victory medal WWI

[martty]

Hi,

I found this medal a while ago. As with all victory medals from the first world war this is also engraved (impressed) with the owners name etc. In this case I find it hard to see the text on the rim, but Iam quite sure its something like this:

272 SEPOY RAGHU SAKPAL . 110 INFY .

I know its the british variation of the medal which might help in the identification (!)

Can it be something in this order:

Service number: 272

Rank: Sepoy

Name: Raghu Sakpal

Regiment: 110 infantry (?)

Sepoy was the indian (british colony) name f?r privat. In this particular case it seems to match with the name, Raghua Sakpal sounds like a indian name in my ears.

I have searched different databases over fallen commonwealth soldiers but without finding anything. The closest i got was this man:

RAGHURAJ SINGH

Sepoy

2272

Date of death: 15/02/1916

7th Duke of Connaught's Own Rajputs Indian

Am I on the right track concerning the interpretation of the text (on the rim)? It feels like iam stuck for the moment so a little bit of help would be nice.

All help is appreciated!

Regards/

Anton B

Edited November 19, 2007 by martty

[martty]

rim2

[martty]

rim3

[Ed_Haynes]

Yes, an Indian. Let me get what information I can for you.

[martty]

Let me get what information I can for you.

Thanks

[Ed_Haynes]

He is, indeed, a sepoy (= infantry private) in the 110th Maratha Light Infantry. In WWI they served in India and in Mespootamia and were captured at Kut.

There is no link between him and the fellow you found in the CWGC lists.

Cross your fingers while I dig out that Kut POW roll and check him . . . .

[Ed_Haynes]

Have checked . . . and lucky for him, unlucky for you, he is not to be found on the POW list. With such a low regimental number, he may have left service before Kut?

[Michael Johnson]

Have checked . . . and lucky for him, unlucky for you, he is not to be found on the POW list. With such a low regimental number, he may have left service before Kut?

Also possibly wounded before Kut, and either discharged or posted to another linked regiment. Can't remember offhand the 110th's linked regiments.

[Ed_Haynes]

Good thought.

[martty]

Hi,

If he left service before Kut-al-amara then he would probably have been in some of these battles:

Basra - 1914

Shaiba - 1915

North-West Frontier of India - 1914-15

The 110th mahratta light infantry (3rd battalion) fought in all three. Is there any military records over the soldiers who fought in this regiment?

Also possibly wounded before Kut, and either discharged or posted to another linked regiment.

But if he was posted to another regiment why is the medal impressed with his old regiments name?!

Found this soldier on the national archives website. I could be the same soldier.. or maybe not, not exactly correct number, regiment and name! But that was the closest i could get today . Its sad that the text on the rim is so hard to see. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documen...;resultcount=10

Thanks for the help!

/Anton B

[Michael Johnson]

Interesting. The MIC would only be for a postwar GSM, and judging by the inclusion of his post-1922 number, I would hazard a guess at Kurdistan, round two in 1923.

[martty]

Since Iam from Sweden i dont understand all your shortenings for different words

What is MIC ang GSM?

/Anton

[Graham Stewart]

MIC = Medal Index Card - can be accessed from our National Archive's website.

GSM = General Service Medal

Graham.

[Ed_Haynes]

The medal index cards for WWI medals to Indians were maintained in the Army Medal Office (in New Delhi, of course), where they were discarded in an office cleaning in the early 1980s. (Showing why archival records should be rescued from bureaucrats, especially bureaucrats in uniform.) The only Indian MICs in London are for the General Service Medal, and linking these to WWI medals is very difficult due to the massive 1922 regimental reorganizations. (And it is a bit of a puzzle figuring out why these cards are in London.)

[Michael Johnson]

(And it is a bit of a puzzle figuring out why these cards are in London.)

I suspect that all the medals issued were from the Royal Mint. For the same reason, the rolls for the Africa General Service Medal and the Queen's South Africa Medal are also in the U.K.

[Ed_Haynes]

I suspect that all the medals issued were from the Royal Mint. For the same reason, the rolls for the Africa General Service Medal and the Queen's South Africa Medal are also in the U.K.

Nope. So far as I can tell, all Indian WWI medals (except, perhaps, for Brits who had been discharged and were back in the UK) were struck, named, and issued from the Calcutta Mint.

[Michael Johnson]

Nope. So far as I can tell, all Indian WWI medals (except, perhaps, for Brits who had been discharged and were back in the UK) were struck, named, and issued from the Calcutta Mint.

I was only referring to the issue of the GSM. It is quite clear from naming, etc. that the Indian issues were from the Calcutta Mint.

And there are MICs for the British personnel you mention, as well as various Canadians who served in British units, or perhaps who took their discharge in the U.K., where many of them were born.