4042, later D/20999 Squadron Sergeant Major Frederick Allsopp, 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons

Medals sought, please, for the man pictured above. His name was Frederick Allsopp and in the undated photograph above he wears the following medals:

Distinguished Conduct Medal

QSA with clasps for Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Belfast, Cape Colony and Orange Free State

KSA with usual two clasps

1914-15 Star

British War Medal

Inter-Allied Victory Medal

Delhi Durbar Medal

Long Service & Good Conduct Medal

Frederick was born in 1878 and enlisted with the 6th Dragoons on the 12th October 1898 having previosuly served with the 3rd (militia) Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment. He extended his service in 1904 to complete eight years with the colours. extended aagain in 1906 to complete 12 years with the colours and then re-engaged in May 1910 to complete 21 years. By the time he was discharged in November 1919 he had soldiered in South Africa, Egypt, India and France and Flanders. He had three children, all born in India, two of whom died in infancy.

Frederick Allsopp's DCM was gazetted on the 26th June 1918. His son, a veteran of the Second World War, is now hoping to find his father's medals. Please contact me if you can help.

Delhi Durbar re-unite

Here's a potentially nice re-unite for a Delhi Durbar medal with a 1914 Star and Victory Medal. eBay has the Delhi Durbar medal for 2nd Lt Geoffrey Dyett Abbott, 1st Connaught Rangers, who would later be killed in action on 2nd November 1914.

Geoffrey Dyett Abbott was born at Srinagar, India, on 12 October 1891, the son of Colonel Frank Abbott, 37th Lancers and a grandson of Lieutenant-General H. D. Abbott, C.B., and of Major-General J. C. Berkeley, C.I.E. He was educated at Cheltenham College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was gazetted to the Connaught Rangers in March 1911 and served with the 1st Battalion in India. Promoted to Lieutenant in June 1914, he entered the France/Flanders theatre of war on 26 September 1914. He was killed in action at Laventie, France, on 2 November 1914. His company commander sent the following account of the circumstances: ‘On the 2nd instant [November, 1914] we went to relieve the 2nd Gurkhas and came under rather heavy fire crossing an open place. It was in the above open place he was killed.’ Geoffrey Abbott was buried in the Royal Irish Rifles Graveyard at Laventie.

Lt Abbott's 1914 Star and Victory Medal were sold by Dix Noonan Webb in March 2010 for £460 (estimate £200-£250) and the italicised text above is from the DNW site.

Delhi Durbar Medal 1911

Instituted:
1911

Qualification:
Awarded to those present at the Durbar celebrations in Delhi, India to mark the coronation of King George V. A large contingent of British Army officers and men was in attendance for the 1911 Delhi Durbar, although only approximately one quarter of those present at the occasion actually received this medal.

Description:
36mm diameter. The obverse portrays the two crowned busts of King George V and Queen Mary facing left, within a floral wreath. The king and queen wear robes of state. The reverse contains Persian script which translates (in the centre) as "Dehli 1911" and around the perimeter, "The Durbar of George V, Emperor of India, Master of the British Lands".

The majority of the medals were issued in silver although a limited quantity were also struck in gold for rulers of the Princely Indian states, and high ranking government officials.

Ribbon:
Blue with two vertical red bands.

Naming:
Issued un-named although occasionally unofficially named.

Clasps:
No clasps were awarded for this medal.

Other:
Around 28,600 1911 Delhi Durbar Medals were awarded. One of the recipients was George A J Welch, commemorated on this site.

Image:
The photograph on this page shows the medal group of Lt Colonel Frederick Charles Laing and comes from the King Emperor website. His medal group comprises (from left to right), the 1895 India General Service medal (with three clasps), 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Inter-Allied Victory Medal, and Delhi Durbar Medal 1911.

Sub Conductor George A J Welch, Indian Army Ordnance Corps, formerly Yorkshire Regiment

Medals held:
Queen's South Africa Medal and three clasps (Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal), King's South Africa Medal and two clasps (1901, 1902), 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal, Delhi Durbar Medal 1911, Military Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.

George A J Welch was born in Allahabad, India around 1880 or 1881. He appears on the 1891 census as a ten year old scholar; the eldest child of James and Lily Welch. James Welch, born at Shepton Mallet in Somerset, is recorded as a 39 year old quartermaster sergeant serving with the Yorkshire Regiment. His wife Lily is recorded as 31 years old; a British subject born in Burma. Apart from George, the other children are noted as John L Welch, a seven year old scholar born at Netley, Hampshire; Frederick H D Welch, a four year old scholar born at Richmond, Yorkshire; Thomas R Welch aged two, also born at Richmond; and Louisa M L Welch aged one month, born at Richmond. At the time the census was taken, the family was living at Allen Place, Richmond.

Neither George nor John appear on the 1901 census (both were away fighting the Boers in South Africa). The rest of the family though - including two additions - had moved to Potternewton in Leeds and was living at 18 Leopold Square. The household comprised James (head, aged 49, recorded as an army storekeeper and noted by the census takers as an army pensioner), his wife Lily (aged 41, this time recorded as having been born in India), and the couple's five children. They were: Frederick Welch aged 14, Thomas Welch aged 12, Louisa Welch aged 10, Isabelle Welch aged seven, and Herbert Welch aged five. Both Isabelle and Herbert had also been born in Richmond, suggesting that the family moved to Leeds some time after July 1895 (Herbert's birth was registered at Richmond in the September quarter of that year).

George's army service record does not appear to have survived, although his brother John's has. Like his elder brother, John Leeson Welch joined the Yorkshire Regiment, initially serving with the 3rd (Militia) Battalion during the Boer War and then joining the regular Yorkshire Regiment on 15th June 1903. Enlisting for a period of 3 years with the colours and nine on the reserve his approving officer wrote, "Smart lad. Served two and a half years in S Africa with 3rd Yorkshire Regt. Has father and brother in Corps. Has been employed in an office and will prob[ably] soon develop. Is a drummer and bugler. Character exemplary. Corps [unclear but possibly "advised"] to obtain him." John would extend his service with the Yorkshire Regiment, serve overseas in India and again in South Africa, transfer to the Reserve in 1911 and then be recalled to the colours on 5th August 1914. Exactly two months later he would land in France, remaining there until wounded in 1917. He would return there in May 1918, this time with the Coldstream Guards, finally earning his discharge in 1919. John's medal group would have been almost identical to George's, the absence of the Transvaal clasp on his QSA and no Delhi Durbar medal being the only difference.

So George was certainly still with the Yorkshire Regiment in 1903 but by 1911 he'd transferred to the Ordnance Department. His Delhi Durbar medal is inscribed to O Sub Condr G.A.J. Welch, Ordnance Dept.

George's First World War medal card (below) makes no reference to an award of a 1914-15 Star so I am currently puzzled how this forms part of his group. Like the British War and Victory medals it is inscribed to Sub Condr G A J Welch, I.O.D. Finally, George's QSA is inscribed to 4596 Cpl G Welch, Yorkshire Regt, whilst the KSA is inscribed to 4596 Serjt G Welch, York Regt. His Military Long Service and Good Conduct medal is inscribed to Staff Serjt G.A.J Welch.