da bomb Posted 18 January , 2008 Share Posted 18 January , 2008 I have been researching information on some medals and paperwork that i recently received after my Grandmother passed away. My relative Cpl George Forder Elsdon was in the 1/Rifle Brigade (According to 1914 Star inscription) I have a certificate for George detailing a Mention In Despatches for 7th November 1917, this was printed in the 21/12/1917 London Gazette. The certificate has 2bn Rifle Brigade as his unit. At this time i cant find the page the MiD is listed on. I also obtained the medal cards, detailing that he was awarded the 1914 star with clasp and rose, war medal and victory medal. Also i have a medal card briefly listing the above MiD. In addition to the above i also have a Romanian award, a Barbatie Si Credinta 2nd Class. This is listed by the london gazette, giving permission from the king to wear medals awarded by the King of Romania. I have a large certificate with the following inscription, that goes with the award:- ___ Ministerul de Rasboiu Brevet Noi ministru secretar de stat la departmentul de rasboiu adeverim ca prin inaltul decret No. 371 din 5 Februarie 1920. Majestatea la regele a binevoit a conferi Medalia Pentru,, Barbatie si credinta Cu spade clasa II-a Capuralului G.F. Elsdon, din Armata Britanica (6934) (Signed) Ministru de Rasboiu. General (?illegable) Directorul Superior al personalului. Colonel (?Illegable) No. 4394i (Dated) 1920 Februarie 5 Now i have come to a point where i cant find much more about his service, looking at his medal record, he looks like he was with the BEF, which would probably make him a regular, and he survived the war as far as i am aware. Quite how he got a Romanian award and what for is a bit of a mystery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiletto_33853 Posted 18 January , 2008 Share Posted 18 January , 2008 da bomb, His Medaille Barbatie si Credinta is listed in Volume 3 (The Rifle Brigade Appendix) Honours and Awards but gives a date of 20/9/19, there is no mention of an M.I.D. in there. He went overseas on 26/8/1914 and was awarded the clasps & roses which were posted to him on the 28/6/1919. Just about to leave for work so I will do a bit more digging when I get home tonight. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 18 January , 2008 Share Posted 18 January , 2008 he got something else Description Medal card of Elsdon, G F Corps Regiment No Rank Rifle Brigade 6934 Corporal Date 1914-1920 Catalogue reference WO 372/24 Dept Records created or inherited by the War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies Series War Office: Service Medal and Award Rolls Index, First World War Piece Mentions in Despatches, Meritorious Service Medals and Territorial Force Efficiency Medals Image contains 1 medal card of many for this collection gazette http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.a...t=&similar= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiletto_33853 Posted 18 January , 2008 Share Posted 18 January , 2008 Good for you Ian, the name is very familiar for some reason. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 18 January , 2008 Share Posted 18 January , 2008 Always easier the more unusual the name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 18 January , 2008 Share Posted 18 January , 2008 and having the date helped! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
da bomb Posted 18 January , 2008 Author Share Posted 18 January , 2008 Superb stuff, i spent ages fighting with the London Gazette search engine trying to find the MiD listing, so that is fantastic stuff, ties that loose end up! I have both the Medal cards, one is for the trio of medals, the other is the MiD. The medal card is full of stuff, most of which i cant read! i will try and put it on here (if it fits). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 18 January , 2008 Share Posted 18 January , 2008 you need practice to find anything ! any chance of a pic of the medals ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
da bomb Posted 18 January , 2008 Author Share Posted 18 January , 2008 I'll try and get a pic sorted out, not a huge amount to see really, the medals were in a shambles when i got them, with the ribbons mixed up etc, the victory medal is missing(but not the ribbon), the ribbon for the romanian award is missing, along with clasp and rose for the 1914 medal and MiD Oakleaf from the VM ribbon. You can see the holes where the clasps roses and oakleafs were pinned, so they did previously exist. Surprisingly the Mention in Despatches and Romanian award certificates are in reasonable condition for something approaching 90 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiletto_33853 Posted 19 January , 2008 Share Posted 19 January , 2008 Still trying to rack my brains why this name is familiar to me, but, here is his British War Medal/Victory Medal Roll entry. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 19 January , 2008 Share Posted 19 January , 2008 Andy why the need to put " 2nd Bn Rif Brig 6934 "three times ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiletto_33853 Posted 19 January , 2008 Share Posted 19 January , 2008 Ian, Going through some of the records of RB men and the Medal Rolls I find that it usually indicates that they left the battalion due to wounds, illness etc., etc. and were sent back to that battalion on recovery, so in this case he was posted to the 2nd, was wounded or went ill, then posted back to the 2nd, was wounded or suffered illness again and was posted back to the 2nd yet again. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 19 January , 2008 Share Posted 19 January , 2008 Thats the only reason I could think of too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
da bomb Posted 20 January , 2008 Author Share Posted 20 January , 2008 Ian, Going through some of the records of RB men and the Medal Rolls I find that it usually indicates that they left the battalion due to wounds, illness etc., etc. and were sent back to that battalion on recovery, so in this case he was posted to the 2nd, was wounded or went ill, then posted back to the 2nd, was wounded or suffered illness again and was posted back to the 2nd yet again. Andy Stilleto, thankyou for what you have found so far, sounds like George was very lucky to make it through the war. Im still not to sure what he has a Romanian award for, i cant find any reference of british troops fighting alongside Romanians at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 20 January , 2008 Share Posted 20 January , 2008 not sure it worked like that - Coldstream gds got some Russian awards and dont think they fought with them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
da bomb Posted 20 January , 2008 Author Share Posted 20 January , 2008 not sure it worked like that - Coldstream gds got some Russian awards and dont think they fought with them Of course that makes it so much easier to research! Nice to see that you research Coldstream Guards, my dad served with them in the early 60's and was out in Aden with the 1 Bn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiletto_33853 Posted 21 January , 2008 Share Posted 21 January , 2008 Bear with me for a few days, see if I cna find out a bit more. My hard drive has decided it has had enough, pain in the proverbial, but I keep all my data on two other hard drives, just limited to internet use at the moment until I can get it fixed. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
da bomb Posted 29 January , 2008 Author Share Posted 29 January , 2008 Bear with me for a few days, see if I cna find out a bit more. My hard drive has decided it has had enough, pain in the proverbial, but I keep all my data on two other hard drives, just limited to internet use at the moment until I can get it fixed. Andy Cheers Stilletto! Victoria is off to Kew this weekend and said she would have a look and see if she can find anything while she is there as well, useful, as i live near Aberdeen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
da bomb Posted 25 November , 2009 Author Share Posted 25 November , 2009 Cheers Stilletto! Victoria is off to Kew this weekend and said she would have a look and see if she can find anything while she is there as well, useful, as i live near Aberdeen! Never did get back with an update, Victoria didnt find out anything else other than whats here (A big thanks for trying). I have been trying to work out why he started with 1 Battalion Rifles Brigade Which was part of 4 Div and then landed up with 2 Battalion Rifles Brigade, and thats where i come to a stop, i have no idea where 2/Rifles fitted in and where it fought, certainly the MiD date in November 1917 would point at the big push on the western front, but no idea on location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForeignGong Posted 26 November , 2009 Share Posted 26 November , 2009 I have been researching information on some medals and paperwork that i recently received after my Grandmother passed away. My relative Cpl George Forder Elsdon was in the 1/Rifle Brigade (According to 1914 Star inscription) I have a certificate for George detailing a Mention In Despatches for 7th November 1917, this was printed in the 21/12/1917 London Gazette. The certificate has 2bn Rifle Brigade as his unit. At this time i cant find the page the MiD is listed on. I also obtained the medal cards, detailing that he was awarded the 1914 star with clasp and rose, war medal and victory medal. Also i have a medal card briefly listing the above MiD. In addition to the above i also have a Romanian award, a Barbatie Si Credinta 2nd Class. This is listed by the london gazette, giving permission from the king to wear medals awarded by the King of Romania. I have a large certificate with the following inscription, that goes with the award:- ___ Ministerul de Rasboiu Brevet Noi ministru secretar de stat la departmentul de rasboiu adeverim ca prin inaltul decret No. 371 din 5 Februarie 1920. Majestatea la regele a binevoit a conferi Medalia Pentru,, Barbatie si credinta Cu spade clasa II-a Capuralului G.F. Elsdon, din Armata Britanica (6934) (Signed) Ministru de Rasboiu. General (?illegable) Directorul Superior al personalului. Colonel (?Illegable) No. 4394i (Dated) 1920 Februarie 5 Now i have come to a point where i cant find much more about his service, looking at his medal record, he looks like he was with the BEF, which would probably make him a regular, and he survived the war as far as i am aware. Quite how he got a Romanian award and what for is a bit of a mystery. Hi The Barbatie Si Credinta 2nd Class is a rare award, approx 81 plus 15 with swords Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
da bomb Posted 27 November , 2009 Author Share Posted 27 November , 2009 Hi The Barbatie Si Credinta 2nd Class is a rare award, approx 81 plus 15 with swords Peter Here are Pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
da bomb Posted 27 November , 2009 Author Share Posted 27 November , 2009 Here are the Certificates that George received for the MiD and Barbatie si Credinta: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
da bomb Posted 27 November , 2009 Author Share Posted 27 November , 2009 And here is a Photo of Cpl G.F. Elsdon 6934 of the 2/Rifle Brigade, i think the baggy looking uniform, and the Cpl stripes tack sewn onto the sleeve is that of a hospital uniform, the photo is on a postcard done by a studio in Burnley. Edit: Thanks to being off with flu, and time on my hands plus the power of the internet, a picture of a "Hospital Blues" uniform. Certainly looks like the one George is wearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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