I am trying to find out why my partners grandad was mentioned in despatch's in the London Gazette on 10th January 1946. All I have is his name, rank and service number and that he served with the Gloucestershire Regiment. Incase any one can help here is the information printed in the copy of the London Gazette I have found online. 3970463 W .O.II H. J. GRIFFITHS Here is the LINK to the page incase anyone is interested. Thanks Daniel
The citation is not listed online with the National Archives so one probably no longer exists. Your best bet would be to look in his units war diary (you need to know the battalion he was with) for clues. Looking at the date it was awarded he may have been a PoW.
The award for WO2 Griffiths appears to be on a long list of awards that come under this heading: War Office, 10th January, 1946. The KING, has been graciously pleased to approve that the following be Mentioned in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Burma: Have you thought of looking up the CWGC details for the two members of the Glosters who are listed as KIA on the same MiD list? It might give a clue as to which Battalion was involved in the final parts of the Burma campaign (how many battalions of the Glosters were in Burma??)
Flipping back to p380 of that LG issue, the heading states,War Office, l0th January, 1946. The KING, has been graciously pleased to approve that the following be Mentioned in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Burma: — EDIT: Whoops, sorry, didn't read all Dave's post
Thanks for all the replay's. Would it just be he was mentioned in despatch's for the fact he served in the Burma campaign? I will try and research and find out what Battalion he served with. Sorry if these seem like stupid replays I am new to all this and was impressed with myself finding the copy of the London Gazette.
DaveB I have checked on the CWGC with one of the men that fell on that day and it turns out he was in the 10th Battalion, I know he wasn't a POW if that helps anyone.
Thanks for all the replay's. Would it just be he was mentioned in despatch's for the fact he served in the Burma campaign? I will try and research and find out what Battalion he served with. No, he had to be recommended for "gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy". Best place to start would be his service record to find out in what unit he served.
No, he had to be recommended for "gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy". Best place to start would be his service record to find out in what unit he served. How would I go about finding his service recored I did try and research that but with no luck. Can anyone recommend any website for me to use? Thanks
How would I go about finding his service recored I did try and research that but with no luck. Can anyone recommend any website for me to use? Thanks Look here for info about service records: Ministry of Defence | About Defence | What we do | Personnel | Service Records | Making a Request for Information held on the Personnel Records of Deceased Service Personnel
I can't directly help here but I will reinforce what has been said - I've found citations in records held directly with historical groups associated with brigades that are not held a Kew... Any "mention" would be worth hunting down... good luck and welcome...
DaveB I have checked on the CWGC with one of the men that fell on that day and it turns out he was in the 10th Battalion, I know he wasn't a POW if that helps anyone. If we make the assumption that he was 10th Bn (due to the two CWGC casualties from his regiment who were on the MiD list) then some other threads might give an insight into where he served starting with: http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/burma-india/19256-war-diary-10th-bn-gloucestershire-regiment.html
I am not having any luck finding any information at the moment, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou
I don't know if it helps or just confuses things but try this link: http://glosters.tripod.com/Myitson1945.htm (if you get a blank page go to Edit & Select all - the font is light blue and I couldn't see it on my screen until I selected it) Amongst other things, it gives a list of 10th Bn personnel who received an MiD - this list only has a couple of matches to the one from the LG of 10Jan1946 ******************************************************* Gloster R. Capt. (temp.) H. B. HARRIS (217395) 5191150 W.O.II K. W. EDMONDS. 3970463 W.O.II H. J. GRIFFITHS. 5182484 W.O.II W. ILES. 5191917 Sgt. S. G. PORTER. 5191114 Sgt. G. WATHAM (killed in action). 5574569 Cpl. J. L. ABRAHAMS. 5347329 Lce.-Cpl. T. W. A. JONES. 5125616 Pte. T. BOWLER. 5191260 Pte. R. W. BROWN (killed in action). ******************************************************* Mentioned in Dispatches Lieut-Col. H.C.R. Hose - 10th Bn - Burma Major A.C. Steadman - 10th Bn - Burma Capt. D.C. Bagworth - 10th Bn - Burma Capt. J.S. Jones - 10th Bn - Burma RQMS K. Edmunds - 10th Bn - Burma Sergt. R. Gunter - 10th Bn - Burma Sergt. A. Jenner - 10th Bn - Burma Pte S. Jones - 10th Bn - Burma Pte A. Osborne - 10th Bn - Burma Pte E. Freeman - 10th Bn - Burma T/Major A. Reeve, MBE - 10th Bn - 19 Sept. 1946 - Burma T/Major J.R. Wonnacott - 10th Bn - 19 Sept. 1946 - Burma T/Capt. K.K. Hatley - 10th Bn - 19 Sept. 1946 - Burma T/Capt. F.J. Herbert - 10th Bn - 19 Sept. 1946 - Burma WO K.W. Edmonds, MBE - 10th Bn - 19 Sept. 1946 - Burma WO F.W. Ingram - 10th Bn - 19 Sept. 1946 - Burma WO F.W. Welsh - 10th Bn - 19 Sept. 1946 - Burma S/Sergt. F.H. Ridout - 10th Bn - 19 Sept. 1946 - Burma Sergt. R.J. Hill - 10th Bn - 19 Sept. 1946 - Burma Sergt. J. Rivers - 10th Bn - 19 Sept. 1946 - Burma *******************************************************
Daniel, without his knowing his unit you can only guess and hope for some lucky hit. Ask your family, maybe somebody could give you some additional info. Only other option was applying for his service record. It cost and took some time to arrive but it'll give you some basic details about his service and with that you can try to find more in war diaries. Fact that he was listed under the Gloucestershire Regiment doesn't necessary mean that he was in one of regiment's battalions. As a W.O he could easily served in some West or East African unit or any other British unit.
