CWGC and Gallantry Awards

[Max]

Is the CWGC responsible for recording details of galantry awards on their on-line database? Also is it their responsibility to ensure that the award is recorded correctly on memorials and/or graves?

Andy

[Conor Dodd]

I thought it was up to the family to tell them about awards I know at least one or two (one got a bar) MM winners who haven't got MM on CWGC

Conor

[David_Bluestein]

I have had some personal experience with this issue,

I noticed while researching an MM group that the CWGC did not show the award on the data base, making me concerned there was no 'MM' designation on his memorial. After further enquiry I came to understand that in fact the word MM was not seen on his memorial.

I sent the CWGC his LG date and Citation, and they very promptly made the changes to the register, and the soldiers memorial. Kindly sending me a photo of the amended memorial with MM now properly in place.

My understanding is information of this kind was forthcoming from more sources then just NoK (i.e.: war office records etc.). But in a time where all things were done, by letter and hand, mistakes can understandably happen. So here we are all these generations later still finding holes in the data base. I'm sure this will be ongoing for many years to come.

[Terry Denham]

Andy

Yes, CWGC do record any official post-nominal letters including gallantry awards. However, they were not always correctly informed by the military or the n-o-k.

If you know of a missing example, email them on casualtyenq@cwgc.org and give them your evidence.

If it has been left off due to clerical error, it will be reinstated at once and if missing from the headstone (assuming it is not a private memorial) it will be added.

If it is a private memorial, it cannot be added to the headstone as the responsibility is not CWGC's but they will still add it to the database.

[Max]

Thanks for the info lads.

Thanks to the help of Greenwoodman (SDGW lookup) and Jock Bruce (MIC lookup at PRO) I found out that my Great Uncle, 12145 Sgt. William Henry Piper, 11th West Yorks Regt, DoW 2/10/1917, had been awarded the MM, gazetted 28th August 1917. There is no mention of this on the CWGC database.

I will contact them asap to see whether they can sort out the situation.

Thanks again

Andy