Gunner 1

Nick wrote: In the UK anyone who received a foreign order, decoration or medal had to have permission from the King to wear that award. During the Great War announcement of the award in the London Gazette was both a notification that the award had been made and permission from the King to wear the award. Newspapers and magazines often make mistakes in discussing the awards made by soldiers. The London Gazetteis the only official announcement of orders, decorations and awards to British subjects. I think that you are correct. Regards, Gunner 1

There is something wrong here! The medal index card seems to indicate that he went to France on 16 August 1914 with 20th Brigade, RFA but 20th Brigade, RFA was in India at that time and came back to England and joined the 27th Division at Winchester on 19 November 1914. It went to France in December 1914, too late to qualify for the 1914 Star. I have looked at his Medal Index Card on Ancestry and at the highest magnification there appears to be an upward moving line on the left side of the zero that could well be forming a six rather than a zero, and thus I think he went to France with 26th Brigade, RFA in the 1st Division, rather than 20th Brigade in the 27th Division. Gunner 1

Chris is correct. Busch's Medal Index Card indicates that he served with the Slavo-British Legion and was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal on 18 June 1924 (hard to read; could be 1921). There is also an indication that the British War Medal was returned unclaimed. Regards, Gunner 1

Nick: The London Gazette lists all foreign orders, decorations and medals 'officially' awarded to British subjects. If the award is not mentioned in the London Gazette it has not been officially awarded and has not been authorized for wear by the recipient. Thousands of awards of the French Croix de Guerre to British servicemen were listed in the London Gazette during, and after, the Great War. That said, many British officers and other ranks thought they were awarded the French Croix de Guerre and many actually wore the ribbon or medal of that decoration on their uniform but their awards are not listed in the London Gazette. The reasons for this are numerous, and include: (1) the soldier was told he had been awarded the decoration by a French officer but that award never went through official channels; (2) the Croix de Guerre was also a unit award and many soldiers thought, wrongly, that due to the unit award they were authorized to wear the decoration; and (3) many soldiers appear to have self-awarded the decorations to themselves. Regards, Gunner1

I have gone through the online London Gazette using both his four-digit and six-digit number and have found no entry for him for the award of the French Croix de Guerre. Gunner 1

What is your father's name and rank? Regards, Gunner 1

Chris: The cost of having a researcher obtain officers' papers is usually £10 to £20 plus the cost of copying the papers. Jonathan Collins (www.jcollinsmedals.co.uk/) will obtain papers for you digitally and send them on a CD. If you can give me the name of your officer and his regiment I will what I can find on him in my library. Regards, Gunner 1

Mervyn Mitton wrote: and Irish Gunner wrote: . Actually, the colon after the rank, the irregular letters and the square stops are all characteristic of the Type I naming on 1914-1915 Stars that is found on stars issued between April and June 1920 (see photo below). For more information, see my article "Naming and Suspension Rings on British 1914-1915 Stars - A Preliminary Analysis" in the Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America, May-June 2003, p. 23-28. Regards, Gunner 1

Irish Gunner is correct about everything except the equivalency of the rank Bombardier. Currently Bombardier (2 chevrons) is equivalent to a Corporal in the Infantry, but during the Great War the Royal Artillery also had a rank of Corporal (two chevrons) so the rank of Bombardier (one chevron) fell between a Gunner (Private) and a Corporal, essentially equivalent to a Lance Corporal in the Infantry. A/Bmbr E J Jewell went to France and Flanders on 8 July 1915 and survived the war. The 1914-1915 Star normally shows the component of the RA that the man belonged to (i.e. RFA, RHA or RGA) but the British War Medal and WWI Victory Medal only indicated 'RA' regardless of whether the man was RFA, RHA or RGA. Regards, Gunner 1

A medal bar to a Lieutenant Colonel in the RFA that contains a French Croix de Guerre with a Bronze and Silver Star: the medals from left to right are: Distinguished Service Order (Geo. V); Queen's South Africa with five clasps (Lieut., RHA); King's South Africa Medal with two clasps; 1914 Star with Date Bar; British War Medal; Victory Medal with MID emblem; Defence Medal, 1939-1945 War Medal; Civil Defence Long Service Medal;[iCroix de Guerre with Bronze and Silver Star; Italian Order of the Crown, 5th Class. Gunner 1

Captain Dudley Davies Lambert Born 26 August 1880, the younger son of John Lambert, Ellesmere House, Nottingham Educated at Rugby School from May 1895 to 1899 where he played on the VI; School VIII, 1897-99, Capt, 1899; Admitted as a Solicitor January 1907 Employed with Chamberlain & Johnson of Llandudno Commissioned as 2nd Lieut, 6th Bn, RWF on 12 July 1915 Temp. Lieut, April 1916 Temp. Captain, July 1916 to July 1917 Served in Palestine in 1917, 1918 and 1919 Substantive Lieutenant, July 1917 Temp. Captain and Judicial Officer (Class FF), November 1918 Employed under Occupied Enemy Territory Administration, Palestine (South) as President of Court of First Instance, Jerusalem Later a Partner in Ryley, Alcock, Anderson & Lambert, Liverpool Retired by 1921 In 1921 his address was The Studio, Challoner Crescent, London, W14 Sources: Rugby School Register Annotated 1892-1921; Rugby School War Register; Record of Service of Solicitors and Articled Clerks 1914-1918.

I think that the reply by Jonas is most likely correct. One of my relatives came to the US from Belgium in 1772 and changed his surname from 'Aerts' to 'Smith.' It would seem to be a rather common thing in the 18th and 19th Centuries for immigrants with hard to pronounce names to change their names to common US names such as Brown, Smith, etc. Gunner 1

Major Hugh Shearer Rowan, MC, RGA Commissioned Temp. 2Lt, RGA on 1 Oct 14 Promoted Temp. Lt, RGA on 22 Sept 16 In June 1916 he joined 154th Siege Battery, RGA at Aldershot Appointed Acting Captain on 4 Dec 16 In Feb and Mar 1917 he attended a Gunnery Course at Lydd and Salisbury Promoted Temp. Captain, RGA on 18 Sept 17 Appointed Acting Major on 30 May 17 Appointed Officer Commanding,154th Siege Battery, RGA on 31 May 17 Awarded the Military Cross in the London Gazette of 1 Jan 18 Mentioned in Despatches in the London Gazette of 23 Dec 18 Gave up command of 154th Siege Battery, RGA on 13 Sep 18 and returned to England A photo of Major Rowan is attached below. Regards, Gunner 1

It is a ‘Certification’ from the Academy of Military Medicine of the Red Army in the name of S M Kirov to Raisa Alekseevna Travnikova for passing a course at the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute in the name of Ul’ianov (Lenin). It certifies her as a Temporary Military X-Ray Technician. She received four ‘outstanding’ grades and two grades of ‘good. It is dated 15 November 1941. Gunner 1

Lists of officially issued British Army orders and decorations awarded to foreign military personnel were published in War Office lists in a format that is the same as that used for the London Gazette. I have a set (I am not positive that it is complete) of these War Office lists and would be happy to do lookups if the name and country of the recipient and the decoration awarded is provided. Regards, Gunner 1

Soldiers Died in the Great Waris a multi-volume set of books that cover individual regiments. These books have the advantage over the CWGC site or the 'Soldiers Died' disk in that rather than just showing the man as 'died' they list the type of death, i.e. KIA, DOW, died of disease, etc. Gunner 1

640592 Dvr. Herbert Henry Pell initially served in the 2 Highland Brigade, RFA (TF). Soldiers Died (the book) indicates that he was Killed in Action. 87th Battery, RFA was a Howitzer Battery in the 2nd Brigade, RFA in the 2nd Division. Gunner 1

I would hazard a guess that V. S. means Military School but I have nothing to document that guess. Regards, Gunner 1

I think it is 'Tylu V. S.' The Russian word 'Tyl' means 'rear' or home front. Gunner 1

Tim: I have bought numerous items from John Bathgate and have found him to be 100% reliable. He evidentially lives in the UK but the items are shipped from Serbia. It usually takes about 7 to 10 days for the packages to get to me in California. Regards, Gunner 1

The certificate issued with the 3rd Class Partisan Star numbered 2376

Reverse of the Soviet-made Partisan Star 3rd Class numbered 2376 and awarded to Lieutenant Anatolii Ivanovich Akushkin, Soviet Army

In order to determine the issuance of Mondvor (Soviet) made 3rd Class Partisan Stars numbered below 8000 please post scans of the numbered reverses of the stars and the accompanying document if it is available. Gunner 1

As soon as I get time later today I will start a thread on Mondvor 3rd Class Partisan Stars numbers, with or without documentation. If others want to start additional threads on other classes or the IKOM variety that would be a great idea, but I think to keep things somewhat easier to use it would be better if that were done with a separate thread. Gunner 1

Wlodzimierz: I agree. Gunner 1