What did he do to win a Military Medal?

[Sue Broman]

I paid for a medal record of Tom Sutherland Beardmore. He won a Military Medal in WW1. He was in the 2nd Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers. Regiment number 50013. He was a Private. Date of Gazette says "No 62" I think. Would his citation be in the Gazette number 62? How could I find out how Tommy (as we knew him) won this medal? He survived the Great War but lost a leg.

I have not printed his Attestation documents as yet. Will I get more information from that?

Your expert help would be most appreciated - as always.

Regards

Susan Broman
Healesville, Australia

[Peter Goodey]

Search the Gazette. This is probably the only surviving record.


He survived the Great War but lost a leg.

No Silver War Badge, though.

[SueNSW]

His name was published here - but no citation

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31338/supplement/6027

Nothing relevant on what remains of his "Service Record" on Ancestry I'm afraid - and no suggestion of a serious wound that would have resulted in his losing a leg

[elsinore]

Hello Sue,

Try contacting the Fusiliers Museum which has a research service. There is a charge of £25, so it depends how important the info is to you!

https://www.
fusiliermuseum.com/family-history

Peter

[Sue Broman]

Many thanks Peter for your prompt response. Just out of curiosity, my grandfather had a Silver War Badge. Is there a way of having a look at these records?

Regards

Sue Broman

[Sue Broman]

Many thanks Sue. I will check Ancestry at the local library to see what little there is.

Regards

Sue Broman

[Sue Broman]

Thanks Peter. That's a lot of money. I'll think about that!

Regards

Sue Broman

[SueNSW]

Many thanks Peter for your prompt response. Just out of curiosity, my grandfather had a Silver War Badge. Is there a way of having a look at these records?


Sue - SWB rolls are also on Ancestry - but a search either by his surname or his service number doesn't bring anything up - he could be very badly indexed of course.

Do you by any chance have the badge number??

[Peter Goodey]

my grandfather had a Silver War Badge.

There's no evidence of him having received a Silver War Badge. He's not listed in the SWB list, it's not mentioned on his medal index card and it's not mentioned in his surviving service records.

In fact the service record shows he was transferred to the Z Reserve (effectively discharged) on 16 Feb 1919. Since, the basic qualification for the Silver War badge was being discharged as a result of sickness or wounds contracted or received during the war, I would say it's pretty clear he wasn't invalided out and didn't get the SWB.

[Sue Broman]

Thanks Sue. No, I don't have a badge number. I will check the SWB rolls on Ancestry for my other grandfather who also lost a leg now I know they are online. I did give The Gazette a quick look today but I will have to give that more time - it didn't seem as straightforward as I imagined!

Regards

Sue Broman
Healesville

[Sue Broman]

Thank you Peter. If Tommy was discharged in Feb 1919 - after cessation of the war - would he have been issued with a SWB? Why would he need it? Wasn't it given to soldiers to protect them from public criticism during the course of the war? Also, is there a chance his records were destroyed? I understand 2/3 of WW1 records were destroyed in the London blitz in WW2?

Tommy Beardmore was a dear friend of my grandparents. My grandfather, William Hall, got a SWB as he lost his leg in WW1 too.

Regards

Sue Broman

[Sue Broman]

Hi Sue. I just checked the link you provided on The Gazette. What exactly am I looking at? What have all these men got in common? None of the other names have a citation either.

Regards

Sue Broman

[Peter Goodey]

If Tommy was discharged in Feb 1919 - after cessation of the war - would he have been issued with a SWB?

The point is that he was transferred to the Z Reserve. He wouldn't be put in the Reserves if he wasn't fit to fight. If he was invalided out he would have been discharged under the appropriate Kings Regulation.


is there a chance his records were destroyed?

The information about the Z Reserve comes from his surviving service record. Have you looked at it? The fact that his service record was not destroyed was mentioned in message #3.


The Gazette. What exactly am I looking at?

It's a printed journal. You have to wind back to the start of the section and read the header. Click the left pointing arrow on the navigation thingy. It's a long section and you'll have to go back quite a number of pages.

[timbo58]

There were 115,503 MM's awarded during WWI, some were, no doubt, awarded for great heroism and gallantry, others for being part of a company involved in heavy fighting and others for being in the right place at the right time or so it seems.
These aren't just my words but those of people far more expert than I from the Western Front association & other enthusiast forums.

I have never seen an individual citation and regarded them like the 'Mention In despatches' as being something that only ever received a listing and not a citation, until I actually saw a citation for an MID -only one ever, mind you.

I have never also seen any soldier in the Class Z reserve with an SWB either and would agree that the 'conditions' for being issued a SWB would seem to preclude this who were deemed capable of being in the reserve.
Class Z as I understand it was because the peace was a fragile one -an armistice rather than a surrender and so the Germans could have returned to fighting and so a reserve of men already attested and ready to fight were kept just in case.

[Sue Broman]

Thank you Peter. I have booked a spot at the library next week to check Ancestry and will run off Tommy's record. Thanks also for clarification on Tommy's discharge. I'm not sure now how he lost his leg - it was always something we took for granted!

Regards

Sue Broman

[Sue Broman]

Thank you Timbo. I have booked a computer at the library next week to check Tommy's record and see the Z Reserve listing. It looks like Tommy was fit at that date so bit of a mystery as to when he lost his leg. Thanks also for clarifying the Military Medal.

Regards

Sue Broman