cambsresearcher Posted 31 May Share Posted 31 May Hello, I'm searching for more info on Albert John Gifford. In the absent voters list he is described as Pte 58024 1st Worcesters. In a local newspaper article from 3 Jan 1919 it says he was awarded the DCM and says his CO wrote to him on 2 Dec 1918 offering congratulations. It says he is a Lance Cpl, he had enlisted in Nov 1914 and was still in France where he had been for "some long time". Award for gallant services rendered in Oct 1918. I can't find him at all on the LG. Fold 3 only has 2 absent voters lists which are available on Ancestry, FMP doesn't seem to have anything past BDM and census / electoral records. Can't see anything on TNA. He came from Cottenham, Cambs. This is for a cemetery open day - any help very gratefully received as we are trying to put some interesting stories to the names on the graves. I can never find much on TNA etc. so hoping someone on here can point me in the right direction! Thanks Karen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan1892 Posted 31 May Share Posted 31 May Here is the citation for his DCM (courtesy of Ancestry) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRC Posted 31 May Share Posted 31 May (edited) I believe this may be the DCM citation for the man you are interested in - the details link him to Cottenham. Image sourced Genes Reunited but I believe it's available on all good genealogy sites! Service number is 238149 - if the AVL service number you have is from 1918 these quite often came from family members rather than the man himself, and were certainly unverified by the Army. Note he was also in receipt of his medal as a Private, not a Lance Corporal. His promotion may have come after the 11th November 1918 and so won't be reflected in the Service Medal Rolls. The MiC for that service number has him as Albert J. Gifford, the Victory Medal and British War Medal as Albert John. I'm afraid I don't subscribe to Ancestry \ Fold3\FindMyPast so cant check any of the details out. His MiC shows him originally as 3232 Private Cambridgeshire Regiment, then Private 14956 Royal Sussex Regiment and finally 238149 Worcestershire Regiment. He is shown as entitled to only the Victory Medal and British War Medal, so first served in a Theatre of War on or after the 1st January 1916. Only the 1/1st Battalion of the Cambridgeshire Regiment went overseas, and they landed in France until February 1915 so Albert is unlikely to hav trained with them. I suspect Albert may have been part of a much later draft to them. https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/cambridgeshire-regiment/ I'm not spotting any surviving service records for him. Cheers, Peter Edit - apologies @Allan1892 - crossposted. Edited 31 May by PRC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRC Posted 31 May Share Posted 31 May Looks like he was wounded while serving with the Royal Sussex Regiment. Image courtesy the British Newspapers Archive. The same entry appeared in the Official Casualty List printed in the edition of The Times on that day. Unfortunately for our purposes there are no individuals recorded as killed who were serving with the Royal Sussex Regiment. That would potentially have given some idea of the Battalion(s) the casualties related to in this list and the approximate timescale prior to the report that Giffords' wounding occurred. Hopefully his Medal Roll, (image on Ancestry \ transcription on FindMyPast), will have confimation of the Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment he was serving with, and then from the relevant War Diary it might prove possible to identify the action in which he was wounded. Appearances in the Official Casualty List are usually between 4-10 weeks after the event, but the period can be shorter or longer. Cheers, Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esco Posted 31 May Share Posted 31 May Service medal roll here showing regiments / battalions served in . https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/2999299:5119?tid=&pid=&queryId=52bb0d73-0468-45e7-af88-b3f0312e1117&_phsrc=ybN85&_phstart=successSource Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cambsresearcher Posted 31 May Author Share Posted 31 May Thank you everyone - lots of lovely information to share at the Open Day. It's always nice to find out what those who came home had done during the war. The cemetery trustees have info for the war graves in there plus some men who died and are commemorated on family gravestones, but I've not seen anything for the MM I posted about previously, or this DCM. Feel a bit of a chump not finding a lot of this myself! As soon as I got this info, found it all very easily! Thanks again everyone, much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan1892 Posted 1 June Share Posted 1 June 16 hours ago, PRC said: Edit - apologies @Allan1892 - crossposted. No need to apologise Peter, it happens. I always read with interest your in depth posts as they sometimes give me pointers in my own research Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivor Anderson Posted 4 June Share Posted 4 June DCM listed in the LG 12 March 1919: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31225/supplement/3383 DCM Citation gazetted 2 Dec 1919: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31668/supplement/14842 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cambsresearcher Posted 5 June Author Share Posted 5 June Thank you so much! I've typed up all the information found ready to share at the open day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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