Hello,,i have a question ref WW1 medal entitlement,,I have my great grandads medal index card and as you will see from the attached image it apparently shows he was entitled to the British war medal but not the victory or star medal, would there be a reason for this as i thought everyone got the victory medal, The reason i am asking is because recently a medal to him was found but was allegedly given away to someone unrelated as the owner had no interest and as we are now unable to confirm where its gone (denial of possession by both parties) i would like to replace whatever medals he was entitled to with miniatures to display with his medal index card next to his photograph in the photo i have of him he has a single long service stripe (2 years ?) and wound stripe below.
Hi spotter, Here is the criteria for the Victory Medal: This medal was awarded to all those who entered a theatre of war. It follows that every recipient of the Victory Medal also qualified for the British War Medal, but not the other way round. For example if a soldier served in a garrison in India he would get the BWM but not the Victory Medal. In all, 300,000 fewer Victory Medals were required than British War Medals. All three armed services were eligible. It is not generally known that Victory Medals continued to be awarded after the Armistice, for the British forces who saw action in North Russia (up to October 12th, 1919) and Trans-Caspia (up to April 17th, 1919) also qualified. The medal was struck in bronze. On the obverse is a full-length figure of Victory. On the reverse is the inscription "The Great War for Civilisation". There is no clasp, but a ting attachment through which the ribbon is passed. The official description of the colour of the ribbon is "two rainbows with red in the centre". An oak-leaf emblem was sanctioned for those who were mentioned in despatches. 5,725,000 Victory Medals were issued. So this might answer your question. I once wrote an article about the 18th Territorial Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, they served as garrison troops in Burma during WW1. These men also only received the British War Medal. Hope this helps. Steve
Thanks for the info Steve, this has now got me thinking have i actually got the right medal index card now for a couple of reasons,im sure i remember my dad mentioning he had fought in france/belgium,plus i got this copy of the MIC a while back and recently i have been trying to do my family tree and only get the name Frank Holmes cropping up not Francis..many hours of digging ahead of me i think,,if only i could get my hands on that original medal as it would have his number on the edge.....
There are 14 Francis Holmes with medal index cards against their names on line. Do you have more information about his service, regiment etc. Also if he has another christian name, this info also might help narrow the search down. Steve
Is it possible that he ever transferred regiments or ever changed serial numbers? I have researched soldiers who changed regiments and had different service numbers, and ended up with duplicate medal index cards with different medal entitlements on each.
Just been looking on Ancestry and I have noticed that there are 5 F Holmes in the UK,Silver War Badge Records. Where was he born by the way and where ? F. Holmes Royal Engineers Road Trps. Dep. 228056 F. Holmes Depot Royal Sussex Regt. 2265 F. Holmes 3 R.W. Kent. 22 F. Holmes Northampton 21441 F. Holmes Rifle Bde. S5139
Ok just back from trying to pry what memories of my great grandad i could out of my dad, As shown in his photo at the time of the photo he was badged to the East Yorkshire Regiment, His name according to family tree and census documents is FRANK HOLMES not Francis as was first thought..Born in 1896 at a place called Laytham which is between York and Hull now for the little bit i could get from my dad sadly time has taken its toll on what he remembers... Great grandad did training at some time in Pontefract He was in Dublin at some point as dad remembers him showing him a newspaper photo of him rifle in hand and telling him it was taken in Dublin Apparently he was wounded carrying someone off the battlefields in France so guess that explains his wound stripe. as usual nothing straight forward
Hi Spotter Have you tried the Great War Forum? If you sign up and post the medal card and photo I am sure they will be able to help you. http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php Lesley
Ancestry show 4 pages of Frank Holmes in the medal index rolls, 3 from the East Yorks, but there are many other from nearby Regiments too, Yorks, West Riding etc.
