Grandfather Mentioned in Dispatches WW1

[JohnFGall]

I am trying to find out what my grandfather did exactly to be mentioned in dispatches.

I have looked on the London Gazette website but records of pages seems to end at 11110.

My grandfather Edgar John Drage MM is mentioned on page 11139 of Gazette issue no 29827 M.M.Gazette date is 14/11/1916 according to what I have found on the Forces War Records.

He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps.
I found his private papers on the IWM website where it gave the following info of his time in service in WW1-

Photocopy (54pp) of an ms diary for August 1914 – October 1915, covering: his enlistment in the RAMC, initial training near Aldershot and arrival in France (27 August 1914) where he helped load casualties, apparently from the Battle of the Marne, onto a hospital train at Coulommiers (9 September); service with the 2nd Division, initially with the 4th Field Ambulance RAMC, with good descriptions of bringing in the wounded, the treatment of both British and German patients and mention of the Battle of the Aisne (with sketch map) before his Division moved into Belgium; service with the 5th Field Ambulance RAMC (also 2nd Division) as a cycle orderly running messages and as a stretcher bearer working under fire during the First Battle of Ypres and subsequently in hospitals and dressing stations principally near Béthune (December 1914 – June 1915); service near Cuinchy and Givenchy where his duties included spraying all Divisional smoke helmets with an anti gas solution, preparing a dressing station and dugouts for wounded, as well as making roads to facilitate the use of wheeled stretchers (July - August 1915); service apparently with the 4th Field Ambulance RAMC (Guards Division) while at rest and subsequently during the Battle of Loos with references to duties as a stretcher bearer, being gassed and coming under shellfire at an advanced dressing station (August – October 1915).

I didn't know any of this up until a few days ago,I remember his army issue diary being in our house as a child,I don't recall reading anything like what has been mentioned in his private papers,the diary at home was not full of a great deal of information,he wrote as i recall about being bored a great deal of the time,I seem to remember the diary ending abruptly.

I always thought this was because he had been injured,that is what my mother told me,he carried shrapnel in his back until he died in 1962.

If anyone can give me some advice on how to find out what he did to be mentioned in dispatches I would be most grateful.
Thanks,
John.

[simmo1]

Hi

Here is his entry in the LG - https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/...pplement/11139
and here is the first page which tells you he was in the list that were awarded MM's - https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/...pplement/11139
Unfortunately no citations were listed in there , see - https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldi...ravery-awards/
and https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/resea...tary-medal-mm/ - gives you some clues as to where to search.

Not sure about him being "Mentioned in Despatches" also, what you stated above was for his MM, MiD is another gallantry award?
regards

Robert

[JohnFGall]

Hi Robert,
many thanks for the reply and info you provided.

I will have a look at the longtrail site links you posted.

Not sure how i thought he was mentioned in dispatches,sure i read it somewhere,maybe i'm getting a tad confused with all the searching I have been doing this afternoon(going round in circles basically).

Would still like to know of what he did exactly to get the MM,guess i have some searching to do now.

Was never really told much of his experiences in WW1,maybe he didn't talk of it when he returned,he passed on before I was born so all i knew was he served,got injured,my mother told me he returned with a stammer to his speech,maybe caused by the shelling and/or being gassed and shrapnel in his back,my mother said he was shot in the back,don't know if thats true,maybe shrapnel from the shellfire while at the advanced dressing station?

I had no idea he had been awarded a medal for anything,I have only found this out since yesterday(Monday),makes me want to find out a bit more,sadly I have no immediate family who can help with any information about his time in service,guess thats left to me now.

Many thanks again,if I find out any more I will post in this thread
Really wish I had kept hold of that diary of his,even though there was maybe only 12-15 pages he had written in it.

Kind regards,
John.

[christanel]

Welcome to the British-Genealogy forums. As you arrived here from Forces War Records reading this will tell you a little about us and what we do.
This is your grandfather's entry in the UK, WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914-1920
Edgar John Drage M.M.
Military Year: 1914-1920
Rank: Private
Medals Awarded British War Medal and Victory Medal
Regiment or Corps - Royal Army Medical Corps
Regimental Number - 8762
Previous Units - RAMC Pte. 8762

His medal Roll Index card also says he was awarded the 14 Star and has his first theatre of war entry as 27 August 1914. As with the vast majority of these cards the facts are minimal with no personal details.
His service records seem to be amongst the 60% plus which were destroyed by bombing/fire in WW11.
You can search for the relevant war diaries on The National Archives site Here
Are you only intereste in your grandfather's war records or did you want to take your family line further back?

Christina

[JohnFGall]

Hi Christina,
thanks for the info.

at present I want to try and find out about my grandfathers experiences in WW1,then I will start looking into my family lines,especially my fathers line as I know very little about him as he died when i was very young,he was from Ireland so i probably have Irish relatives I have never met and i don't even know of,also one of his parents were from Iceland so I may have distant relatives there.

I read about a lot of military records being destroyed in WW2.

What does being awarded the 14 Star mean?How did you find that out?
Have not heard of that before,will check back here soon,looks like I have a lot to learn about searching back in time,very grateful for the help and advice so far.
Thanks,
John.

[christanel]

Hi John
I found the Medal Roll Index Card (they survived the bombing) on ancestry.com. Findmypast (FMP) will also have it. Both are pay per view sites but both of them do have free library versions so your local library may have one of them.
Men who joined up prior to 1915 were awarded the 14 Star medal.
Different sites are licensed to hold different records and it is ancestry.and Findmypast who are licensed to hold WW1 service records and make them available to the public - at a cost.
Christina

[timbo58]

I have only seen 1 (i.e. ONE, singular) citation for an MID for the whole of WWI/WWII, so the chances of actually finding a citation from an MID are infinitely small I am afraid.
I also believe the citations for the MM were held at Arnside repository until September 1940 when a bomb hit them along with the vast majority of surviving WWI service records and they all went up in flames or were so badly water damaged they were lost.

I also believe however that some of the reccomendations for the MM are likely to be be published by Howard Williamson at some point (although this has been mooted for 3 years so I thinki he may well still be working on the book!)

Usually the only way of making an intelligent guess at the reason for the award of an MID or MM is to check the war diary of the unit very carefully indeed and 'read between the lines' to some extent.

ALL of the WWI campaign medals i.e.
1914 Star
1914/15 Star
British War Medal
Victory Medal

were only awarded if a man served in a theatre of war, the first 2 being dependant on the date the man 1st set foot in that theatre either in 1914 or 1915.

If a man served at home only or not in a thaetre of war he received no medals.

[simmo1]

Hi

Read her for the medals- https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldi...medal-records/
Click on the blue words under Eligibility to read about each medal and why they were given.
Also RAMC - https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/...rst-world-war/
https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldi...s-war-diaries/
regards

Robert

[JohnFGall]

Thanks for all the info so far folks,am on ancestry but not got a subscription,have seen his medal roll index card now,shame theres nothing written about what he did under the Remarks section.

I read about the records being destroyed by fire in WW2,Howard Williamsons book sounds interesting btw.

Thanks.

[SueNSW]

ALL of the WWI campaign medals i.e.
1914 Star
1914/15 Star
British War Medal
Victory Medal

were only awarded if a man served in a theatre of war, the first 2 being dependant on the date the man 1st set foot in that theatre either in 1914 or 1915.

If a man served at home only or not in a thaetre of war he received no medals.

Don't want to seem picky but pretty sure this isn't totally correct - certainly if a British soldier (it gets complicated with RN and RFC/RAF) only served at home (and that included Ireland at that time) he did not receive any medals.

The British War Medal though could and was awarded singly to British soldiers who served overseas but not in a theatre of war - India being a good example, but also smaller numbers of garrison troops in eg Gibraltar, Singapore and Hong Kong

Good luck to the OP in his quest for more info