stuff in general but will give you an idea of where they went.

Your best bet for Military Medal details is generally going to be local newspapers. City and Town Main Libraries usually have copies of newspapers on microfilm that can be searched through. Most details will appear soemwhere between the date of winning the medal and the London Gazette date.

Steve.

[Stebie9173]

This is a possible date as candidate for your you Grandad's MM if the mentioned counterattack reached the Field Guns.

 

Steve.

[big jar of wasps]

Edwin,

Its a sad fact, that you may never know how your GGD, won his MM, as very few citations exist for these awards, however, you might just get lucky, if you can obtain a unit or divisional history book some of these, contain MM citations. I recommend that you contact ALDERSHOT public library, if anyone can help you out they can. I`ve never know such a library, with such a coverage of military history, this is after all the home of the British Army. I`ve used them loads of times to search the most obscure stuff, and they`ve never failed me yet!!!!!

Gordon.

[Stebie9173]

For the record:

Gazette entry 19-3-1918 (Published 15-3-1918)

173868 Gnr. E. Wright, R.F.A. (Cleethorpes)

On this site are extracts of the War Diary of 2/7th Manchester Regiment in 66th Division coveribng Oct - Dec 1917.

http://www.1914-1918.net/Diaries/wardiary-27mancs.htm

The following MMs were awarded to the battalion for actions at Ypres.

"Extract from II Corps Routine Orders dated 20 October 1917: “The Corps commander, under authority delegated to him, has awarded the Military Medal to the undermentioned NCOs and men”:

277359 L/Corporal C. Whittaker

(..... and ten other Privates & NCOs)

All 11 of these men were gazetted 15th January 1918 (Published 11-1-1918)

The citations for the accompanying officers awards are for actions on 7-11 October 1917, so presumably were the MMs.

On the same rate of "Gazetting" that would put the MM "action" for Edwin Wright at about mid-December 1917.

This is all of course very subjective, but may help (or hinder)

Steve.

[KONDOA]

War Diaries for 330 Brigade RFA are available at the NA as follows:

WO 95/3127 330 Brigade Royal Field Artillery 1915 Sept. - 1916 Feb.

WO 95/3127 330 Brigade Royal Field Artillery 1917 May - 1919 May

They can be ordered in part or whole by filling out the order form which is found here:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/recordcopying/

This will be the best means of estimating the award in the absence of a citation.

Roop

[Guest edwinwrg4751]

Edwin,

Its a sad fact, that you may never know how your GGD, won his MM, as very few citations exist for these awards, however, you might just get lucky, if you can obtain a unit or divisional history book some of these, contain MM citations. I recommend that you contact ALDERSHOT public library, if anyone can help you out they can. I`ve never know such a library, with such a coverage of military history, this is after all the home of the British Army. I`ve used them loads of times to search the most obscure stuff, and they`ve never failed me yet!!!!!

Gordon.

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