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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Did "naughty" soldiers get no medals ?


Guest robsa68

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Hi all, I wonder if any of you astute gentlemen may be able to help out?

i have decided to have a go at finding out my grandads 14/18 war service but have failed at the 1st fence.

I have a few details about my grandad but no medals.But i do have a solitary I.D disc (i thought they came in pairs),i went on the site to try and discover if grandad was issued any nedals but found no trace of 301926 Rouse G.W Royal Engineers.

I mentioned this to a friend at work and he said (quote) " 'e might ave ad the clap!"( He's ex army!)

Is this true that his medals would have been with held because of this?

Is there any other reason i may not be able to find anything out?

When he was alive he very seldom talked about his time in the army but he did give me his I.D disc,jack knife,shaving kit,various bits and bobs (trench art rings empty cartridge cases,shell cases and a German pocket watch he aquired off a German officer) there is also a set of 1920's magazines showing the battlefields of Flanders after the war.

If anyone can help me out his details are :-

301926 ROUSE G.W DVR R.E CE.Grandad's name was George William and he came from Matlock.(there is a G.W Rouse on the medal list but thats for the Notts and Derbys,could he have been transfered?how would i find out?)

thanks for taking the time to look at this,

best wishes,

R.Rouse

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Medals were forfeit if a soldier was found guilty of a Court Martial offence ...... either before or after the medal award. Any less offence had no effect on campaign medal awards.

However, many men had their award returned after the war: I know of a man who had won an MM, and also qualified for BWM and VM, was tried and sentenced for desertion by District Court Martial, 'lost' his medals, and subsequently they were reinstated. His son now has them on proud display.

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With a number of plain George Rouse showing under the Royal Engineers (not with his number though) and the occasional George W Rouse in other units I think you might need luck in finding his army service record. Chances are it might not have survived though.

He may have only served at home, and acquired the artefacts from others. That might explain his lack of an obvious MIC.

His number looks like a late one - maybe he only served postwar?

Steve (Stebie) is an RE wizz - if he reads this maybe he might have some input?

Ian

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The RE 301xxx series was mainly for sappers, pioneers and drivers connected to Signalling Companies. There are numerous casualties in the field for 1917 and 1918.

As Ian has indicated, the probability is that service was UK based with a possible transfer to F&F after the armistice. There are a small number of MICs missing so that could always be an outside possibility.

Regards

Mel

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The RE 301xxx series was mainly for sappers, pioneers and drivers connected to Signalling Companies. There are numerous casualties in the field for 1917 and 1918.

As Ian has indicated, the probability is that service was UK based with a possible transfer to F&F after the armistice. There are a small number of MICs missing so that could always be an outside possibility.

Regards

Mel

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I have had a look at the A-C WO 363 Ancestry and it throws up some interesting results.

The RE 301xxx series numbers that were not allocated during the war were used for short term (1-2 years) post war enlistment in 1919 (the war time allocations having been made to the signalling companies).

More importantly, the 1919 enlistments are ex servicemen discharged to Reserve Z. These had served in a wide range of units - RNR, RA, RGA, RNVR & infantry.

In short, the 301926 number could be a 1919 enlistment number entirely separate from the wartime service number for whatever unit your grandad served in.

Regards

Mel

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May i thank each and everyone of you for your prompt and knowledgable help,This has certainly opened my eyes and i may have a lot of hard work to do in finding more out.

I will keep you posted if (with luck) i find any more out(i will have to have a chat with relatives etc)

Best wishes,

Rob Rouse

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