West African Regiment

[Overthetop]

It looks as though my Grandfather was seconded to the West African Regiment between 11/01/1914 and 17/06/1915 and I’m having difficulty finding out very much at all about what he or his regiment did there. Albert Edward Oner (5139) was a Colour Sergeant with the Hampshire Regiment.

[Mervyn Mitton]

Overthetop   -  welcome to GMIC.   I am sure one of our members will be able to assist with your enquiry.  What part of NSW do you come from ?     Mervyn

[Patrick Dempsey]

Hello Overthetop,

you may find this book of germane interest "The Great War in West Africa"

Your Grandfathers medal index card for WW1 also lists his first theatre of war as '4c' which should be for Cameroon.

Interestingly your Grandfather also appears to have served in the Boer War as he appears on the medal rolls for that conflict also with clasp for 'Paardeburg' 'Johannesburg' & 'Cape Colony' as a private with the 2nd Battalion of the Hampshires.

The medal rolls and index cards are all on 'Ancestry'. I have saved some copies of them if you are not a member.

All the best,

 

Patrick.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Patrick Dempsey

[Overthetop]

Good to hear from you Mervyn,

I live in a country town named Bowral, in the New South Wales Southern Highlands, about one and a half hours drive south of Sydney.

Kevin

 

[Overthetop]

Thanks for the help Patrick, I'm about to order the book you recommended. It's not available through local libraries so it must be quite rare.

So that's what the '4c' represents! I have found two Medal Index Cards of Granddad's and I've wondered what the shorthand references mean. Do you know where I'd find a full explanation on how to interpret those cards?

Yes, he had quite a colourful career; South Africa, Bermuda, Malta, Mauritius, West Africa and of course France. For much of this time he was an NCO. On top of that, when enlisting he changed his name and age so I'm having a huge job tracing him. Until recently, today as it happens, I had an account with Ancestry and it was there that I found a great deal of information including his army pension records. 

I'd love to see the records you've saved from Ancestry, there maybe something I've missed.

Cheers, Kevin

[Patrick Dempsey]

Hello Kevin,

happy to have found some useful information for you. The single best reference for all things medal card and indeed medal related is 'The Great War Medal Collectors Companion' ( i understand postage to Australia will be expensive, but that is a good price for the book in the link and i am sure you can pick up a copy closer to home). It is simply without peer, a seminal work and will answer virtually any question that springs to mind.

If it were written about Germanic items it would be lauded to the heavens...but that is a topic for another thread!

I am sure you have them, but i also have what appear to be his militia attestation papers from 1897 too (these i located via 'Find My Past'. Drop me a PM with a contact e-mail and i will forward it all on.

All the best from 'old' South Wales,

 

Patrick.

 

 

[Trooper_D]

The single best reference for all things medal card and indeed medal related is 'The Great War Medal Collectors Companion' ( i understand postage to Australia will be expensive, but that is a good price for the book in the link and i am sure you can pick up a copy closer to home). It is simply without peer, a seminal work and will answer virtually any question that springs to mind

​Patrick

Thanks for bringing this series, which is new to me, to our attention. It looks like one I 'need' - the first volume, at any rate - as well.

It seems to me that Volume II is the appropriate volume for Kevin to acquire, if the blurb here is correct,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THE-GREAT-WAR-MEDAL-COLLECTORS-COMPANION-VOLUME-II-BY-HOWARD-WILLIAMSON/311341069885

Edited April 23, 2015 by Trooper_D

[Patrick Dempsey]

Hello Trooper,

it was indeed remiss of me not to mention the other volumes but volume one is the place to start ideally as it decodes and explains the medal index card and its variations in minute detail with roughly 30 pages of MIC specific abbreviations alone. The section on the 1914-5 star also lists the alphanumeric codes for theatre of war and even explains why different coloured inks were used on the cards for different entries!

Volume two gives you access to practically the entire lexicon of British military abbreviations of the period. These encompass ranks,trades,Regimental numbers, number prefixes, number blocks and a lot more information on the armies from across the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories in staggering detail but volume one deals with card specific codes and nomenclature outside of rank and unit abbreviations.

All three volumes deserve a place on the shelf really.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Patrick Dempsey

[Trooper_D]

...  but volume one is the place to start ideally as it decodes and explains the medal index card and its variations in minute detail with roughly 30 pages of MIC specific abbreviations alone.

​Thanks for expanding further on the content of volume one, Patrick. As you suggest, these volumes are a must for anyone interested on British medals and the Great War. One (or three, really) for the Christmas list!

Edited April 24, 2015 by Trooper_D

[Overthetop]

Hello Kevin,

happy to have found some useful information for you. The single best reference for all things medal card and indeed medal related is 'The Great War Medal Collectors Companion' ( i understand postage to Australia will be expensive, but that is a good price for the book in the link and i am sure you can pick up a copy closer to home). It is simply without peer, a seminal work and will answer virtually any question that springs to mind.

If it were written about Germanic items it would be lauded to the heavens...but that is a topic for another thread!

I am sure you have them, but i also have what appear to be his militia attestation papers from 1897 too (these i located via 'Find My Past'. Drop me a PM with a contact e-mail and i will forward it all on.

All the best from 'old' South Wales,

 

Patrick.

 

 

​Hi Patrick, there's something wrong with your message service. I tried to send you a note but the message "you have entered an invalid recipient" comes up. Or am I doing something wrong?

Any ideas, Kevin  

​

Edited April 27, 2015 by Overthetop

[Patrick Dempsey]

Hmm....

i just tried to message you also and had the same error. Is this a minimum posts issue or a bug from the recent upgrade?

[Overthetop]

Ah ha, there could be a minimum post requirement. Maybe this, this fifth post, will meet suffice.