Tank Veteran who served in both World Wars

Discussion in 'RAC & RTR' started by IAN WELLS, Jun 7, 2020.

  1. IAN WELLS

    IAN WELLS Member

    On the 15th of September1966, a Veterans Dinner was held in London to commemorate the first use of tanks. My family has a photograph of five men who attended the dinner.


    The men are, from left to right.
    L.H.Boughton
    A.H.Chew
    F.J.McGuirk
    Unknown; his badge cannot be read but his medals must be unique. He must have also served in WW2.
    G.H.Wells (our grandfather)

    The fourth (unidentified) man has a splendid set of WW1 and WW2 medals; I have set myself the task of trying to identify him from his medals.


    With considerable help from members of the Great War Forum, I have collated this list of medals.

    TANK CORPS 50th ANNIVERSARY DINNER: SEPTEMBER 1966

    1 WWI British War Medal
    2 WWI Victory Medal
    3 India General Service Medal 1908
    4 India General Service Medal 1936
    5 WWII 1939 - 1945 Star
    6 WWII Africa Star
    7 WWII France and Germany Star (or Italy Star).
    8 WWII Defence Medal
    9 WWII War Medal with oak leaf for 'Mentioned In Dispatches
    10 Long Service and Good Conduct

    Can anybody identify the fourth man?

    Regards

    IAN WELLS
     
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  2. SDP

    SDP Incurable Cometoholic

    I have a few ideas but, when you say 'Veterans Dinner held in London', what was the occasion? Regiment? Group of chums from London?....and what is the reason for knowing all the names except the one chap?
     
  3. Robert-w

    Robert-w Banned

    He's already said Tank Corps 50th Anniversary Dinner and that the guy's name tag was not readable in the photo - what more is needed?
     
  4. IAN WELLS

    IAN WELLS Member

    SDP and RW
    Thanks, both. If you follow the link to the great war forum I have put into the post you will see the list of attendees of the event and newspaper article from the Birmingham Mail which my Grandfather's children saw and used to persuade him to go to the event.

    Ian
     
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  5. SDP

    SDP Incurable Cometoholic

    Robert
    The reference to Tank Corps etc was edited into the post after my question had been asked. Not a problem as that's now likely answered my original question anyway.
     
  6. SDP

    SDP Incurable Cometoholic

    Ian
    That link is to a very long and detailed thread. Sorry, but I simply don't have time to go through it all to extract the information likely to help me help you so can't assist any further at this time.
    Steve
     
  7. IAN WELLS

    IAN WELLS Member

    TANK CORPS VETERANS DINNER 15 September 1966
    I attach the front of the programme for the event and the list of attendees.
    IAN

    15Sept1966003.jpg 15Sept1966 list.jpg
     
  8. Richelieu

    Richelieu Well-Known Member

    If you have the patience Ian you could try cross referencing your attendance list with those recorded as being mentioned in despatches for WW2 in the London Gazette.

    n.b. Using the ‘Gazette edition’ filter will limit the amount of repetition in the search results.
     
  9. IAN WELLS

    IAN WELLS Member

    Richelieu
    Thanks for the constructive advice. I will try that.
    As my 'lockdown challenge', I have been preparing a 'spreadsheet' of what I can find out about all the attendees. Therefore I can already discount quite a few of them. For example, several have WWI MID, MM, MC, DSO, MBE, or OBE. I believe that the 'long service and good conduct' medal (that he has) was not given to officers unless they had served initially as 'ordinary ranks' (I need to confirm this). The other thing I have to consider is that he may not have served in the RTR during WWII.

    Ian
     
  10. IAN WELLS

    IAN WELLS Member

    TANKMEN WHO SERVED IN BOTH WORLD WARS
    With the aim if identifying the unnamed man in the photograph posted above I have prepared a spreadsheet of the information I have found so far on the men who attended the Dinner. Does anyone have any further information on any of the attendees?

    Ian
     

    Attached Files:

  11. IAN WELLS

    IAN WELLS Member

    TANKMEN WHO SERVED IN BOTH WORLD WARS
    Simply using Google I have spent a few interesting hours reading up about several of the 'highly decorated' men who attended the 50th Anniversary Veterans Dinner on the 15 September 1966. The following all have fascinating histories and can be eliminated from the search for the 'fourth man' in the photograph posted above.
    Those listed below appear in the Royal Tank Regiment Army List for 1939/40.
    Lt Col E F Ledward
    Majors: T R Price DSO MC, N M Dillon MC, R M Jerram DSO MC, E J O'Conor OBE MC, HBM Groves MC, RC Cooney OBE, & G H Brooks.
    Quarter Masters: J Gully MM, J Noel DCM, LE Gibbs MBE
    Retired Officer Re Employed: Major F Tucker MC

    IAN
     
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  12. Richelieu

    Richelieu Well-Known Member

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  13. IAN WELLS

    IAN WELLS Member

    Richelieu
    Thanks for this; will have a detailed look at this at the weekend.
    IAN
     
  14. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Last edited: Mar 18, 2024
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