Brought to the attention of the Secretary for War

[Ron Morris]

I have in my collection a WW1 pair to 5377 Corporal Albert Leonard Jones, Australian Army Medical Corps. Although a modest item, I value it because I bought it locally and when I received his service record from the National Archives of Australia, I found that Jones had lived within a mile of my home in Launceston, Tasmania.

The service record revealed that Jones had served with No. 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital at Harefield in England and then with No. 11 Australian Field Ambulance in France. It contained an entry dated 7th August, 1917 indicating that for his work at No. 1 AAH, he had been “brought to the notice of the Secretary for War for valuable services rendered in connection with the War” .

I knew little about this award and it was evident from Jones’ service record that both he and the Australian Army were also somewhat confused. His service record also credits him with a Mentioned in Despatches for the same date but this is almost certainly incorrect. There is also correspondence in which a very disgruntled Jones complained about unfair treatment when his claim for the Oak Leaf Emblem was denied by the Army.

All very interesting, but I was really none the wiser about this award until recently when I was hunting through back issues of the OMRS Journal for something else and found in the Summer 1978 issue an article titled The “A” and “B” Lists of Mentions for Valuable Services in Connection with the War 1914-1919 by Major J. D. Sainsbury, T.D.

This article describes two of the special measures taken at that time to recognise service at home in operational and non-operational appointments.

The first is the “A” List Gazette Mentions . This award was used to substantiate such awards as the DSO and CMG which required that recipients should previously have been mentioned in despatches. It thus ranked equally with a Mentioned in Despatches and qualified for the award of the Oak Leaf Emblem, provided the recipient had been awarded the Victory Medal. Lists of awards were published in the London Gazette.

The second is the “B” List Press Mentions. These were used to recognise the valuable service of both service personnel and civilians involved in the War both in the UK and in the Dominions and Colonies. In later years, this level of service was often rewarded with the Medal of the Order of the British Empire. This award did not equate to a Mentioned in Despatches and recipients were not entitled to the Oak Leaf Emblem. Lists of awards were published in The Times.

It seemed as though Jones had probably received a “B” List Press Mention. Then I thought of the online Times Digital Archive . Perhaps I could look him up?

I am able to access the Times Digital Archive through my State Library website and, when I put the award date and the phrase “War Services” into the search engine, up came an image of the list of awards, including 5377 Cpl. A. L. Jones, AAMC. Success!

It’s always pleasing to have official confirmation and this research has, for me at least, clarified the details of a previously obscure award.

Regards,

Ron.