deptfordboy

Hi Gents,

I only know (a little) about the Royal West Kents, but without going to Kew, in my experience it's often quite hard to ascertain which battalion a certain man served in unless he was KIA.

You can sometimes work it out from looking in the battalion history, which may have a list of all men who served, and the number can also give an indication (e.g. men in the 11th Battalion RWK's often have numbers in the 10-12k range), but exceptions to these 'rules' abound.

Cheers

Gilbert

Hi Tony,

After a 'gentle reminder' I have had a search for your man, and I'm afraid I drew a blank. Do you know for sure he worked for the LCC, or just a hunch?

Keep Hunting,

Gilbert

Hey Tony,

No problem - I'll try and check at the weekend. As you know, I'm very forgetful in my advanced years, so drop me a line if I don't get back to you.

Cheers

Gilbert

Very interesting! I wonder how many MM's were issued to foreigners? Does anyone have an idea?

Chris, have you checked this aginst the UK research sources (London Gazette etc)?

Cheers

Gilbert

Hi Pat,

I read about this - I think there is some contention as to whether this medal is the 'real deal' or to another man.

http://www.thestar.com/article/194694

Cheers

Gilbert

Nice medals Doc! I am also a fan of the IGS - great design, lots to the units I'm interested in and very relevant to the current activities of the Brit army (for good or otherwise). Not wanting to hijack your thread, but I recently picked up a group of 4 to a Royal West Kent man, as yet unresearched and horribly mounted (by the dealer). With the 14-15 star as well, It will be interesting to try and trace this 920 (later G61283 Pte Steer's) journey to Afghanistan.

Cheers

Gilbert

Not really for display, but I have a Bisley-style metal filing cabinet with around a dozen shallow drawers. It's a stable environment, helps with organsing them and will discourage the casual thief from helping himself to your collection. I bought it new for about ?80, but you can get them secondhand for a lot less.

Cheers

Gilbert

I too swear by the restorative powers of bitter and jalfrezi, Tony, believe me - we should just keep up the regular doses and do our best to finish the course of treatment, eh?

Gilbert

Is it Sjt Major Alfred Edward Kitchen? I just checked the LCC book and he is certainly mentioned, with details of how he won the MM. If this is your man, let me know and I'll post the details. There is no Kitchen in my copy of the National Roll (Vol II)

Cheers

Gilbert

Sure Leigh, no problem. Remind me if I forget! I have the London edition of the National Roll, too, if anyone needs lookups.

Cheers

Gilbert

Good idea! I have some nice pic's of Brits relaxing as part of the 'occupying forces', will try and post them up when I get a chance.

Gilbert

I hadn't seen this thread before - truly jaw-dropping stuff, steeped in history and a fantastic investment too! I wonder whether the RK cases snapped up for 1 grand on dealers' sites will measure up over time....?

Gilbert

Very interesting pic's Jim, I can think of few more important pieces of history you can clamber all over!

Cheers

Gilbert

Hey Gerd, great result - you must be really happy, and it's good to see a reunite here.

Incidentally, is anyone keeping track of the number of reunites brought about by this forum, third party websites listing known numbers etc? I know this is something that is done with British medals...

Cheers

Gilbert

Thanks Mondvor, the number is 68121 it's just the picture doesn't show that too clearly.

Gilbert

Hehe Ed, I was just wondering that myself!

According to the Medal Yearbook, in WW1 37,000 were awarded, with 3,000 1st and 170 2nd bars, only 4 3rd bars.

In WW2, 11,000 were awarded, with 31 2nd bars.

Cheers

Gilbert

Glad you agree Leigh. A lot of the ones I have collected came from Ebay, and I always resist asking whether they have anything written on the back - that way I get a nice suprise if there is a historically significant message or something that ties it to one of the units I collect.

Of course, by doing this I also don't alert other RWK collectors lurking on the Bay, which would drive the price upwards!

Gilbert

Nice postcards! Here is my example, similar to Leigh's but made out to the Royal West Kents. Interestingly, it's postally used by a RWK man writing home who describes his unit being woken in the middle of the night to try and shoot down the perpetrators of the German air raid (planes) on Sittingbourne in Kent.

Gilbert

Mabuse,

That's an excellent start to what could be a GREAT collection!! I would think that adding more to it would make you feel better...it would for me!!

Doc

Hehe Doc, you sound like a drug pusher - just say no Mabuse, Doc just wants to feel better about his own addiction!

Gilbert

Thanks Guys, it's far from a 'mint' example with the defaced number, but my interest here is to uncover the story behind it through research. Watch this space!

Gilbert

Thanks Guys, I was pleased to get it, as all my others are 6 digits at least. Naturally I'll share the results of research on the forum.

Cheers

Gilbert

And a shot of the reverse. Mcdaniel and Schmitt have this down as a Type 2, early Monetny Dvor with a screwpost base, if I have read the signs correctly. The thread on the screwpost seems to have been deliberately stripped and 'waisted', perhaps by the recipient to stop it coming off with wear?

G

Hi All,

I picked this up a few days ago. It's 'just' a Red Star, but is way below any other numbers I have up til now. From the excellent resources on this site, I think the number places it in early 1943, so perhaps research will show that the recipient saw some action.

Cheers

Gilbert

Closer up on the head etc...

And here's the reverse, with number partially scratched out...