War Diaries Talk

Unusual form, part 2

  • Stork by Stork

    Well, here's the next page of the diary, which answers the question in the post I just made. Evidently there isn't a specific form for recommending medals- the O/C lists the names on a page with the desired medal to be given. Again, it's the first time I've seen this done.

    This made me wonder about the differences between medals. If anyone else doesn't know, here's what I just found on Wikipedia:

    Victoria Cross- highest award of the United Kingdom honours system, can be awarded posthumously, and even to civilians

    Distinguished Service Order- awarded to officers ranked major (or its equivalent) or higher, but the honour has sometimes been awarded to especially valorous junior officers (as in the instance on this diary page)

    Military Cross- for commissioned officers of the rank of Captain and below. In 1931 the award was extended to Majors and also to members of the Royal Air Force for actions on the ground.

    Bar to M.C.- bars were awarded to the MC in recognition of the performance of further acts of gallantry meriting the award

    Distinguished Conduct Medal- for personnel below commissioned rank. The DCM was discontinued in 1993.

    Military Medal- also for personnel below commissioned rank. The Military Medal was ranked below the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The Military Medal was awarded for bravery and the Distinguished Conduct Medal was reserved for exceptional acts of bravery. The MM was also discontinued in 1993. Since then, the Military Cross has been awarded to personnel of all ranks within the British honours system.

    I also got the answer to something in my previous post- from what I read on Wikipedia, only the Victoria Cross could be awarded posthumously during WW1. But... "In 1979, the Queen approved a proposal that a number of awards, including the Military Cross, could be awarded posthumously."

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    http://www.greatwar.co.uk/medals/ww1-gallantry-awards.htm

    The link above includes most of the information you've already discovered, with a bit at the end about the citation form, which may be of interest. As you'll see, the vast majority of these were part of the records destroyed during the Second World War.

    Posted