I picked this up from the Devon rootsweb list - may be of wide interest. > >> Start of quote: > >> As we go to press, it has come to my attention that in April the MOD > intends to destroy some 6 million records of medals issued to WW1 > personnel. > I think you will agree that we cannot let them do so. >> >> Our military expert Paul Reed has been looking into the matter and it > appears that the private facility used by the MOD to hold the records at > Hayes wants to relocate and charge the MOD for moving the cards. The > MOD's > response is to get rid of the 140 filing cabinets that contain the 4-6 > million cards. The National Archives doesn't want to take on the cards > because it has already microfiched them and the microfiche has been > digitally scanned (see www.documentsonline.nationalarchives.gov.uk). > > This isn't good enough. This is the only complete and untouched record > of > First World War soldiers left. Other service records were burned during > WW2. Only the fronts of the cards have been scanned and we believe that > written on the back of many of these cards is the address that the medals > were sent to. Often, it isn't possible to determine whether the record of > the medals issued relates to your ancestor or another person without > checking this address. > > First, the cards need to be preserved. They then need to be scanned > properly, front and back, and re-indexed. If the National Archives won't > step in, perhaps someone else will. The Imperial War Museum? The > Veteran's > Association? > > The MOD claims its holds copyright on the cards and that it can do what it > wishes with them. I'd argue that these cards are part of the nation's > heritage. They are public records, and I'd remind the MOD that the > descendants of WW1 soldiers pay their taxes. The cards remind us of the > enormous sacrifice and loss incurred by men and women in this country > during > WW1, and of their bravery in adversity. They enable the children and > grandchildren of those who died, and those who survived, to find out some > of > the lost details of their forebears. > > To save the cards we must take action. We're instituting a campaign to > urge the Minister of Defence, Geoff Hoon, and the Director of the National > Archives, Sarah Tyacke, to prevent the destruction of these records > straight > away. Address your letter to us and we'll pass it on to these > authorities: >> Rt Hon Geoff Hoon & Sarah Tyacke >> Save the Medal Index Cards >> c/o Your Family Tree >> 30 Monmouth Street >> Bath BA1 2BW >> Alternatively, send an email headed 'Save the Medal Index Cards' to us >> at > yfted@futurenet.co.uk. Do it now - the records are due to be destroyed in > April. >> >> Garrick Webster, >> Editor, Your Family Tree" >> >> End of quote >> >> I apologise for typos in the above. As we know now that the 1911 >> census > is in one almighty mess with the enumerator's books lost and the household > schedules badly damaged, the thought of yet another valuable - priceless - > resource being deliberately destroyed is beyond belief. Such destruction > will prevent those following in our footsteps in family history research > in > generations to come from achieving their goals." > > My last word on this, > Why do they call the term "Military Intelligence" an oxymoron or "A > figure > of speech in which contradictory terms are brought together, as in a > phrase"? > Doesn't this latest move just proves the point. > > > ______________________________