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WWI medals - research

J

Jeff

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I‘m trying to track down the recipient of a WWI "Silver War Badge". The badge has a number on the reverse, and I‘d like to find out where I can go to trace the number to identify the soldier who received it. Any ideas on where to look? Thanks for any help!
 
You might try Veteran‘s Affairs (www.vac-acc.gc.ca) follow the links to either medals and decorations or honours and awards. There should be a link to contact them. They should be able to lead you astray (as most Gov‘t depts are good at)
 
Sometimes known as the Silver War Badge (SWB), Wound Badge, Services Rendered Badge or the King‘s Silver Badge, this 1¼" (33mm) diameter Sterling silver lapel badge was issued from 1916 until 31st December 1919. It was accompanied by an official certificate of entitlement.

A total of 1,092,016 badges were issued; the fact that the badges are not hallmarked is indicative of their manufacture by the Royal Mint, although several contractors, including J R Gaunt & Son Ltd of Birmingham, were involved in the stamping of numbers and the fitting of pins.

Each badge was uniquely numbered on the reverse, Royal Navy, Merchant Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force badges having an RN, MN, RM or RAF prefix respectively. Other prefixes for Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa (A, C, NZ and SA) were also used. Some badges with a prefix I (for India) also exist although they are rare.

It is through these serial numbers that details of the recipients may be researched by checking the War Badge rolls, although only those awarded to the Army can be researched at the Public Record Office.

badge1.jpg
 
Here is a link to the PRO (public record office) in the UK from what I can see they may have the records although some were destroyed in an air attack in 1940, If you scroll down you will see the Siver War Badge and a brief discription of why it was awarded. You will probably have to write for the information as there seems to be little on line. Best of luck, mj.

http://catalogue.pro.gov.uk/ExternalRequest.asp?RequestReference=ri2296
 
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