Genealogy Chat

Your Grandfather was an Old Contemptible, one of the British Expeditionary Force who were described as a contemptible little army by the Kaiser. The 1914 star which he was entitled was only for service between the dates 5 Aug 1914 and midnight 22/23 November 1914. The clasp for being under fire carries these dates and is sewn on the ribbon of thre medal. When only medals ribbons are worn there is a silver rosette to be worn. :-) Keith

I have read all your messages and thank you all for pointing me in the right direction. So far I have tried one web site and think I can see the light! Will carry on. THank you all again, I did so want to find out where my grandfather had been and what he had done as I never knew him Chris

try this Chris, its part of the 1914-1918 site, http://1914-1918.invisionzone*com/forums really helpful bunch Teri x

even has the following info '1914 Star Instituted in 1917 for service ashore in France and Flanders between 5 August and 22 November 1914. In 1919 a clasp bearing the above dates was authorised and given to those individuals who had actually been under fire between the prescribed dates.' 'On the MICs for those who received a 1914 Star, the card may also be marked 'Clasp and Roses' or just 'Cl'. This denotes that an individual received the dated clasp to go on the ribbon of the 1914 Star, or a silver rosette to go on the ribbon when only medal ribbons are being worn.'

Further to my earlier post this is the NA page for all the info you need , even has pics of the medal cards and medals. http://www(.)nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/medals.asp

you have the standard ww1 medals, the Victory Medal, the British War Medal and the 1914 Star, and the clasp/Roses, will be i am sure 'mentioned in dispatches', which is an extra award that dose not quite merit another medal

Hi, the best place to go to is a site called 1914-1918. There is a section there on understanding medal cards. It tells you all about the various medals and what the various abbreviations on the medal card mean. I found it invaluable. Good luck! Lynn

Ok Chris lets see if can remember: Medals are of course those medals that are earnt, Roll I'm pretty sure is the campaign (in my case it will say Kuwait or Iraq). Not only are we issued medals from our own countires for service but the country that we are aiding sometimes issues medals as well. Without looking at it I can't be sure what the numbers are. I'm not sure of the Victory either doesn't help I'm not British either (I'm Australian) British is probably either the service medal or active service medal (active- Being in action circumstances). I'm sure it does say ditto which means the same numbers as the above award. The star could refer to rank or time of service at a guess, it could also refer to a particular campaign so again hard to tell with out looking. Clasps are issued when someone returns to a place again for further service or are additionally added to out service and/or active service medals (instead of being given a number of the same medel, we're issued with the clasps stating the area or campaign these are then attached to the ribbon of the medal) Roses if I can remember rightly (though I could be wrong are also attached to the ibbons of medals, I can't remember at the moment what you get them for though. Sorry. Just thought, I think the numbers you are refering to are used to identify the campaigns etc. If you were to chase up the medals, clasps etc they would require these numbers for reference (are the numbers like 1.4, 2.4 etc ) the different numbers have different meanings which will be recorded in BRs (Book of reference) If the initials aren't his they may be of the issuing officer or whoever else issued them. Hope this helps Gypsy Joe (ex RANer)

Sounds like you have the medal card, it lists the entitlement to medals, and also the regiment etc. Did you get it from the National Archives site ? they have a very good section on how to read the cards

I have a copy of what I think is my grandafthers record from WW1 that I downloaded but I can't really understand it. Can anyone help. It has his name and regiment then some colums. Medal --- Roll(?) ---- Page.............. Under medal it says Victory lots of numbers filled in Then next to British(?) I think it says ditto then it says 14 next to Star and some more more numbers Then it says Clasp and Roses with some more numbers and initials. Whatever does all this mean? Can you help? Thanks Chris