MEDAL RE-UNITED - PATIENCE REWARDED AT LAST....!!!!!!

[David B 1812]

I have previously written on this GMIC FORUM about my medal group to Lt. Col. Reginald James SHEARCROFT, MBE.

(East Surrey Regiment and Royal Indian Army)

In 1987 I bought a TEN medal group to Lt Col Shearcroft. It is illustrated elsewhere on this site. Apart from the award of the MBE (and the MID) notable is the presence of the 1914-19 Territorial Force War Medal, and later, for WWII - the Burma Star and the India Service Medal -  obviously for service in the INDIAN army. Records show us that Lt Col Shearcroft served in the Army for 36 years, BUT THERE IS NO MEDAL PRESENT WHICH rewards him for his service. Not an Army LS&GC medal nor an Efficiency Medal nor anything similar. BUT SURELY he should have got something?  Yes, of course. After all, the man progressed through the ranks from Private to Sergeant to Major to Lt. Colonel. 36 years. BUT WHERE IS IT????  I have asked this question in many Groups (including this one) and the most usual (and at the time, probably correct) answer was that Shearcroft likely DID earn a LS&GC whilst in the ranks, but that once he became an Officer, decided NOT to wear it -  so that his fellow officers could not easily see that he had spent many years in the ranks..................  BUT THE MISSING MEDAL WAS NOT / IS NOT present with the Group........ 

AND THEN, earlier this year (2016), after owning Shearcroft's group for nearly thirty years I FOUND IT !!!!!!.. Whilst doing some research I discovered that Shearcroft's Army LS&GC medal (INDIA issue, no less) had been auctioned by Dix Noonan & Webb to a collector in England in 2012 - and the collector, in turn, had bought it as an Army LS&GC TYPE example. Anyway, about four months or so back, following exchanges of correspondence between myself, DNW and the gentleman concerned, it was agreed to sell the "missing" LS&GC medal to me. This was done and NOW I HAVE IT.....!!!!!  I am of course, extremely pleased to have completed this important RE-UNITE after nearly THIRTY YEARS. The medal itself is an Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, Third Type (1930-1936), GVR (C), Commonwealth bar -  INDIA.  I have also discovered (since I last wrote on the subject) that after Shearcroft left the Army, after the War, he emigrated, with his wife, first to South Africa (Port Elizabeth) and then later to Rhodesia, where he died in Salisbury in 1967. This would explain how I was able to buy his medals from an S.A. Dealer in 1987.

I have done a huge amount of research on Shearcroft, and have ALL the LG entries for his M.B.E. award; his promotions; his various Army appointments, etc etc. There is just ONE MATTER not yet COMPLETE -  that is the LG entry for the M.I.D. apparently awarded to Shearcroft. I have found the L.G. website VERY DIFFICULT (and impossible, at times) to use and search, and if there is ANY KIND SOUL out there with more patience than myself, it would be much appreciated if Shearcroft's MID entry could be found, please.

And, of course, as you can imagine, the FIRST PRIZE, GOLD MEDAL, PINNACLE of everything would be to find a PHOTOGRAPH of Shearcroft.  Anyone ???????

Thanks for reading this. All the best,

David BENNETT -  Durban North.

 

 

[BalkanCollector]

Incredible find! Finding it after almost 30 years is amazing. Good luck with that entry!

Edited September 16, 2016 by BalkanCollector

[peter monahan]

Huzza.  Excellent find.  Congratulations.  A dozen gongs is not to be sneezed at and reflects the service this gent put in.  Well done, again.  A tribute to your patience, indeed.

[Kvart]

How lovely!

[paul wood]

David,

What was his regimental number on the WWI medals?

Paul

Found his numbers on an earlier post, no joy with any on the LG

Paul

[David B 1812]

Dear Paul Wood -

Shearcroft ended WWI as a Sergeant. His Medal Index Card shows him having THREE NUMBERS:

5776 On the TFWAR Medal (The Queen's) and,

240050 for the East Surrey Regiment and,

L/14214 for the Queen's Regiment.

Shearcroft has MANY entries (I have them all) in either the IML and/or the LG in these years:

1928;1935;1936;1939;1941;1942;1949;1968.  The ONE entry which I DO NOT have (or rather,

I cannot find in the damn LG) is for the M.I.D. (And, as he is wearing the MID emblem on his VM,

then we must presume that the MID was during the Great War ............)  If you have ANY ideas of

where I might find a PHOTO of Shearcroft, I would appreciate that very much. Thank you.

All the best to you, and thank you to the earlier members for their kind comments.

David Bennett

In the Last Outpost of the British Empire.