DCM gratuity....

[The Monkey God]

Each DCM award brought a gratuity.............

Can one tell me how much this gratuity was, and whether if a bar was awarded, was another gratuity?

[Tony Farrell]

It depended on when the DCM was awarded, as early awards didn't always carry a gratuity or annuity. It also depended on to whom the award was made, i.e. which colonial or dominion force they were serving with.

During WWII, the DCM carried a £20 gratuity upon discharge without pension or an increase of half that on a pension. Bars counted for double, i.e. DCM* = £40.

[The Monkey God]

Thanks for the reply Tony!!!!

[AJHaslett]

Another factor that influenced the gratuity was rank, at least during Victorian times.

I have a VR DCM, and while researching noted that in the unit records the Sgts awarded the DCM, had a higher gratuity that that of the Corporals, and these again higher than those to privates.

No expert on the subject, merely an observation.

Cheers,

Adam

[leigh kitchen]

Am I right in thinking that some early VC reccommendations were possibly influenced by the fact that the VC brought a gratuity with it & the DCM did'nt?

[david grumpy]

If a soldier earned an army pension, he received an additional 6d per day pension [Pay Warrant 1912]. There was no provision for extra for a clasp. Neither was there anything for a short-service soldier other than gratuity.

To him that hath, shall be given .............

[Bernhard H.Holst]

Hello readers:

I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to British orders or decorations but here is an observation by Frank Richards D.C.M., M.M. late of Second Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers in his book "Old Soldiers Never Die" ( introduction by Robert Graves, he of "Goodbye to all that"also of the R.W.F.):

in early 1916 the Military Medal was introduced which did not have any grants or allowances with it and ranked below the D.C.M. F.Richards states that he had no doubt of its introduction being based on thus saving on grants and allowances. For one D.C.M. about fifty M.M. were awarded. The old soldiers thought very little of this new decoration.

For those not having had the opportunity to read these books they cannot be too highly recommended.

Bernhard H. Holst

[Mervyn Mitton]

Bernard - I'm afraid I can't entirely agree with this thinking. Yes - the soldiers may have thought they would like the £10 annual payment - but, to save this amount was not the purpose of the new award.

The Distinguished Conduct Medal ia a high award and the difficulty the authorities had, was that not every act qualified for it's criteria. Also, the only award for o/r's above the DCM was the VC. There was a similar difficulty with officers' awards and so, in 1916 they created the MC for officers' below Major ( and on some occasions to Wt. Offs.) and the MM , for NCO's and O/R's. There were some 145,000 Military Medals awarded for bravery in the 1st World War. Effectively, it created a third level of gallantry medals and allowed the DCM to keep it's high place.