Soldiers
qualified for a campaign medal if they served overseas.
The records of their awards are intact.
If you have the medals or know someone who does, here's a great tip: look at
the letters stamped around the rim. It will give Grandad's number, rank and regiment.
Even if you don't have the medals themselves, you might be able to find out which
ones he qualified for.
The information is in the medal rolls: these are listings by
regiment of all men who qualified for each medal. They are not on-line but are
held in original form at the National Archives at Kew. However, the index cards
- one for each man - are on-line and are an excellent source. If he served overseas
- he is in there somewhere.
> Click
here to see how to find the campaign medal rolls
> Click
here for help in interpreting a medal index card once you have
found it
Do not stop once you have the index
card! It will give you the references to the
rolls themselves - and they often carry additional, vital, information.
In particular, they almost always give the battalions that an
infantryman served with, and sometimes give the units of men
of the artillery, engineers, and so on.
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