War Diaries Talk

How do I record the award of medals etc?

  • AlecB by AlecB

    Just found a list of medals awarded to 12th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers. The VC has a name and number, but others are only e.g. "Military Medal - 6 OR"

    Posted

  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    If the person is named, I think he was for the Victoria Cross - When you enter the information on the Person Tag, in the reason box put in the entry for Awards and Commendations.

    In the comment box of your page in question, if you want to you, you can enter the comment and tag #victoriacross. Also #militarymedal 6 OR. (no spaces between the medals concerned).

    I tagged this diary before you and I think the Report page number was 31 - Awards for 1-31 Dec 1918. I would have entered this information for the person who received the Victoria cross and I gave a link for him which you can follow. Also commented on the awards for the military medals.

    I also posted a comment on the Mess Hall Board of the Historians Arms as follows:

    Victoria Cross - Sgt. No. 295536, T. Caldwell 12 Btn Royal Scots Fusiliers With photo and article.

    For most conspicuous bravery and initiative in attack near Audenarde on the 31st October 1918 near Audenarde, Belgium, when in command of a Lewis gun section engaged in clearing a farmhouse. When his section came under intense fire at close range from another farm, Sgt. Caldwell rushed towards the farm, and, in spite of very heavy fire, reached the enemy position, which he captured single-handed, together with 18 prisoners.

    This gallant and determined exploit removed a serious obstacle from the line of advance, saved many casualties, and led to the capture by his section of about 70 prisoners, eight machine guns and one trench mortar. He later achieved the rank of Company Sergeant-Major.

    Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Caldwell_(VC)

    Another brave young man!

    Hope you can understand this. 😃

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator in response to AlecB's comment.

    Marie goes above and beyond what we expect of our volunteers!

    In the case you cited, all we would really ask of you is to complete a Person tag for the man who won the Victoria Cross. If the men who won other medals had been named, we would also ask that you would have done the same for each person.

    As for the hashtags that can be entered in the Comments box, we have developed a list of useful hashtags which can be found to the left under the heading The Definitive Hashtag List!. For medals, you can enter #victoriacross, #militarycross, #militarymedal, #dsm (Distinguished Service Medal), or #dcm (Distinguished Conduct Medal), as appropriate. No need to add anything else, although some of our volunteers may add x6, or other appropriate number, if, as in the case you found, there are multiple recipients of one particular medal.

    The hashtags alert researchers or others looking through these diaries that there is mention of medal recipients on that particular page.

    Entering any hashtags on any subject is strictly voluntary, an extra help but not technically part of the project. There is also no need to enter any hashtags that have already been added by other taggers. One instance of #militarymedal or any other hashtag per page is sufficient.

    We're glad you asked your question. Any others are also welcome!

    Posted