Desmond7 Posted 13 July , 2004 Share Posted 13 July , 2004 Why would this guy get a medal from Italy? I don't think any Royal irish Rifles btns. were remotely connected to the Italian campaign. Was it an allied 'PR' exercise? Des Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff brown Posted 13 July , 2004 Share Posted 13 July , 2004 Italy, like France, awarded medals to combatants of their allies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curranl Posted 13 July , 2004 Share Posted 13 July , 2004 Hi Des, In Cyril Fall's History of the Royal Irish Rifles there is an appendix with the decorations recieved by the men of the first seven battalions. There are all sorts of unusual medals awarded; French, Italian, Russian, Serb, Belgian. Colonel Wilson was even awarded a Siamese Order of the White Elephant , First Class.... Honestly!! Like you, I wondered why. Your man is not listed - was he in one of the later battalions? Regards, Liam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond7 Posted 13 July , 2004 Author Share Posted 13 July , 2004 Cliff - thanks for that. Did Britain reciprocate? Liam - I think McMullan was 12th Btn. - it's the local unit and I note that the opening numbers on his service no. are shared by many in that btn. Cheers folks des Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBettsMCDCM Posted 14 July , 2004 Share Posted 14 July , 2004 QUOTE: Did Britain reciprocate? Hi Des, Yes the British gave out inter~alia Awards of the DCM,MM,MSM,MC,DSO,etc, to Allied Forces Members,the recipients would not neccesarilly have to be serving with or anywhere near the Troops of the awarding Country[viz; the early awards of Russian Cross of St George for the Western Front to some UK Troops],awards such as the DCM,DSM,MM etc that were normally awarded impressed with Naming & Regimental Details were awarded unnamed to Foreign Nationals,which accounts for the odd unnamed MM etc turning up in Continental Flea Markets occassionally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond7 Posted 14 July , 2004 Author Share Posted 14 July , 2004 Harry - thanks once again - can I seek further info? Point me towards a previous thread - if there is one! Question: How did the 'awarding' nations decide who should receive such an honour? Was it down to 'military attache' types? Did indiv. units put someone up for a 'gong'? Medal novice here ... Des Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBettsMCDCM Posted 15 July , 2004 Share Posted 15 July , 2004 Harry - thanks once again - can I seek further info? Point me towards a previous thread - if there is one! Question: How did the 'awarding' nations decide who should receive such an honour? Was it down to 'military attache' types? Did indiv. units put someone up for a 'gong'? Medal novice here ... Des I think I answered these Queries in 'Croix de Guerre' Threads about a Month ago. Basically a designated "Allotment" of Foreign Awards were appropriated for award to British Troops @ the descretion of the British O/Cs who would also recommend for British Awards,[ie A Box of Croix de Guerre etc; would be available for the period of the battle of Loos say]remember too @ the start of the War the only Gallantry awards available for O/Rs was the DCM or MiD with the VC for outstanding Gallantry,so these foreign awards filled a Void filled by the introduction of the MM & MSM in 1916,so for the majority of Foreign Awards there would be virtually NO Foreign involvement apart from the actual award its self,those awards that were given for specific actions aligned to an Allied Power/Action; the Gazetting would usually state that it was conferred by the Relevant President/Monarch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Desmond6 Posted 15 July , 2004 Share Posted 15 July , 2004 Cheers Harry - now I should probably post the next question in 'chit chat' or 'utterly' but now we're on the subject ... ACTION MAN! As a child I was a great Action Man collector, especially the WW2 series of uniforms. I recall that all the uniforms came with a medal - in the British set it was of course the VC. The German came with an Iron Cross. The American set contained a Silver Star? The French resistance uniform came with a Croix De Guerre? Don't know about the Russians, Australian etc. My point is ... I had always assumed that the medal with these uniforms was meant to signify that 'your' Action man was the holder of that country's top gallantry award. Why didn't they give the Resistance Man the Legion of Honour; or the American a Congressional Medal of Honour? Why these 'lesser awards' for foreigners when the good old Tommy got the VC. It's amazing what comes into your head when you're demob happy and off to London for the weekend!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 15 July , 2004 Share Posted 15 July , 2004 Out of interest, a total of 26,893 orders and decorations were conferred on the British Armies by allied and associated powers up until 15 May 1920. As far as Italian awards were concerned, 2,229 were made of which 1.099 went to other ranks. Britain reciprocated with a total of almost 21,000 awards to their allies ranging from the GCB to the MM and the various grades of the Order of the British Empire. Terry Reeves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Burns Posted 15 July , 2004 Share Posted 15 July , 2004 AEF Awards Hi, The above link shows all awards to the AEF. Scroll down for US awards to foreigner reciepients and non-US awards to US Servicemen, it gives the name of the decoration and the numbers issued. Take care, Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBettsMCDCM Posted 15 July , 2004 Share Posted 15 July , 2004 Cheers Harry - now I should probably post the next question in 'chit chat' or 'utterly' but now we're on the subject ... ACTION MAN! As a child I was a great Action Man collector, especially the WW2 series of uniforms. I recall that all the uniforms came with a medal - in the British set it was of course the VC. The German came with an Iron Cross. The American set contained a Silver Star? The French resistance uniform came with a Croix De Guerre? Don't know about the Russians, Australian etc. My point is ... I had always assumed that the medal with these uniforms was meant to signify that 'your' Action man was the holder of that country's top gallantry award. Why didn't they give the Resistance Man the Legion of Honour; or the American a Congressional Medal of Honour? Why these 'lesser awards' for foreigners when the good old Tommy got the VC. It's amazing what comes into your head when you're demob happy and off to London for the weekend!!! My Brother{my story & Im sticking to it!} too had AM in his WW2 Guises{Have you seen the Prices AM Medals make on E Bay!{A Russian Medal for him{O of L}was @ £12 yesterday ~Unbelievable!}The Russian had a representation of the Order of Lenin,I presume the Aussie had a VC too!}I dont know why the difference in grades of award for Action Man,I suppose the CMH was because it was a Neck Order,& The C de G was probably the only French Medal the designers knew about? Keep Taking the Tablets! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmond7 Posted 15 July , 2004 Author Share Posted 15 July , 2004 Medication has been ordered. And thanks to Neil and Terry for their replies. Now .. did my mum REALLY keep all those old shoe boxes full of Action man gear? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now