Remembrance Day

[JohnfromUK]

Just now, welsh1 said:

You can claim them if you wish.

I think since my father must have chosen not to, I wouldn't wish to either.  Like many, he didn't much like talking about active service.  I do have his pay book showing he joined up in Sept 1940 and the last entry is October 1945, so I assume that was when he was discharged.

[Old farrier]

Great grandfather medals tell a story about his life 

I’m sure it wasn’t easy and a long time before the conflicts we remember today 

[amateur]

2 hours ago, ditchman said:

when i first started watching the cenotaph ceromy.....the majority of the participants were 1st world war vets ...limping ...past the cenotaph with hooks for hands and in pump wheel chairs.....then the 2nd world war blokes matched past ..all still of working age...then the queen did her bit

 

now they are all nearly gone ...no her madge now we have King Charles 3rd.....and god knows how many prime ministers...............christ i feel old

I remember watching veterans of the Boer War marching into the Albert Hall on TV in the 60s!

[welsh1]

9 minutes ago, Old farrier said:

Great grandfather medals tell a story about his life 

I’m sure it wasn’t easy and a long time before the conflicts we remember today 

Egypt medal , Khedives star, long service and good conduct(never caught) and British War medal (wwI)

A nice set of medals.

[Rem260]

2 hours ago, Old farrier said:

Great grandfather medals tell a story about his life 

I’m sure it wasn’t easy and a long time before the conflicts we remember today 

Shouldn't he also have have the ww1 victory medal. Has it been lost as you can get a replacement.

[Scully]

2 hours ago, Old farrier said:

Great grandfather medals tell a story about his life 

I’m sure it wasn’t easy and a long time before the conflicts we remember today 

Wonderful! 

[bruno22rf]

3 hours ago, alan123shooting said:

My dad, never claimed his medals after the war,  he was in North Africa, Crete, Burma he was in the Medical Corps field ambulance, never talked about it, I only found out what he went through after he died , he was nearly captured twice once in Crete and the other in Burma, he escaped Crete in a rowing boat. I claimed his medals after reading an article in a magazine by accident , I applied to the medal office, My mother had to sign them over via a solicitor before I could take possession. I had them mounted in a frame with his cap badge and they hang by his father’s  first war medals, they will be handed down through the family when I go. 

What a respectful and honourable thing to do, more people should show more pride in family members achievements in times of War, consider my hat doffed to you Sir.

[ditchman]

1 hour ago, welsh1 said:

Egypt medal , Khedives star, long service and good conduct(never caught) and British War medal (wwI)

A nice set of medals.

my grandad was a cook on one of the famous battleships.........and survived ...came home and opened a sweet shop (made all the sweets in bronze moulds) then ended his days in a home in 1987........

[Old farrier]

1 hour ago, Rem260 said:

Shouldn't he also have have the ww1 victory medal. Has it been lost as you can get a replacement.

My sure if he survived to receive it it’s research in progress as we only just finding stuff sorting through uncles shed 

thanks for the information though I’ll mention it to other family members 

many thanks 😊 

[Rem260]

37 minutes ago, Old farrier said:

My sure if he survived to receive it it’s research in progress as we only just finding stuff sorting through uncles shed 

thanks for the information though I’ll mention it to other family members 

many thanks 😊 

Your welcome. It would be a shame not to have it.

[Spr1985]

5 hours ago, welsh1 said:

You can read a persons service by his medals, they are worn in order they are awarded left to right, and medals for bravery or mbe/obe etc are always the first . it's why a lot of walts get caught out, being 30 and having a falklands medal isn't the brightest move lol, and any bravery medal is recorded in the Gazette so they are easily found out.
And another one for you, medals have the reciprients name rank and number engraved on the edge as you can see on my GSM 

 

That's great.

Never knew this, I have my dads gsm and I’m now going to go and take a look at it. 👌🏻

[Old farrier]

3 hours ago, welsh1 said:

Egypt medal , Khedives star, long service and good conduct(never caught) and British War medal (wwI)

A nice set of medals.

With bar 

apparently because he was wounded on active service ?

[alan123shooting]

2 hours ago, bruno22rf said:

What a respectful and honourable thing to do, more people should show more pride in family members achievements in times of War, consider my hat doffed to you Sir.

Thank you 

[welsh1]

1 hour ago, Spr1985 said:

Never knew this, I have my dads gsm and I’m now going to go and take a look at it. 👌🏻

ww1 medals were engraved, ww2 were not apart from gallantry medals, un/nato/eu medals are not engraved.

[welsh1]

47 minutes ago, Old farrier said:

With bar 

apparently because he was wounded on active service ?

The bar denotes that he took part in a certain part of the war,in his case Alexandria 11th of july 1882, it's a bit like the general service medal, my bar states Northen Ireland, but my mate has two bars one for northern ireland and one for Iraq just after the first gulf war.

[Old farrier]

10 minutes ago, welsh1 said:

The bar denotes that he took part in a certain part of the war,in his case Alexandria 11th of july 1882, it's a bit like the general service medal, my bar states Northen Ireland, but my mate has two bars one for northern ireland and one for Iraq just after the first gulf war.

Many thanks for the info 😊👍

this is all new research for me no idea how it works 

[Spr1985]

20 minutes ago, welsh1 said:

The bar denotes that he took part in a certain part of the war,in his case Alexandria 11th of july 1882, it's a bit like the general service medal, my bar states Northen Ireland, but my mate has two bars one for northern ireland and one for Iraq just after the first gulf war.

My dads has Borneo and Northern Ireland. And found all of his detatails on its edge 😁 I’m now a very happy lad as I never knew my dads service number and he was always  very quiet when it came to his time in the forces, I never wanted to pry as obviously a reason for not saying much, but I’ve also been intrigued so may now see what I can find out. Thanks for posting 👍🏻

[welsh1]

13 minutes ago, Old farrier said:

Many thanks for the info 😊👍

this is all new research for me no idea how it works 

This is the Alexandria campaign

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Alexandria

[welsh1]

6 minutes ago, Spr1985 said:

My dads has Borneo and Northern Ireland. And found all of his detatails on its edge 😁 I’m now a very happy lad as I never knew my dads service number and he was always  very quiet when it came to his time in the forces, I never wanted to pry as obviously a reason for not saying much, but I’ve also been intrigued so may now see what I can find out. Thanks for posting 👍🏻

Glad i could help, other things to look out for on medals are small oak leaf's attached to the ribbon, this denotes that the medal wearer was mentioned in dispatches.

[Dave at kelton]

I count myself fortunate that I have not had to endure the horrors of the trenches on the Somme as did my grandfather. Nor have I sat in terror during the blitz in Liverpool as did my mother.

As a child in Accrington the story of the Accrington Pals rings in my ears. 

"At 07:30 on July 1 1916, 720 men, the fighting strength of the Accrington Pals, left their trenches and advanced across no man’s land towards the village of Serre, only to be met by a hail of machine gun and rifle fire from the German trenches. When the roll was called by RSM Stanworth that evening, less than one hundred men answered their names".

On the 100th anniversary I instigated with our Community Association the lighting of the beacon at our Quay End at sunset on Remembrance Sunday and a member of the community reads the names on the memorial. I am pleased to say that as each year goes by we get more members of the community along, including youngsters. For the last two years we have started the proceedings with a young piper also from the community. I find it very moving remembering my grandfather and thinking of mother.
 

It seems so small a recognition of the price these people paid for my freedom.

[henry d]

1 hour ago, welsh1 said:

Glad i could help, other things to look out for on medals are small oak leaf's attached to the ribbon, this denotes that the medal wearer was mentioned in dispatches.

👍🏻

Two of my friends have oak leaves instead of rosettes, well deserved too.

[Minky]

As I  previously wrote, my grandfather was killed in the first world war and I  do have a BIG bronze disc medal ( I  think it is a death medal) but I  was only very young when that era stuff was sorted out, so I  have no knowledge if or what medals he would have been awarded. My father was in R.E. out in Burma in WW2. As a marine barge engineer shipping supplies from Rangoon up through the jungle right up towards the Chinese border.  When he died there were an amount of medals but I don't know what they were and I think that my older brother had them.  Like grandfather,  My father went out a fit active young man but came home a very ill physical wreckage. It was pretty bad up the jungle. He suffered from malaria, dysentery, skin problems,  his hair fell out and psychological issues, (some of the things that he told me would have unhinged anyone. It wasn't just the conditions  but the horrors of war. Nowadays there is acknowledgement and counciling for stuff like this.  Back then it was get on with it.  They were fighting and killing one day and back into civvy street the next without any sort of transition whatsoever. These issues plagued him for many years after he came back.. maybe for the rest of his life.

[enfieldspares]

On 13/11/2022 at 14:38, JohnfromUK said:

I never knew that.  As mentioned above, I have my grandfathers medals (never worn them and wouldn't wish to personally). 

My father would have had standard WW2 medals (War Medal 39-45 and 39-45 Star) and possibly also the Italy Star as I know he served in Italy towards the end of the war, but don't know the dates or duration.  He never claimed them.

You got the Italy Star if you served in the Mediterranean (or North Africa) after 1943. 

My mother's first husband served in Iraq and then went all the way to Tobruk and back so had the Africa Star.

He was then killed in March 1944 when the aircraft he was in was brought down over Alexandria in a "friendly fire" incident.

His body was never found as he went down with the 'plane so he is on the Memorial to the Missing at Brookwood.

So he also got the Italy Star as if you served in the Mediterranean theatre after the end of the Western Desert campaign that was the medal awarded.

[shaun4860]

Anyone know of any magazines or web sites that collectors use.

my Great Grandads WW1 MM was sold some 40 years ago and I’ve always wondered about the chances of getting it back?

[enfieldspares]

On 14/11/2022 at 00:07, Minky said:

Nowadays there is acknowledgement and counciling for stuff like this.  Back then it was get on with it. 

This is correct. My mother said nobody came to call.

She first got a telegram to advise he was missing as of 30 March 1944.

 

Then, four weeks later, I still have it, a second telegram as well as the first.

 

Words pretty much these:

 

"I regret to inform you that, no further news having been received, it must be presumed that XXXX has been killed.

 

For administrative purposes the date of death you may assume as 30 March 1944."

 

And as said it was "get on with the rest of your life".

 

Married at age twenty-one and a War Widow at age twenty-three.