12 replies to this topic

[ss002d6252]

Any idea what exactly it was granted for and by whom ?

Quote

He was sent back to England for treatment of his wounds; during the course of his recuperation he was transferred to the 10th Lancashire Fusiliers, still as a Private (40684). He also paid what might have been his last visit home to Smethwick .  It was during the recuperation/ transfer period that he received a Certificate of Meritorious Service – believed to be the only awarded for service in France .

[centurion]

Its a medal see http://www.ulricofen...how&ref=b001417 for an example

[Jim_Grundy]

There was indeed a Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) but there were such certificates issued where there was no related award beyond the certificate itself.

One local man (to me), Bdr. Charles Wilfred Orton, 'C' Battery, 152nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, was awarded a 'Card of Honour' in recognition of his conduct during the preliminary bombardment for the Battle of the Somme. I don't think these were official War Office issue, rather the initiative of individual units, designed as a means of acknowledging good service where there was no prospect of a formal award being made.

[centurion]

"Card of honour" is not "meritorious service". I've seen many examples of cards of honour (sometimes issued when the man's unit felt he had missed out on a medal). Do you have examples of a meritorious service certificate? As MSMs were gazetted it should be easy to check if the man in question was awarded such.

[DavidB]

My g/father was the recipient of an MSM and in all the years I was a member of his household he never

mentioned a card or certificate of honour

[Stebie9173]

I think this is the certificate otherwise known as the "King's Certificate".


See the section at the foot of this LLT page:

http://www.1914-1918...grandad/swb.htm

[munster]

Did the MSM have a rank or cash bounty award after so many years service.john

[centurion]

Stebie9173, on 10 June 2012 - 12:13 PM, said:

I think this is the certificate otherwise known as the "King's Certificate".


See the section at the foot of this LLT page:

http://www.1914-1918...grandad/swb.htm

Awarded with the SWB after discharge - doesn't match the description in the OP

[ss002d6252]

Thanks.

Quote

Its a medal see http://www.ulricofen...how&ref=b001417 for an example

I was thinking of the MSM at first but then they mentioned the 'believed to be the only awarded for service in France' bit which threw me.

http://www.smethwick...oes-colley1.htm

[ss002d6252]

This is the man's MIC - http://search.ancest...rc=&pid=4463949 (certainly odd to miss out a mention of a VC in a piece on their wartime service! (it is mentioned on a covering page but still...))

[centurion]

One possibility - he had an MID. The oak leaf for WW1 MIDs was not issued until post war but before then some sort of MID certificate was available

[ss002d6252]

The MiD may by a possibility and the author being confused.

[munster]

The award i was trying to think of in post 7 was an Anuity MSM i believe payment of same would be some time distant from award, a certificate may have been issued at time.john