peter monahan

Paul I'm not sure about that - genuine question. The Germans had black troops and at least one black soldier served in a German regiment in WWI - I think his photo came up recently somewhere in the GMIC - so perhaps he's have been ok. I would hope and assume that WWI Germans in the colonies had a somewhat different take on the 'other races' than did the Nazis and their ilk in the '30s & '40s. Peter

I should have replied to this sooner. Primus: I was being [mostly] humourous. Even emoticons, sadly, don't do 'nuance' and I should know better than to try. Secundus: avoiding [mostly] the politics of this or a bygone age, Kornel, I don't even disagree with you. I often tell people of a memorial tablet on the wall of St. Paul's Cathedral, London which I saw some 35 years ago and will never forget. It listed the names of 4 brothers who had died 'for the Empire', three in the West African political service and one with the Indian Army. None was 30 years old on his death. Not sure whether dying of blackwater fever would be worse than dying from a hand hammered jezail slug through the guts, but neither would be by any stretch 'glorious'. And none of the four, I'd guess joined up to get rich or famous! Kipling's "The White Man's Burden" is most often cited to be parodied and we won't get into the US in the Philippines, but I agree that many many of the old Imperials were in it for the best of motives, for which they get little credit these days. Again, without judgement of them or we probably hypocritical moderns, I believe that our god or gods must judge us on what we meant to do and that, if we meant to do good, that will count for a lot. I certainly hope our age is judged that way in 200 years, and not on the demonstrably lamentable results of so many of our efforts! Peace Peter

The Efficiency Medal was awarded for a minimum of 12 years service, with war service counting double, so even if she was in for all or most of WWII she must have been in before 1939 or stayed after 1945, I think, to qualify for that! A nice find to an important service.

David WWII groups are a bit tricky to research directly, as the personnel records are not currently available, I don't believe, except perhaps to close relatives. That's the Canadian situation, anyway, and a quick look at the Archives in the UK suggests the same. Here's a site to poke around on, though. There look to be some interesting things on HQ orders and so on, plus the educational section on Western Europe might be a good background read. Good luck with the hunt! Peter

Kornel Oh, I agree - good fun! But mustn't forget: the Times is always 6 weeks late, blackwater fever and servants who will not boil the water hot enough for a proper cuppa. Bad show, old man! Peter

As far as I know there are no rolls for the awards made. In fact, I'm sure that's te case, because I have Mohawk friends who've looked for years because their traditions and some fragmentary records prove that there were warriors at actions not recognized by the 'authorities'. The numbers were in the thousands. Tecumseth had at least 500 warriors, Shawnee, Pottawatomi, Ottawas and Lakota/Sioux at Detroit and at the Battle of the Thames, were he died and which I re-enacted 2 weeks ago, 600 warriors covered the 'retreat' pf the British forces, who fired 1 or 2 volleys and bolted in the face of Kentucky mounted rifles. Tecumseth died there. Had he lived the map of Nrth America might look vey different, with an Indian homeland in the center - think, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky. Native warriors in the old North West - at Fort Michilimackinac on the Michigan Peninsula, now Mackinaw Island Michigan - were a significant factor in restraining US plans to attack Upper Canada. In fact, in the winter of 184-15, a British officer, Lt Andrew Bulger and John Dickson of the British Indian Dept. occupied a captured US fort on the Mississippi River, protecting 'Canada's back door'. This in turn meant that in 1814 Britain was in a far stronger position at the negotiating table than they would otherwise have been. The part played by Natives in the War of 1812 cannot be overestimated!

I'm quoting on the 'no units' thing. Maybe the RAF and RN were so big - and dressed so oddly - that they figured it was ok to say who they were!

Dave Sorry no one got back to you! The Imperial war Museum has records, including medal entitlements for most WWI British servicemen. The medal 'rolls' give unit and dates served and might narrow down 'RE' a bit. Also, the London Gazette should have the citation for the MM, though I suspect it will just be a name in a long list, but at least you'll have an award date. The LG is available on line but the search engine is notoriously cranky, so if you don't get lucky at first, try and try again. Hope this helps! Good luck with the hunt. Peter

QSA Mike is right: definitely not British or Imperial [Oz, SA, Canada]. I would ave said German/Central Powers but if tose pundits say no, try Russia, Turkey, eastern Europe rather than France, Belgium, etc. Peter

Veeery Interesting!

Issued top Ivo W Reddy, who was a Catholic [RC]. No unit identifiers or ranks used after 1918 by the British or Commonwealth armies. At least, not by WWII for sure. Sorry!

Not a rare association, in fact: war - death - skulls. Too bad the SS gave it a bad rep! It does look so cool in silver on black - like the 17th, I mean.

As the French would say... "Sacre WOW!". Very impressive display indeed.

Megan The medal you describe is discussed and illustrated by Antonio here: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/38370-nigeria-police-cross/#entry356540, under "Police Medals and Collectables of the World". Any explanation for the apparent difference? Early and later issue? Two different medals? Prototype and production?

Very interesting! Any idea why the colours were reversed?

Thank you, Turtle. I had located the Wiki entry on the QGM but no citations. Peter

Jock Yes, nobody pays a lot of attention to the poor sod who pulled the trigger. Thank God none of my life's significant [bad?] decisions had consequences like that. I literally don't know how I'd live with it. A double tragedy, as you say. Chris I can't claim any real personal experience with street vets, though I have several friends who do outreach and do meet them. And, I'm a great advocate of fiscal responsibility. I even practice it myself at times! I also spent 33 years trying to explain to high school students that in the real world [ie. after graduation] "Your mother doesn't work here!" and nobody gives a tinker's cuss about your self esteem. And some of the street people fall into that category. OTOH, a few weeks on the street is probably a great incentive for those WHO CAN to pull up their socks! It's no fun out there! Having said all that, and acknowledging that a few of the street people I have come across are Class A con artists, very few street folk are faking it to get the benefits. Partly because the benefits are so hard to get and so s**tty when you do and partly because if they had their act together they'd not be on the street anyway. Mental illness, by definition, reduces one's capacity to deal with the world. Think 'crappiest day of my life, ever',add it together with 'most annoying bureaucrat I've dealt with, ever', and multiply by ten. That's a mentally ill person trying to navigate the social services maze! I'm pretty smart, way over educated and with incredibly supportive family and colleagues and even with all that plus pretty good drugs, I only just made it through some episodes of severe depression without being hospitalized. So, yeah, the Walter Mitty's are out there. These guys aren't them, IMHO!

Kerry I knew some of the Gentlemen would know! Sounds like a nice pair, BTW, with more than just the "I was there" bars on the QSA. Good luck with your National Archives search too. Please do let us know what you find. Peter

"He says I'm a lost cause. ;)" Imagine my surprise! Nice book plate, though. P.

Kerry I have taken the liberty of moving this post to the correct forum. I'm sure some of our expert members will have ideas on how to track down Sgt. Roberts. Peter Monahan, Moderator

Ilja Thank you for the post. Do any of the members have information on the award criteria? Peter

Sadly, Mervyn, our authorities have done, IMHO, shamefully little to help vets deal with mental health issues. Many serving soldiers are afraid or reluctant to speak out, as in the macho culture of the military, 'Just suck it up.' is an all too common response. Our politicians, penny pinchers to a man, are little better, though some belated efforts are being made, mostly as a result of public outrage over cases like this one. A huge number of our homeless are veterans of the armed forces, a fact reflected in US figures too and, I suspect, in many other nations. I have referred in other threads to the recent shooting of a mentally disturbed youth by police, an all too common tragedy. Again, lack of training is part of the problem, lack of money for mental health services another part and, sadly, 'police culture' and adrenaline a third part. "A man runs at me with a knife. I have a gun..." Tragic but not inexplicable. R.I.P. the Unknown Fallen.

Mike has, I think, the best potential answer: the International Red Cross. Now if only their records are indexed and available on-line. Shouldn't be that hard to find out.

Robin I think you've nailed it. But I'm beginning to detect a pattern here! What does your therapist say about this new interest?

I could look it up but... Anyone know when the MC began to be awarded to ORs and NCOs? I assume the MM is no longer awarded. It would also be interesting to know under what circumstances the Queen's Gallantry Medal was awarded. Perhaps for acts while not under enemy fire? I'm not familiar with the award criteria, except that it is referred to as a 'civil award'.