Hello I hope someone can point me in the correct direction. My Grandfather was awarded a MC (according to the London Gazette in August 1917) during his period on the western front in the 20th and according to his Medal Rolls index card the 24th London Regiment. I can find quite a lot a lot about the 20th as they have a good website (http://www.20thlondonregiment.com/index.html) but little on the 24th London Regiment! It also appears according to his Medal Rolls index card that he was a Private, Lieutenant, Captain then back down to a Lt again! I guess I have to visit Kew national archives to get his records if they survived the bombing and fire in 1940 to find these answers! The question is. Where do I get the detail of the action were he received the MC? War Diaries? Personal records or other? In anticipation for you help, Thanks you. Graham
Hello Graham, What was his name? Officers files are held at Kew, if they have survived both the Blitz and systematic weeding. A good many, but not all, MC citations can be found in the London Gazette. As a rule of thumb, the first notice in the Gazette is about three months after the action it was awarded for. The war diary may also hold a clue to help pin down the actual date. Phil
Hi Phil His name is Lt Charles Victor Kebble, MC. Actually we have moved forward with this. I was in the UK last week for my mothers 80th Birthday. My wife and I took time out and went to Kew. We had a good time and found the following: Looking through the Army List we found CVK and tracked down when he appeared with the MC. Unfortunately we did not go forward through the Arm List and find out when he become a Captain! This lead us to the War Diary's for the 24th London. Also within the war diaries there was a narrative of the attack on 7th June 1917, the action where he was awarded the MC. There was a trench map on the narrative and I have since tracked down the exact location, 4 miles SSE of Ypres. There is one other question that I have yet to figure out. His medal index ways that he was LT, Captain the Lt again!. Looking through the war diaries he went on 'leave and duty` as a LT and returned as a captain three weeks later with no mention of a temporary commission! Within three / four weeks he went to demobilization 31 March 1919. Unfortunately I do not have any of the "Z" forms so I cannot see what rank he left! I probably need to review the Army list again for April and May 1919, they may shed more light on why his medal index says Lt at the end! Are there records to say why he may have been demoted??? Thanks For your help. A note for any one visiting Kew, have an action plan and set goals for your visit. Graham
Hello Graham, I assume that you meant Charles Victor KEEBLE. I'm pleased to hear that you had a fruitful day at Kew. I agree, go with a definite plan. I also go with a camera and try not to get distracted by reading the records while I am there. I don't think that his service record has survived. I can't see an entry in WO 338, nor the online indices in WO 339 or WO 374. I'm not sure if you have found either of these LG entries or not, but they may explain the later course of events, both of which I have hyperlinked: Issue 31244. Page 3833. Issue 31337. Page 6000 Phil
Phil You are correct, KEEBLE is what I meant. Suffering from jet lag. Wow, I missed these pages. That explains everything. The War Diary for his return as Captain did not mention acting! So, no mystery on the demotion. Thanks for the help. Graham
