I am after help for my dad regarding his father John Albert Crawley, lance corporal 2127651 from the royal engineers 8th army. He died aged 28 on the 30th June 1944. Whilst in service he received the "oak leaf medal", my dad was only 5 years old at the time of his fathers death and to this day he does not know why he was awarded this medal? My dad has contacted the imperial war museum in London to check any records there but to no avail, we have also checked the London gazette archives which also has no record? We have all the documentation for this medal but it would be great if anyone on this forum could point me in the right direction as to finding out how he would of been awarded this medal. I would be grateful for any replies regarding this post, Kind regards, Jon
Hi Jon, Sounds like he was awarded a Mention in Despatches. CWGC confirms it is: http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2733440/CRAWLEY,%20JOHN%20ALBERT Interesting he died in the UK though...I would apply for a copy of his service records as a starting point. Cheers Andy
Thank you for your response Andy. My father did request a copy of his records, again with no luck. Thank you for the link, I have just forwarded this to my dad as he has not seen this before. My dad was 3 when his father went to war, they returned him home knowing he was dying and discharged him from the army, meaning my nan never got a widows pension. My dad was only 5 when he returned so was to young to ask the questions he now wishes to know. He believes he received the medal whilst in Egypt, he then went onto Sicily where he was taken ill. We know he was published in the London gazette on the 13th January 1944 as mentioned in a despatch for distinguished service. We just can't find any information on why? Kind regards Jon
Have you sent off for his service records from the MOD ? Might give you more info. Sadly this is a common problem , members being unable to find out why a MiD was awarded. If you have his records you can see which units he was in , get their war diaries from The National Archives & see if anything is mentioned in them. PS. I deleted your duplicate threads .
