awarded M.M.

[stephen7]

I presume this has been asked umpteen times before but will ask it again anyway. My grandfather, amongst many others was awarded the M.M. Is there anyway i can find out the reason for him being awarded it?

Like many soldiers of the time he never spoke of his time during the war, so that route is out of the question, I know he was M.I.D. as well. would this be connected to him being awarded the M.M.?

there must be records somewhere, can someone point me in the right direction?

cheers

steve

[IanA]

Hi Steve,

Why don't you give your grandfather's name and battalion? Someone out there is bound to know something. I suspect luck will come into it - I am currently re-reading Hitchcock's wonderful diary of his time in the Leinsters and there are a lot of M.M. awards mentioned - complete with names and, sometimes, deeds.

Ian

[Coldstreamer]

Hello

Your best bet is local newspapers of the time

Ian

[HarryBettsMCDCM]

I know he was M.I.D. as well. would this be connected to him being awarded the M.M.?

there must be records somewhere,

There is no direct corrollation between an MiD & being later awarded a Gallantry Medal,whilst it is possible,it could also be that he was awarded the MM first & later Mentioned for other good service,or vice~versa,as far as Records go,in respect of the Military Medal,it is a sad fact that there are virtually no surviving Official Records of the deeds performed to be awarded it,a Few Citations to Nurses & Men of the NREF were "Gazetted" in the 1920s,most Promulgations being just a name rank number & regiment{occasionally a Battalion or Corps Company/Artillery Battery} & after 1917 a Home Town;one does sometimes find a mention of a citation of sorts{usually a recommendation transcript} in a Battalion,Brigade or Divisional Diary,but these are few and far between,as Coldstreamer has stated the best bet is usually the contemporary Local Press,of around the time of the Gazetting{allow a month or two either way} as local Medal Winners were something of a novelty; & press releases of the official Citation [given @ the time but long since eradicated]were published on many occassions{though not all}& can help in finding out "why?"

These can be accessed via the local studies of the library where your man lived or @ the National Newspaper Library & are usually on Micro~Fiche{& involve a lot of eyeball scorching!!!}