WW2 Medal racks

Discussion in 'Searching for Someone & Military Genealogy' started by dbf, Dec 16, 2013.

  1. James Harvey

    James Harvey Senior Member

    My great uncles group with his newly issued arctic star
     

    Attached Files:

    Hugh MacLean and dbf like this.
  2. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Well done, did you mount those yourself?
     
  3. James Harvey

    James Harvey Senior Member

  4. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    My Paternal Grandfather who was a regular when WW1 started had two medals from WW1. He was gassed in 1917 and invalided out. He survived but his l ung s were damaged and he passed away in 1941, 10 years before I was born.
    My late father served in the 4th Reconnaissance Corps in Italy and received four medals from the UK and one from the Greek Government, with large scroll for his service in Greece.
    I have my father's medals on display with cap badge and Divisional shoulder sign plus photograph.
    When attending Remembrance Sunday Services I only wear my two medals and have never worn my Late father's medals.
    Just my way of thinking of course.
    Regards
    Tom
     
  5. James Harvey

    James Harvey Senior Member

    Tom

    I wore my 3 Medals and my grandfathers Medals on Remembrance Sunday, I was in uniform this year so was quite fitting.
     
    Rob Bulloch, Smudger Jnr and Mike L like this.
  6. Wobbler

    Wobbler Well-Known Member

    Sorry, but late to this thread as I am to the forum of course.

    These are my grandad’s. They are not mounted, but I now have a set of mounted miniatures that I wore very proudly for the first time the last Remembrance Sunday. I intend to get his medals framed at some point soon, together with the relevant cap, collar badge and buttons I have recently acquired thanks to the kindly chaps over at the Badge Forum (sadly I have none of his actual items of uniform or papers, they must have all gone out in the rubbish long since).

    I do have a Dunkirk Medal too, just forgot to add it to the photo. I purchased it late last year having seen one on the Antiques Roadshow and thinking “Grandad is entitled to that!”. I know it’s not an official Government decoration, but he was there, he damn well earned it and now it’s in his collection, albeit long since he passed in 1982 (sorry grandad, I just never knew it existed).

    What bugs me is no War Medal? It is not in that old tobacco tin of his in which he kept them, in which I still keep them (another much treasured possession).

    The service summary letter I received from the MOD back in 1993 does not show it having been awarded either. I am currently awaiting his full service records and I am very interested to see if he was entitled to the War Medal. They cashed my cheque three weeks back which got me rather excited, but no envelope of treasures through my door yet.

    It seems, to my inexpert mind anyway, that surely a man, a Globetrotter and D-Day Dodger, who served for as long and as in many theatres as he did, should have been entitled to the War Medal. Or maybe he just didn’t apply for it.

    I did send a query to the Medal Office just asking if he should have been entitled to it, but they just said “fill in the form”, for which I will maybe have to call on my aunt’s help again. I had hoped they could have checked and said yay or nay, but I appreciate they must be swamped with general queries like mine.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Feb 14, 2020
    bamboo43, von Poop and Tullybrone like this.
  7. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    Hi,

    You may not be aware that MOD now provide copies of the actual forms from which the typed summary of service paper was compiled. You might wish to reapply so you can have sight of the original documents.

    He is clearly entitled to the War Medal and his original papers will confirm if it was issued post war or if there has been a clerical error.

    Whilst you may think the Medal Office could give you an immediate Yea or Nay as to his War Medal entitlement over the phone they need to have sight of his original service papers from Glasgow before giving a decision.

    I would request his copy papers first and on receipt submit an application to the Medal Office if the evidence in his service papers supports your belief that the War Medal wasn’t issued.

    On the other hand if his papers confirm his medal was issued it would appear it has been mislaid over the years.

    You could consider buying a War Medal. They are unnamed and you can get one for £15/£20.

    Good Luck

    Steve
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2020
    Wobbler and von Poop like this.
  8. Wobbler

    Wobbler Well-Known Member

    Thanks for this Steve. I am indeed eagerly awaiting his full service records, which should prove most enlightening. I applied in October and they cashed my cheque three weeks back, so fingers crossed I shall have them soon. Until I became a member on this forum, I had not even realised you could now get full service records, as opposed to what I received in ‘93.

    You know, I hadn’t thought about buying a War Medal. Good call, thanks for that.
     
  9. Wobbler

    Wobbler Well-Known Member

    That is beautiful, exactly how I would like grandad’s display to look. I’ve taken a screenshot as a template. Cheers!
     
  10. James Harvey

    James Harvey Senior Member

    Yes he is entitled as 28 days service was needed as he had a minimum 12 months service (6 months for the 39-45 star and a minimum 6 months of the defence medal was issued for overseas service subject to air attack)

    Cheap enough to replace if lost but they will issue if it was forgotten but I think it was lost over time
     
    Wobbler likes this.
  11. Wobbler

    Wobbler Well-Known Member

    Thanks James. I think I was mystified as it wasn’t even listed on that letter. Steve and your good self have put my mind at rest that he was entitled to it. His papers will be an interesting read, for many reasons of course.
     
  12. Tolbooth

    Tolbooth Patron Patron

    Dad's medals, WW2 and Korea, awaiting framing.
    Dads Medals.jpg

    Alas, not the originals - they're hanging on my brothers wall alongside his GS medal. But the Lothians cloth shoulder badge is his!
     
    dbf, von Poop, Wobbler and 2 others like this.
  13. James Harvey

    James Harvey Senior Member

    Great set of medals, nice to see ww2 with post war medals
     
    Wobbler and Tolbooth like this.
  14. Wobbler

    Wobbler Well-Known Member

    Very, very nice, John. My uncle, Francis Gatty, served in the Australian Army and, as far as I know, was in the Korean conflict (he left the UK specifically to do so and returned home later, where he spent the rest of his relatively short life).

    A few years back I obtained his full service records from the Australian Government but have never thought to check if he was entitled to any medals for his Australian service. Whether he, indeed, had any, I don’t know, as I’ve never seen them. He never married, so had no family of his own, and lived with my grandad, whose medals, as you can see, I do have. But no sign of any for my uncle.

    I’m not sure now just where those service records are. I moved house three years ago and I have a horrible feeling they’re buried in one of many unpacked boxes in the loft. I should have a rummage.
     
    Tolbooth likes this.
  15. Tullybrone

    Tullybrone Senior Member

    Hi,

    Here is a link to the only Francis Gatty in post WW2 Australian military archives -

    https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/Sea...eports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=9547926&isAv=N

    Unfortunately it’s not yet digitised.

    Steve
     
    Wobbler likes this.
  16. Wobbler

    Wobbler Well-Known Member

    That’s him, Francis Albert Gatty, and I know he sailed on the Moreton Bay as I found the passenger list on FMP a few months back.

    Brilliant Steve, thank you for this.
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2020
  17. pierce09

    pierce09 Member

    These are my Grandad's medals. The only one he ever saw was the Norwegian War Medal on the right which he was handed after Op Rubble.

    William 'Billy' Johnston was in the Merchant Navy for most of the 1930's and 1940's. He was trapped in the port of Salamanca, Spain during the civil war for a time.In 1940, he then went out on the SS Romanby when it was sunk at Narvik. He was captured, marched to an internment camp in Sweden and subsequently escaped. He headed to Gothenburg where he jumped on one of the Bakke ships that busted the German blockade back to the UK with much needed ores and supplies. Whilst back in the UK, he missed the next ship out to marry his sweetheart. This ship was the Lancastrian Prince which sadly was sunk in 1943, killing his brother George, and adopted brother, Vivian Corcoran.

    He went out after on the SS Clearpool, which ran aground off the Humber estuary. He underwent specialist training, which we believe was commando training so as to identify ships to the commandos. He was then on a water tanker for D-Day. He finally left the MN around 1948 and became a coal delivery man around Cardiff.

    My father applied for his medals in 1998 and also applied for his Arctic Star a few years ago.
    Grandad Johnson group.jpg Billy Artic Star.jpg
     
    Hugh MacLean and Wobbler like this.
  18. pierce09

    pierce09 Member

    William's wife, Phyllis Ruby Davies also received the War Medal. She joined the WAAF in 1942 initially as a Barrage Balloon operator training at RAF Cardington but transferred to Telephonist. She served at Milford Haven, Honeybourne and Killadeas and was discharged in 1945.
     
    Wobbler likes this.
  19. James Harvey

    James Harvey Senior Member

    My Nan was WAaF balloon operator also

    she was awarded defence and war medal
     
    pierce09 and Wobbler like this.
  20. James Harvey

    James Harvey Senior Member

    When did she join the WAaF as May also be entitled to the Defence Medal
     

Share This Page