medal card explanation

[Guest mike ballinger]

hello all

i wonder if any one can help me ive just finally obtained my relatives medal card

he was killed in india in 1921

i cannot understand /dicipher his medal card

i know he was a gunner with the royal garrison artillery / (unit text 22905 6th pack bty?) obtained off CWGC website

but i cant work out his medal card did he recieve any medals and if so which ones ?

i have researched ww2 relatives and have numerous sources of info for ww2

this is totally foxing me at the moment

please help!

thanks

mikefred_doc.doc

[barrieduncan]

Well he was def awarded the British War Medal and I would have thought the Victory but maybe not.

The other medal seems to be a General Service medal, with the appropriate medal roll reference number. There is mention of a clasp to the GS medal but I dont know anything about them, sorry. The NWFF could stand for North West Frontier Force.

I'm sure someone else will be able to help,

Barrie

[barrieduncan]

I think the medal could be the Indian General Service Medal, Afghanistan North West Frontier 1919. I think the mention for a clasp is for the Waziristan 1919-21 clap. Maybe you could get more info from the medal roll

Edited 13 December , 2005 by barrieduncan

[SteveE]

It appears that your man was awarded the British War Medal and Indian General Service Medal with clasps Afghanistan N.W.F. 1919 and Waziristan 1919-1921.

Entitlement to the BWM didn't automatically mean they were entitled to the Victory medal. I'm guessing that you man was serving in India (thus he qualified for BWM by having served overseas) but the Victory Medal wouldn't have been awarded as he hadn't served on the establishment of a unit in a theatre of war.

Steve

[Terry_Reeves]

Agree with the post above, and probably serving with a pack howitzer battery. A "Mountain Gunner" as they were referred to.

Terry Reeves

Edited 13 December , 2005 by Terry_Reeves

[Guest mike ballinger]

thanks guys

youve given me valuble information to follow up

another couple of questions if i may,

what is? / where can i find the medal roll?

would the medals have been claimed as he died in india?

how can i obtain his service record ?( i have recently done my grandads in ww2 and had to apply to glasgow ) is this the same policy for ww1? then onto the national archives for unit war diaries etc

this site is excellent thanks for the quick response

kind regards

mike

[barrieduncan]

Mike,

You can get his medal roll at the NA at Kew. If his service papers have survived, they will also be there. If you have a look at the research section on the Long Long Trail site you will get some good pointers at where to start looking for them.

I have heard (cant confirm) that if a soldier served after 1920, you need to write to the army records office in Glasgow, maybe someone can clarify this for us?

I'm interested to know how far you got with your WW2 research, I haven't started researching my families WW2 records yet, to be honest I didnt realise you could. If you could give me some pointers i'd be most obliged.

Cheers,

Barrie

[SteveE]

In answer to your questions.

The medal roll for the India General Service Medal and Waziristan 1921-1924 Clasp is held at the NA, Kew under reference WO100/401.

His medals wouldn't have needed to be claimed, being an OR, they were automatically sent out to his last known address, or in his case, to his next of kin. There is no indication on the MIC that they were returned undeliverable so I assume that the family received them ok.

You may be in luck with his service record as he served into 1921, which, I believe (although again can't confirm) means his service record should be available at Glasgow.

Steve

[Guest mike ballinger]

barrie

thanks have taken a look i have now some idea where to start

im going to start all over again! ww1 this time

as for ww2 yes you can research any soldier/unit company battalion!

a lot of waiting is unavoidable !

all i knew was my grandfathers name and he was a driver with the rasc! it was a nightmare

but now after a lot of hard work i can tell you, when he signed up ,where he trained

and when he left glasgow on 25th dec 1942 everyday his whereabouts throughout n /africa and italy until he was demobbed in 1946 times places and dates, it is however easier to trace people who where infantry or officer with a particular unit! grandads was war formed which made things very hard !

so..

for a soldiers service record ww2 contact glasgow records office fill in forms with as many details as possible at a cost of £25 and within 3-6 months you will if they have records recieve a copy of the persons individual service record (fasicnating) even down to teeth /hair colour where he served and which units he was attached to

then from there NA for unit war diaries all are available.

the 75 years clause has been disregarded in most cases, isuggest you search first the catalogue on the NA website they are pretty hard to find! if you get stuck just shout ,id be pleased to help!

it took me 2 years to complete and now i have a 250 page document of copies of original documents and a 300 page file on my grandfather ,

i have a lot of books ive obtained along the way which you will need to identify diaries etc for example

abbreviations of staff duties in the field (explanation of how a war diary is coded )

ww2 data book orders of battle etc for every campaign!

hope this is of help --and if you need any please just ask!

thanks for your help

mike

[Guest mike ballinger]

thanks steve

been in touch with glasgow before for ww2 ! ill start there

typically the family knows nothing about his medals!

im at the archives next week so ill take a look

will speak to glasgow about years of service record and let you know

much appreciated

mike