All British soldiers who went overseas qualified for at least one campaign medal. All who entered a theatre of war got at least two, and a third if they did so before 1916. If you can not trace the man's service record, the records of the medals can be surprisingly informative and should not be missed.

 

Campaign medals records

The recording of a man's entitlement to medals and the issuing of them to the man (or, if he had died, to his next of kin) was recorded in a great list, called a roll.

 

What is a medal roll and what can it tell you?

The rolls are long lists, arranged by regiment, of the men who qualified for the medals. There are separate rolls for the 1914 Star, 1914-15 Star, British War and Victory Medals, the Silver War Badge and the India General Service Medal. This is a page from the King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) roll for the British War and Victory Medals. It gives details of seven soldiers. The roll is produced as a large and heavy book, with some 200-300 pages. A small proportion of the books have been microfilmed. There is a number of such rolls for each regiment: for example there are 12 volumes for the Royal Scots, 51 volumes for the Northumberland Fusiliers and 6 volumes for the Devonshire Regiment, for the British War and Victory Medal alone.

The information carried by the roll varies depending on which part of the army the soldier served with.

Cavalry, Yeomanry and Infantry

For men who served in cavalry, yeomanry and infantry regiments the roll will tell you the units that he served with, in sequence. For the London Regiment the roll will tell you his dates with each battalion. Officers rolls give no unit information.

This is from the same page, closer up. It can be seen that, for example, William Howard served with the 8th Battalion of the regiment. This is vital information, for it means you can begin to trace where he went and the battles in which he might have taken part.

Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, Royal Army Medical Corps

The rolls of these Corps (for the British War and Victory Medal) rarely give any unit information. The exception is the roll of the 1914 Star, which usually gives the man's unit when he first went overseas.

Labour Corps

The rolls of this Corps (for the British War and Victory Medal) never give unit information. The exception is the roll of the 1914 Star, which usually gives the man's unit when he first went overseas.

 

What is a medal index card?

An index card was created for each man, giving a reference to each roll that he appeared in. The card is the key to finding the roll that the man is recorded in.

Tommy McSloy's index card carries a limited amount of information about him. The main value of the card is in the two references it gives to the medal rolls in which he is recorded. In this case he is in two rolls, one for the British War and Victory Medal (roll RE/101B175 page 41708) and one for the 1914-15 Star (roll RE/7B8 page 4272).

Clearly it is a mistake to stop once you have obtained the card, as you could be missing out on significant detail.

 

Accessing the index cards and rolls

Accessing the medal rolls

The index cards have been available for many years and there are now three ways to get them.

Free access to these records

Paid access to these records

These records have been transferred to the National Archives and are viewable by the public. The original documents are not available and access is only by microfiche. This is free of charge but of course you need to visit the National Archives in person or hire help to do so.

The records have also been scanned and can be accessed for a fee from Ancestry or from the National Archives DocumentsOnline. The Ancestry version is in colour and includes both sides of the card (although in 98% of cases it is blank). You may, if you will not be a frequent user of Ancestry's service, find it cheaper to hire help. The National Archives version is in black and white, has only the front face of the card and is just £2. In most cases the card will be one of six on a page.

The original cards are now in the hands of the Western Front Association, who stepped in when it appeared that the Ministry of Defence was about to junk them in recent years. There is no public access to the cards even for WFA Members.

If you know the man's regiment and number, you'll find his card. If you do not have a number you could be in for a considerable effort in determining which one is him. If he is a John Smith, even if you know his regiment, you will have a very long "shortlist" of cards. If he has an uncommon name, then the number of "possibles" is very much fewer and if his name is very unusual that you should find his card easily enough.

The cards can sometimes be difficult to understand but repay careful examination: here's our guide to interpreting a medal index card.

 

Accessing the medal rolls

The rolls are held at the National Archives in document series WO329. They are not online. You will either need to visit in person or hire someone to do it for you.

There is a key at the National Archives that allows you to convert the reference given on the card to the WO329 piece number. For example Tommy McSloy's RE/101B175, above, converts to WO329/463.

I believe that the National Archives no longer provides a facility for ordering copies remotely.