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kerrie
08-08-2005, 2:00 PM
My great uncle William George Smith was the recipient of the Military Cross in WW1, unfortunately because of his name I have been unable to find him on the National Archives Website. I don't know what regiment he was in but I do have a picture of him in uniform with others. I have just recently been able to track down his service record in Australia for his service in WW11 where he changed his age to enable him to re-enlist, he served from 1940 - 1946. I would like to know why he received the Military Cross and be able to get his service records from England. He lived in Leicester on the 1901 census and it was from Leicester that he came to Australia. If someone might be good enough to tell me from my picture which regiment he belonged it might help me track him down. I have also tried the London Times for the Military Cross awards list but have also been unable to find him. Any and all help or advice is more than greatly apprecited

Geoffers
08-08-2005, 2:39 PM
My great uncle William George Smith was the recipient of the Military Cross in WW1, unfortunately because of his name I have been unable to find him on the National Archives WebsiteHave you tried the London Gazette? MCs appeared in this publication, it's available online: http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ww1.asp?webType=0
When you search, you might find that he's under his initials rather than his full name. From the photo of him in uniform, can you tell what rank he was? Are there any words/letters written on the reverse of the photo which may help?

Did his father leave a will in which he mentioned 'my son, Sergeant (or whatever rank) William George now serving with the ......"?

Geoffers

kerrie
09-08-2005, 2:54 PM
Unfortunately his Father died in 1906 and his mother died in 1945 and he was not even mentioned in her will as he was living in Australia at that time. The picture that I have is of a gruop of men and there is nothing on the back of it I know that this is my great uncle as I have other photos of him but not in uniform. There is quite a bit to look through in the London Gazette and will do so tomorrow but thank you very much for the link. Any ideas of how I might be able to find his record if he doesn't appear here. I have an Uncle that also was awarded the Distingusted Fyling Cross in WWII and I was not able to find him in the Gazette he flew in England. Thanks for taking the time to reply to me.

Geoffers
09-08-2005, 4:02 PM
Any ideas of how I might be able to find his record if he doesn't appear here.
To the best of my knowledge, all MCs were gazetted.

If you mean service record, and assumiing he was in the army - have a look at:
http://www.mod.uk/contacts/army_records.htm
and also
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/researchguidesindex.asp
scroll down to 'B' and click on teh various links for 'British Army'.

Many army service records were damaged or destroyed by enemy action in WW2. Those surviving are held by The National Archives who have copied them onto microfilm; it's possible that the mormons have a copy of the film, someone else who uses their record centres may be able to advise on these.

Geoffers

kerrie
11-08-2005, 11:15 AM
A very kind friend has offered to put my picture on a web page to make it easier for identification. This is the link

http://
freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~blanchec/wmsmith.htm

If of course you recognise any of these men I would be happy to hear.

Stuman
11-08-2005, 2:48 PM
Kerrie

You would seem to have a bit more digging to do as the men in the picture are all NCOs. They would have received the Military Medal not the Military Cross. The Cross was for officers I believe.

Stuart

Geoffers
11-08-2005, 3:24 PM
They appear to be from different units as the cap badges are not all the same. Do you know which of these chaps was you great uncle? Are you able to scan in close detail his cap badge?

Geoffers

kerrie
11-08-2005, 3:29 PM
He is second on the left. I will do my bet to scan a better view of the badge. I did notice that the badges appeared t be different. This particular picture is larger than the original.

Geoffers
11-08-2005, 9:32 PM
He is second on the left. I will do my bet to scan a better view of the badge.
In that case, my best guess from the photo is that it might be the West Yorkshire Regiment, which looks oblong from a distance and has a horse/pony galloping with the head on the left as you look at the badge - but it is a very speculative guess - I'll have to look through a few books to see if I can come up with any other regiments with similar badges.

Geoffers

kerrie
12-08-2005, 2:07 PM
I have singled him out ofthe picture and enlarged the head image and it now appears in place of the first picture with the badge fairly clear. I have also checked it against the badges on Regiment.org website and the closest taht I can see it being is 'The Leicestershire Regiment' but believe me I am more than likely wrong. Thanks again for taking the time with me.

Geoffers
12-08-2005, 2:20 PM
I have singled him out of the picture and enlarged the head image and it now appears in place of the first picture with the badge fairly clear. I have also checked it against the badges on Regiment.org website and the closest that I can see it being is 'The Leicestershire Regiment'The detail is much better and it definitely isn't the Werst Yorks. I'd be inclined to agree with teh idea that this is the Leicestershire Regiment - you can just make out what looks like the tail on the right, the angel and position of the animal also make this seem like the Leics. Regt.

So, you have an NCO and a possible/probable regiment - Does this help at all with searching documents online?

If you can get to TNA at Kew, you might try searching the records in WO372 as this contains an alphabetical list to those awarded the Military Medal.

Geoffers

kerrie
13-08-2005, 3:48 AM
FOUND! One William George Smith awarded the Military Cross on 13 September 1918. He was in the Leicestershire Rgeiment rank of Warrant Officer Class 1. Thanks for all your help. It has been more than greatly apprecited.