Help with Medal Card please!

[morrisb]

Hello! This is my first post, so apologies if these are the same old questions!

I'm tracing my ancestors and have downloaded my great-grandfather's medal card. It seems a little bit different to the others on the same page, so if anyone could help me decipher it I would be most grateful.

The image is here: http://img3.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/00ab70fb66.gif (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)

I can see that George Gimber was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Notts & Derby Regiment (Sherwood Foresters) and that he received the British and Victory medals.

Do you know what the letters in the clasp column mean? BWVMND?

Also anything to be learned from the figures in Remarks? I believe he also served as a captain in WWII so does that relate to the 1940 date?

The last line says France <something> 11/11/18? Can you read the <something>?

Lastly, how could I trace him further? Unfortunately, I don't know his serial number, but his record is in WO372/8 and I'm planning a trip to the regmental museum in Nottingham in the near future.

Any help with the questions above would be great. Thank you!

[v.wells]

It looks like he was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Cross on a Ribbon on the date 1916 because he was in actual combat in France theatre. The other date is 11/11/1918. The National Archives - medals and how to read the medal cards is on that site. I just printed off the document and medal description.

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/medals.asp

hope that helps.

[neil1821]

As an officer, there are extra sources not applicable to other ranks
For example, there are some references in the London Gazette

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=30349&geotype=London&gpn=10965&type=ArchivedSupplementPage&all=gimber

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=31053&geotype=London&gpn=14472&type=ArchivedSupplementPage&all=gimber&exact=&atleast=&similar=

Also as an officer he won't have a serial number (no officers do). But Army Lists from the appropriate range of years should help you trace him.

[morrisb]

Thank you for the help!

In the London Gazette above George Gimber's name it says:

"The undermentioned temp. 2nd Lts. (attd.), unless otherwise stated, are transferred to Serv. Bns."

Any idea what "Serv. Bns." are? Service Battalions?

[Terry Reeves]

The November 1918 Army List shows him as serving with the 11th (Service) Battalion. He appears to have no personal file at the National Archive, however , the 11th Battalion's War Diary is there in WO 95/2187 (Aug 1915 - October 1917) and WO 95 /2247 (September 1918 - May 1919). These will give you a day to day description of what was happening, and possibly mention his name.

Terry Reeves

[morrisb]

Thank you everyone for your help!

[Forrest Anderson]

I'm tracing my ancestors and have downloaded my great-grandfather's medal card. It seems a little bit different to the others on the same page, so if anyone could help me decipher it I would be most grateful.

The image is here: http://img3.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/00ab70fb66.gif (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)


That card is certainly a bit unusual, both as regards some of the entries on the card and the card itself, which is an Army Form J2820 (or J2829) printed in 1935, rather than the usual forms in the K series printed in the war years.


I can see that George Gimber was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Notts & Derby Regiment (Sherwood Foresters) and that he received the British and Victory medals.

Do you know what the letters in the clasp column mean? BWVMND?


The first four letters are almost certainly BWVM, for British War [and] Victory Medal. I can't make out the letters that come after these.


Also anything to be learned from the figures in Remarks? I believe he also served as a captain in WWII so does that relate to the 1940 date?


When there is a date in the remarks box, it often refers to the date the medals were issued. Given his WW2 service, he may not have bothered applying for his WW1 medals in the 1920s, but when he put on a uniform in WW2, he may have wanted to show that he'd been in the First World War, and therefore applied for his medals in 1939/40.

The last line says France <something> 11/11/18? Can you read the <something>?

You normally get the date the officer first entered a theatre of war in this position on the card. In this case, it looks like "France Prior [to] 11/11/1918", meaning that he first entered France and Flanders sometime before the end of the war. The apparent 20 year delay in applying for his medals may well be the reason for the absence of a precise date.

Lastly, how could I trace him further? Unfortunately, I don't know his serial number, but his record is in WO372/8 and I'm planning a trip to the regmental museum in Nottingham in the near future.


The Service Records for officers who served in WW1 are at Kew in the WO 339 and WO 374 series, but do not include those for officers who served after 1921ish. If he served again in WW2 (even if it was in the Home Guard), then that explains why Terry can't find his service record in the National Archives' catalogue.

Neil pointed out the London Gazette, and another two announcements of interest come from WW2 editions:

--------------------
SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 4 MARCH, 1941, Page 1293

ROYAL REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY.

The undermentioned to be 2nd Lts.: —
15th Jan. 1941: —
Lt. George William GIMBER (161878).
--------------------

--------------------
London Gazette, FRIDAY, 3 SEPTEMBER, 1943, Page 3919

ROYAL REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY.

War Subs. Lt. G. W. Gimber (161878) is granted
the hon. rank of Capt. on ceasing to be empld., 4th
July 1943
--------------------

Since his Service Record should still be in the hands of the Ministry of Defence, you may want to apply for it if you are, or can get the agreement of, his next of kin. See the following MOD webpages for the procedure and contact information:

http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/service_records.html
http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/army.html
http://www.veterans-uk.info/faqs/service_recs.html

Forrest

[morrisb]

That's an amazingly thorough reply! Thank you so much.