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I have this medal record (I blurred some of it) for Sidney Truckle:

enter image description here

We know that Sidney died on 15th August 1915 in Gallipoli, Canakkale, Turkey.

On this "Medal" card it states that he was "Killed in action". Yet the qualifying date is 9th July 1915.

I then looked at this Regiment or Corps when Decoration was earned document (names blurred):

enter image description here

I can see that it originally had the same date (9.7.15) . But then it was crossed out and changed to 7.8.15, even though the remarks state he was killed in action on 15.8.15.

I am trying to build a picture here. Did Sidney actually receive his medal, or did it never happen and it was granted him after his death? I am not sure exactly what this information is telling me.

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    My belief is that since you already have the images, and simply need interpretation, then "Fair Use" applies and there was no need to blur out the details on the Index Card. Indeed, if your relative had had a common name, it would have been a pointless query. It's not as if you're asking for a look up - if you had been, I wouldn't have put the images in, I'd have just given you the index values to find them yourself. But that's the other way around that I mention solely to show the difference.
    – AdrianB38
    Commented Nov 18, 2020 at 19:35
  • I assume you downloaded the card free from the National Archives? In which case nationalarchives.gov.uk/legal/copyright/… applies @AdrianB38. The information is subject to Fair Use I think nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 but not the images.
    – user6485
    Commented Nov 19, 2020 at 10:23
  • @ColeValleyGirl - I'm now confused about what those links mean. My personal interpretation of the first link ("private study or research for a non-commercial purpose") would stretch it to cover requests for help in interpretation - as here. But maybe that's just me? See 2nd comment to follow.
    – AdrianB38
    Commented Nov 19, 2020 at 11:44
  • (2) The second link is confusing - you've interpreted it as licencing the info but "not the images", if I understand you. The OGL refers to "Use of copyright and database right material expressly made available under this licence (the 'Information') ". And it says "You are free to: copy, publish, distribute and transmit the Information;" I would interpret that as "the Information" in terms of the definition in the OGL, which covers "copyright ... material expressly made available under this licence". That would, in my own view, cover the images because they are the copyright material.
    – AdrianB38
    Commented Nov 19, 2020 at 11:46
  • Do we need to take this into the Meta?
    – AdrianB38
    Commented Nov 19, 2020 at 11:49

2 Answers 2

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You've blurred out the details of what medal it was but looking on Ancestry I can see that it appears to be the 1914–15 Star which was awarded to anybody that served in any theatre between 5 August 1914 and 31 December 1915 who hadn't received the 1914 Star.

It wasn't actually instituted until December 1918 though so it wouldn't have been awarded in his lifetime.

It would have been awarded alongside the British War Medal and the Victory Medal which are also listed on the medal card.

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  • Thank you. I wasn't sure if it was "OK" to display that extra detail that I blurred. Not that it meant anything to me! I appreciate your explanation. Those other medals you refer to, were they in the blurred out bit?
    – Andrew Truckle
    Commented Nov 18, 2020 at 11:27
  • I wonder where his 3 medals went in the end? Back to his parents? Or is that sufficient for a new question or open to too much opinion?
    – Andrew Truckle
    Commented Nov 18, 2020 at 11:33
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    If they were claimed then it would be by the next of kin - sometimes the index card says where they went but not in this case. The Register of Soldiers Effects on Ancestry looks like it shows his father as receiving his effects and the pension index cards also list him as next of kin.
    – TomH
    Commented Nov 18, 2020 at 15:16
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    The top right of the medal index card has a rubber stamped box listing the standard three medals that has then had the roll and and page numbers for his medals written in over the stamp.
    – TomH
    Commented Nov 18, 2020 at 15:17
  • @TomH - enlisted men didn't need to claim campaign medals in WW1. The Army automatically tried to contact them (else their next of kin) at the last known address first. If the soldier was dead, I've seen a careful process to establish exactly who the next of kin was at that time, that needed sign off by parish priest, magistrate, etc. I've not seen enough to know if that's typical.
    – AdrianB38
    Commented Nov 18, 2020 at 19:27
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Re the dates - according to the Long Long Trail website, the 6th and 7th Royal Munster Fusiliers (see RMF in Long, Long Trail) have the same history around Gallipoli, viz:

9 July 1915: embarked at Liverpool and sailed to Gallipoli via Mudros. Landed Suvla Bay 7 August 1915.

So the qualifying date had been entered as embarkation at Liverpool, to start with. If you look at the Medal Roll, the required, correct date is the date of DIS-embarkation ie, the date of landing at Suvla Bay. Hence the correction, I guess. So, a slight clerical error in the regimental office.

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  • Thank you for your additional explanation. Very interesting about the dates. :)
    – Andrew Truckle
    Commented Nov 19, 2020 at 12:15
  • Maybe add to your answer the actual link to the Long Long Trail website?
    – Andrew Truckle
    Commented Nov 19, 2020 at 12:16
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    Done @AndrewTruckle - IIRC I was on my phone where copying links can sometimes be hard work!
    – AdrianB38
    Commented Nov 19, 2020 at 12:23
  • Thanks. Since he was in the 6th Battalion then, this means he arrived in Turkey on 7th August and dies on 15th August. So sad. And means that he travelled from Woodford, Wiltshire up to Liverpool at some point to make this journey. Interesting.
    – Andrew Truckle
    Commented Nov 19, 2020 at 12:36

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