The Great War Medal Collector's Companion

I see that my old mate Howard Williamson is selling his essential three-volume Great War Medal Collector's set at bargain prices via eBay. Volumes I and III are being offered at £25 and volume II at £20. These would normally cost £150 for all three and so this really is a give-away. Each volume is comprehensively illustrated and contains a wealth of information that really is not found anywhere else. For the medal collector I would argue that these volumes are as essential as British Battles & Medals and the annual Token Medal Yearbook. Here's the eBay link.

Howard's latest tome - essential reference

Here's another one for the groaning bookshelves: Volume 3 of Howard Williamson's The Great War Medal Collectors Companion.  Well-produced, lavishly illustrated and a treasure-trove of information form a well-respected author who lives and breathes medals and militaria. He's also a personal friend and an all-round jolly good egg.

Inside this Volume 3 of The Great War Medal Collectors' Companion you will find:

• A short history of the 76 British Army Divisions (plus Cavalry and Guards Divisions) alongside the dates and Battles in which they were engaged
• Locations of British Regiments showing the locations of each battalion of the Line Regiments (plus Guards, Cavalry and Yeomanry Units) throughout the War. Each entry gives Brigade and Division and date of entry to the theatres of war. All changes of Brigade, Division and Theatre of War are noted
• The OMRS Gold Medal Winning study of the Royal Engineer Units in the Great War. This includes locations, dates, battle honours, refined regimental numbers from Volume II, general duties and many contemporary photographs.
• A study of the Machine Gun Corps in the Great War. It gives all unit locations and the Brigade and Division attached. In addition, there are a number of photographs and a section on the equipment and tactics employed. Awarded OMRS Silver Medal 2014.
• A study of the Army Cyclist Corps in the Great War covering notes on their units, equipment and duties. This study was awarded an OMRS Silver Medal at the 2014 Convention.

These books are essential resources and will be much sought-after in years to come. Naval and Military Press also has copies of Volume 1 and Volume 2. Click on the links on this page to order these essential reference works.

The Great War Medal Collectors Companion VOLUME II

This long awaited second volume in Howard Williamson’s Great War Medal Collectors Companion series is now completed and ready for publication. Sales of Volume I are currently standing at [approximately] 3400. It has been decided that the print run for Volume II will only number around 2000 so early ordering is highly recommended. In has become clear that the vast amount of information gathered for Volume II would take more than one volume to print, so it was decided to split the work into two Volumes. Please Note chapter and page numbering continues sequentially with each Volume.

Volume II begins with Chapter 6 on page 572. The contents of Volume II are as follows:

FIRST CHAPTER [Chapter 6] A STUDY OF THE REGIMENTAL NUMBERS OF THE BRITISH ARMY AND DOMINION FORCES DURING THE GREAT WAR [Awarded OMRS Silver Medal 2013]

This incredible study comprises 200 pages packed with information on the regimental numbers and prefixes allocated to the Soldiers of the Great War. For the section on Line Regiments, the Author collaborated closely with Paul Nixon, whose research on Regimental Numbers provided much additional information to that compiled by the Author. The Territorial re-numberings of 1917 are all included, plus information on which number blocks were allocated to those in action on the First Day of The Somme.

The Sections on the Corps include: 

• ASC: All the prefixes shown with their number range are explained and the units employing them are identified.
• Labour Corps. The numbers for the Labour Companies and the Regiments to which they are affiliated plus a table linking regimental numbers and transfer details and dates.
• RAMC: All Territorial re-numberings including refinements to include field ambulances plus notes on number blocks prior to TF renumbering.
• RAOC: Prefixes and number ranges explained. 
• Military Police: Notes from Paul Nixon’s blog on dates of enlistment.
• RAVC: Notes on prefixes and numbers. 
• RA: Territorial re-numberings. Prefixes explained.
• RE: Notes on all number bands including a refined version of the TF numberings, Tunnelling, Gas and other companies identified as associated with certain number blocks.
• Tank Corps: Origins of personnel revealed plus number blocks to specific battalions.
• Sections on AIF, CEF SA, NZEF. Regimental Numbers. 
• An A to Z of Regimental Letter & Number Prefixes, covering all units including Navy and RND.

SECOND CHAPTER [Chapter 7] ABBREVIATIONS FOUND ON GREAT WAR CAMPAIGN MEDALS AND DOCUMENTS [Awarded the OMRS Gold Medal 2013 for Outstanding Research].

This 140 page Chapter is the result of 25 years work by the Author. Sources for the information include: Medals from private collections; Medals observed at the major London (and other) auctions; Medal Index Cards; Official Documents; Ebay medal sales; plus information supplied by friends, medal dealers, and collectors etc. The study records not only the abbreviation as it appears on the medal and its interpretation, but also many useful annotations giving further information about the rank or unit. Main contents are: 

• British and Commonwealth Unit abbreviations. 
• MIC abbreviations [Expanded from Vol I]. 
• British and Commonwealth Rank abbreviations. 
• Rank & Unit abbreviations found on Documents. 
• British Naval Rank and Unit abbreviations. 
• Relative Ranks Army and Navy. 
• Indian Ranks explained. 
• Military appointments and ranks.

NOTE a check with over 100 DNW, Spink and other catalogues shows no abbreviations omitted. This should be the standard reference for WWI Abbreviations.

THIRD CHAPTER [Chapter 8] CORRIGENDA AND ADDENDA FROM VOLUME I

This section includes additional information on the following:

The Wauchope Medal
Flat Back Suspensions on WW1 Stars
The Memorial Plaque additional notes
Manufacture of WWI Medals – a summary
Complete lists of proposed Battle Clasps for both the Army & Navy
Comrades of the Great War magazine
Jutland Medal, Lady Beatty
Annotated DCM Gazettes
Additions to 1.7.16 DCM Roll
Naming issues on Great War medals

also included are some revisions to tables in Vol I plus odd typographical errors corrected.

INDEX: A user friendly Index completes the book.

The Great War Medal Collectors Companion VOLUME III Volume 3 is currently nearing completion and it is anticipated it will be published in time for Christmas.

Contents are as follows: 

Army Divisions. Their signs, brief history and a chronological list of the Battles and actions in which they were involved. 
Dates British Units landed overseas: includes British Regiments, RE, RAMC, MGC, RA [TF], Cyclist Corps, Tank Corps, etc. 
Battle Honours with dates of actions. 

Each unit is shown with its Brigade and Division so can be cross referenced with the Chapter on Army Divisions. 

The RE Section gives histories of each individual unit plus the battles which each unit was engaged.

Order NOW from Naval and Military Press or direct from the author, below:

PRICE £38.00 plus £6.50 postage and packing to HOWARD WILLIAMSON, 5 HANKIN AVENUE, HARWICH, ESSEX CO12 5HE. Please make CHEQUES PAYABLE TO: MRS ANNE WILLIAMSON.  NOTE cheques will NOT be cashed until the book is ready for posting. For general enquiries or for those wishing to collect their book in person email: howard@williamson2844.fsnet.co.uk with your instructions.

VOLUME III is nearing completion (see details above). Its expected date of publication is November, 2014. If you are interested in purchasing this Volume please tick the box and you be contacted when it is ready. All profits from the sale of this book will be used towards costs for the production of the Military Medal Roll 1916–1919. Due for publication in 2016.

I like it; I like it a lot

Howard Williamson's The Great War Medal Collectors Companion, that is. My copy (number 518) arrived yesterday; £50 from The National Archives' online bookshop and jam-packed with illustrations.

I've hardly had time to do the book justice so far but I know that I will be returning to it again and again. There is a good chapter on the medal index cards but I do question one point where Howard is quoting from Joe Hodgson's article in the OMRS Journal of Spring 1988. Speculating on TF numbers on MICs pre March 1917, Joe had observed that:

"men with low numbers [ie original numbers rather then the five or six-digit re-numbered numbers] on their [1914 or 1914/15] Stars are soldiers who were killed, discharged, POWs, transferred or commissioned before 1st March 1917".

The bold text is mine. Surely POWs would have been renumbered wouldn't they? They were still on the regimental rolls, just as men who were missing but not officially confirmed as Killed or Died were still on the rolls. The latter were re-numbered, surely the POWs would have been as well, wouldn't they? I don't have evidence to back this up but I'm sure somebody can confirm or deny this.

Two pages later Howard notes that the TP/104 B code on William Reader's MIC indicates London and the Royal Fusiliers whereas the MIC records KRRC and 4th London Regiment. But of course, the 4th London Regiment was the 4th (City of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) and the CWGC notes that he was serving with the 2/4th Battalion when he died, even though his number - GS/84154 on the MIC, G/84154 according to CWGC - belongs not to the TF but to the regular Royal Fusiliers Regiment.

But it's a great book, and a must-have not only for Great War Medal Collectors (which I'm not, really; or at least only marginally) but for anybody with an interest in the Great War and British military history generally. I also happen to think that £50, or even £60 for that matter, is a price well worth paying for such a well produced item.

Photo courtesy of The Daily Telegraph.

The Great War Medal Collectors Companion

I've just ordered The Great War Medal Collectors Companion by Howard Williamson having seen it advertised in the most recent Dixon's Gazette (issue No. 67) and I'm really looking forward to seeing it. Apart from being a lavishly published volume, the detail it contains seems impressive. This from the book's blurb:

Medal Index Cards

•Over 1,500 MIC abbreviations and codes deciphered.
•Definitive notes on the MICs and how to read them.
•The significance of different coloured inks revealed.

Gallantry Medals

•DSO, MC, DCM and MM Gazettes, giving dates & battles covered by each gazette.
•Especially useful for MM research, linking the London Gazette date back to the bravery date.
•DCM, MC and DSO Gazette citations that omit dates & places (March 1916 - January 1919).
•List of MC and DCM recipients for 1st July 1916. Also all DCM and dated bars noted.
•A full list of escapers awarded the MM; Army Order 193 of 1919 explained and 1914 MMs noted.
•How to spot fakes e.g. MC, DSO, DFC, AFC etc as well as fake bars.
•History of the DCM League and MM Association plus Ex-Servicemen’s Association details.
•Definitive notes about the naming & renaming of medals - many examples illustrated.
•How to read & research the MM Cards, including the breakthrough use of schedule numbers.
•Detailed notes on the Somme Gazettes & the units engaged. List of VCs and where they were won.
•Documents found with gallantry groups, including divisional cards, award notifications etc.
•Chronological list of actions & battles fought in all theatres, plus indexed maps.

Campaign Medals

•Full history of each medal, including Army Orders, Army Council Instructions & award criteria.
•How & when medals were named & distributed. Packaging & accompanying documents.
•How to spot fake medals and correctly identify original ‘5th Aug-22nd Nov 1914’ bars.
•How to spot renaming. Font alphabets for 1914 & 1914/15 Trios, DCMs and MMs.

Dixons - and elsewhere - advertise the book at £60 with £10 for postage and packing. However, if you order through the National Archives' online bookshop, you can pick it up for £50 including postage and packing; quite a saving.

One minor quibble though, before I've even seen the book; all apostrophe purists know that the title should be The Great War Medal Collectors' Companion, ie the Companion belonging to Great War Medal Collectors (assuming that the book is intended for more than one medal collector that is, otherwise it would be Collector's Companion). Either way, it needs an apostrophe.

Howard's eagerly awaited book on the Military Medal, a companion to this volume, is due out in 2014. Word to the wise is, buy MMs now because once the book is published, the price of these will go up.