DSO to foreigners ?

[Christian L]

Does a list exists showing the nationalities of awardees who got the DSO - or even a list of the names of the DSO awardees? (like Imperial German Award Rolls? - as i know that the awards to Brits are gazetted, but those to Non-Brits are not, at least thats my understanding).

Thanks in advance Christian

[JBFloyd]

No roll of "honorary" recipients has ever been published that I'm aware of. However, Abbott and Tamplin's "British Gallantry Awards" show the following for World War I (which does not include Navy awards):

Arab Army - 6

Belgium - 134

China - 2

Czechoslovakia - 20

France - 678

Greece - 43

Italy - 251

Japan - 21

Montenegro - 1

Portugal - 21

Romania - 29

Russia - 1

Serbia - 38

Slavo-British Aviation Corps 1

USA - 83

They made no similar list for World War II, but show only numbers of honorary awards: Navy - 80; Army - 296; Air Force - 38

[Christian L]

Hy Jeff,

thanks a lot for the numbers!

(and a book i'll add to the other medalbooks i have).

Quiet interesting which nationalities are amongs the recieving ones!

For further research on these (to get names) can you lead me to something? (even an archive / gazette / ...) as british medals are not really my speciallty.

Thanks a lot so far and i'm happy, especially about the numbers!

Christian

[Igor Ostapenko]

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=16005

[James Hoard]

Does a list exists showing the nationalities of awardees who got the DSO - or even a list of the names of the DSO awardees? (like Imperial German Award Rolls? - as i know that the awards to Brits are gazetted, but those to Non-Brits are not, at least thats my understanding).

Thanks in advance Christian

Nothing has been published. You have to go to the National Archives in Kew and examine the WO and FO series to find what you are lokking for. You need to examine both because there are variations.

The Tamplin numbers are far from accurate as the DSO figure for Russia clearly suggests.

The London Gazette published names until 1916 but then stopped because they could not keep up. The King was so angry about the record keeping that he demanded that all foreign awards except those to British protected persons (usually under more accurate Colonial Office control and record keeping) be stopped before the embarrasment was publicly apparent.

The practice of awards to foreigners got out of hand during the middle of the Great War ca 1916-1917. For example, one bafoon of a general who headed a military mission to Russia (presumably his 'abilities' meant he could be spared) was given sets of various insignia of several orders and decorations, which he distributed to various people in the Russian forces but never recorded who they were. The home authorities pestered him for a period of four years before he sat down and drew one up from memory. But his method of transliterating names was so idiosyncratic that it was impossible to identify most of the individuals and their certificates could not be drawn up. Things got more and more difficult to verify as Russia collapsed and emerged into several different independent states, where names were now being rendered in the local language rather than Russian. Years later in the 1920s and 1930's British diplomats in Eastern Europe were reporting this or that individual turning up at receptions wearing a British decoration which they could not verify. Irrate Lithuanian and Polish officers were writing in to the Foreign Office demanding why 10 years had past and they still had not received their certificates. In at least one case there were grave doubts as to the veracity of one such claim, but the FO could not prove it one way or the other and the fellow in question happened to be the current dictator, so he got his certificate in 1927.

In most instances, the allies submitted numbers available to their various opposite numbers and relied upon them to draw up the deserving cases and submit the names. Some were more accurate and dilligent in doing so than others. In the case of Montenegro, in 1915 their "share" of awards amounted to a CMG and a DSO which were accordingly sent by the local legation to the War Ministry. One morning Voyvode Vukutich and Prince Mirko happened to come in and saw the two decorations on a desk. They had a little discussion in which Prince Mirko preferred the look of the DSO and General Vukutich the CMG, so helped themselves. The first the British legation knew about it was when they both turned up at the next reception wearing them, so there was nothing to be done but to issue certificates to them. George V probably broke his pen signing their approvals and certificates!

Cheers

James

[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