On Sat, 9 Oct 1999 14:06:33 +0100, "Tom Currie" <tom@currie8.freeserve.co.uk> wrote: >Can anyone tell me where to look for records of recipients of the Military >Medal? >My brother in law's father was awarded the medal during the 1914 -18 war for >"Bravery in the Field" and although he has the actual medal, he would like >to know some of the background as to how his father won it. He was in the >Scots Guards serving in France at the time. >Where should I look first I'm afraid that there is only a slim chance of finding out why he was awarded the Military Medal. Announcements of this award, as with all other gallantry awards, were made in the London Gazette. However over 115,000 Military medals were awarded, and the London Gazette did not have space to print the "citations" for each medal, as the reasons for award are called. The LG is certainly proof that he was awarded the medal, but not why. You may want to go to a large library and see if you can find the relevant entry in the London Gazette. This will at least give you the date of the award, and that is a start. The usual method to find a reason for award is to look at the relevant Regimental or Battalion histories. Some of the more detailed volumes will carry a story about a particular action and finish by saying "For his courage, Pte Smith was awarded the Military Medal" or words to that effect. Local newspapers for his home town might also give brief details, although they are more likely to give a photograph of him, rather than saying why the MM was awarded. The main history of the regiment during the war is: The Scots Guards in the Great War, 1914-1918 by F Loraine Petre, Wilfred Ewart and Maj Gen Sir Cecil Lowther, 1925, 349 pages. His Army documents may have survived the bombing in WW2, and now be available to the public, or become available over the next few years. The Public Record Office says that no citations are contained in them, but there are often surprises at what is contained in a set of Army documents! The Guards Museum may also be able to help: Correspondence to: The Guards Museum, Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk, London, SW1E 6HQ, England Telephone: +44 (0)171 4143271; 4143428 Exhibits of weapons, uniforms, Colours & Trophies illustrate 300 year history of Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Welsh and Irish Foot Guards, with displays on Waterloo, Crimea, World War II & Falklands. Hope that's a start... Forrest -- Forrest Anderson, Edinburgh, Scotland. E-mail: forrestdale@dial.pipex.com Website: http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/forrestdale/index.html Forrest Research - Military Researcher and Book-finder, specialising in British Army/Navy/Air Force Lists, and Biographical Dictionaries.