1939-45 War Medal for Ridley Dodds, Esquire

[Avitas]

Hello Gentlemen,

Just thought I would share this nice 39-45 War Medal awarded to Ridley Dodds, Esquire of Prince George, BC, Canada. This is a great piece if British Columbian military history, as Prince George was a pretty small town back in 1945. I'm originally from the north as well (Ft St John) and I just love the local medals I can find, especially with some sort of docmentation and a name. The almost mint medal comes complete with the original box and paper inside of the box, as well as the envelope with postage stamps dated 1949 from Veterans Affairs Canada. The silver is beautiful and shows almost no tarnish (a little at the connector)The only problem with the set is the ribbon bar is missing the ribbon (or maybe the extra little bit of ribbon on the end of the medal is to be cut and mounted still, the size of extra ribbon is perfect for this.) If anyone (Michael Johnson is always a wealth of Canadian knowledge, must know the right sources ) can find out any information on this fine soldier to go with the medal, please feel free to leave it or leave a good reference spot for researching Canadian records.

Cheers and enjoy the pics,

Pat

[Avitas]

Just a note, I got those fingerprints off of it after I saw them! It's too freakin hot here in Kelowna, been close to 40 Celsius for like 3 weeks so everything gets a little greasier Anyways, here is the other side of the medal with the full ribbon

Pat

[Avitas]

A shot of the original box, with a less than flashy stamp on it and the aforementioned ribbon bar hardware with no ribbon...

[Avitas]

Now for the fun part, the addressed envelope with all the markings for Ridley Dodds, and the postage stamp (18 cents! Too bad shipping wasn't so cheap now!). He got his award in 1949, I wonder how common this is. It seems a little late to be getting one, but maybe there is some explanation. Also, any info on the soldier mentioned is greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Pat

[Avitas]

Lastly, the reverse of the envelope with some postal markings from Vancouver etc... Please feel free to leave any comments

Pat

[Michael Johnson]

Interesting.

1. The suspender is to hang the medal from. One to five place bars were sent out (if you had more than five you overlapped them to fit the five-place bar. The ribbons were made long enough to allow for a piece to be cut off for a ribbon bar. At this time these would be a piece of card, plastic, or buckram with the ribbon(s) sewn around it, then the whole was stitched to the uniform.

2. This also verifies that it was Dodd's only medal.

3. If this is his only medal, then he had a minimum of 28 days' service.

4. The lack of a Canadian Volunteer Service Medal might mean that he was an N.R.M.A. man (conscript) who did not go active, but since the CVSM required 18 months' service (6 months, if part was outside Canada), he could have been a late enlistment who served in Canada. If he was active service and invalided, he would have been granted the CVSM.

[Michael Johnson]

A search of B.C. death records gives:

Name: RIDLEY DODDS

Gender: Male

Age: 63

Death Date: 5 May 1968

Place of Death: SALMON ARM

Registration #: 1968-09-006643

A further check at www.ancestry.ca shows that he was born in 1904 in Newcastle-on-Tyne, Northumberland, England.

So he would have been 35 when war was declared. By the time the N.R.M.A. was in force April 1941, he would have been almost 37.

He may well have been conscripted and spent the war on coast defence duties. I can't see him waiting until late 1943 to volunteer, and miss his CVSM for insufficient time. By that point 37-year-olds weren't sent overseas, at least by the Army.

You might try to locate an obituary in B.C.

[Avitas]

Good ideas Michael,

I will try to find an obituary for him now that I know where he died as Salmon Arm is just up the road. He probably did do coastal defence work or something similar and didn't go overseas. If I find an obituary I will add more info. A nice little set though!

Cheers,

Pat

[Avitas]

Hello again,

Here is another Canadian topic that could be moved to the new CAN/AUS/NZ section of the site. This was a good idea to split the Commonwealth countries up to find things a little easier.

Thanks in advance,

Pat

[Mervyn Mitton]

Hi - Pat. You'd better say 'sorry ' to Brian - he's the only one of us that knows how to move them ! In South Africa Home Defence was given the War Medal and also the Africa Medal. For the UK it was the Defence Medal - so, it would seem he was on Home duties. Remember the medal is 1 oz. of silver and don't rub too hard - silver is soft. I can already see where you rubbed the prints off.

[Avitas]

Thanks Mervyn,

Yes it's too bad about the scratches, I'll know for next time. These Canadian issues are actually solid silver, so all the ones I picked up for cheap over the last few years are looking like a fine investment these days!

Talk to you later,

Pat

[Pylon1357]

Any further research performed for the fellow. As you have his date of death and registration number... you can order a copy of his World War Two service file from the National Library and Archives Canada.