Medals Found A J Down 5253

[sue15]

Hello
I am trying to trace any information about Alfred James Down no 5253 who served as a regular soldier through World War 1. His medals along with his meritorous service medal have been found by police. It seems they were recovered along with other property possibly stolen from a garden shed.

It seems tragic to me that these medals have not been claimed to my knowledge as no one knows who the descendants are. As a family history researcher i would very much like to trace the descendants so that the medals can be preserved and cared for by the family.

AJ Down was mentioned in despatches about three times - his rank in 1918 seems to have been Quartermaster Sergeant (forgive me I am not a military person) and may have been commissioned later.

I am trying to trace more of his service record to get a date of birth for him, a death, any idea of marriage etc in order to find his descendants.

Please can any one help

Kind regards

Sue

[Aled Roberts]

Anyone with a connection to the RWF museum ????

Down A.J. 5253 RQMS

Born in Newport, CQMS Alfred James Down served with the 1st Bn he embark
ed for France 4/10/14 then in the fighting at Langemarck suffered shrapnel wound to shoulder and admitted 22 Fld/Amb.

Promoted RQMS he was Mentioned in Dispatches from Gen. Sir Douglas Haig, and awarded the Bronze Medal for Military Valor (Savoy) before embarking with the battalion for Italy for the Austro/Hungarian campaign, where for his valuable service was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal.

Was commissioned Lt QM (19/5/18) to the regiment. Retired 21/6/19. His Medal Group consisting of 1914 Star/Bar BWM VM MSM and LSGC I thought were held in the Regimental Museum

MSM (LG 3/6/18).
MiD (LG 15/6/16).
Bronze Medal (LG 26/5/17).

[Aled Roberts]

I have just telephoned the museum, will let you know the outcome.

[Aled Roberts]

The museum have confirmed that these medals should be held by them.

They will check to see if they still have them.

Sue - it is possible this might be a renamed set or duplicates held by the Police. Are you able to supply any information as to the PC investigating etc ?

Richard

[sue15]

Dear Richard
Thank you for replying

http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/content/twm/news/story.aspx?brand=Westonmercury&category=news&tBrand=westonmercury&tCategory=znews&itemid=WeED27%20Mar%202009%2010%3A08%3A47%3A837

This link tells you about the medals being found. Having seen it I thought it a shame for them to be left in limbo. The only information is Crimestoppers. It never occurred to be they may be duplicates- I had no idea you could have duplicated medals.

I feel a bit silly now - but if the museum has the originals then it seems pointless tracing the descendants. If not - they will know where to find the medals.

Please let me know what the result is

Sue

[Aled Roberts]

Sue

I wouldn't feel silly at all, you have done the right thing !

Looking at the medals, they show a 1914-15 star, British War Medal, Allied Victory medal & long service good conduct.

The medals of Alfred James Down RWF consist of 1914 Star & Bar British War Medal, Allied Victory medal & long service good conduct & Meritorious Service Medal.

This would lead me to conclude that these medals belong to another A J Down ? Where did you pull the service number from ? Was this from the Police ?

Regards

Richard

[sue15]

I found the regimental number from the medal cards on Ancestry. There was only one A J Down listed - made a fatal assumption I think there.

I also checked on the National Archives and they only have one A J Down. What I had not considered is if they had abbreviated the name to fit on the medal. My train of thought was A J Down on medal A J Down on records.

i assumed the long service medal and the MSM were the same.

I am sorry for wasting everyone's time.

Sue

[sue15]

Hi
I should add that I believed the National Archive medal cards to be complete whereas Ancestry have about 700,000 more to load- or so I have been advised. This is why I checked both

I cannot find any varient of A J Down eg Arthur J, Alfred J etc. How likely would it be that the medal card would given one christian name and surname and the medal would have two initials and the surname?

As long as the museum still has the originals I will put this down to experience - perhaps just stick to family history!

Thanks for your help
Sue

[Aled Roberts]

I would have made the same assumption using just ancestry :radar: A point to note is Ancestry do not have all the MICs uploaded.

The museum will be calling me at 4pm after a visual check - so hopefully we can rule out them being missing!

What they wont be able to do today is open the case to check the naming on the medals they hold. If they have good eyesight they may be able to confirm if the LSGC is named or not.

I will give crimestoppers a ring tonight to see if I can get some better pictures and further details from the medals.

We can take it from there - certainly not a waste of time !

I have just checked the Nation Archives and found a few more contenders though there may be more.

Medal card of Down, Albert J
Corps: Royal Engineers
Regiment No: 11267
Rank: Corporal...

Medal card of Down, Arthur J
Corps: Army Service Corps
Regiment No: M2/227342
Rank: Private

Medal card of Down, Arthur J
Corps: Royal Field Artillery
Regiment No: 75499
Rank: Corporal...

Medal card of Down, Alfred J
Corps: Coldstream Guards
Regiment No: 8929
Rank: Private

So your mission is still on !

Richard

[sue15]

Thank you for the list of possible names - it gives me an insight also into how much is not on ancestry. Its going to take some time to work through these - but I will certainly give it a crack.

LSGC medal- how many years service would be required. Would most recipients be NCO level?

If you could advise any additional information from the medals from Crimestoppers I would be very obliged.

Finally in the unlikely event the medals are belonging to the Museum-I would be pleased to leave it to you to sort out- but would you let me know - just to avoid searching for all the A J Down's in WW1.

Thanks

Sue

[Aled Roberts]

Hi Sue

I phoned Crimestoppers, unfortunately they were no help at all !

They suggested that the local police, who hold them, would be best placed to ask.

Are you able to give them a ring? or the newspaper ?

Richard

[sue15]

I contacted the Weston Mercury about the medals last week but have had no reply as yet.

Perhaps it would be an idea to wait to see what the museum reports. If the medals are there - then these are either duplicates or belonging to another person. At least there would be some clarity.

I see from the Avon & Somerset website that they have an email facility so this could be tried if all else fails. As I live abroad this method is better

Thanks again

Sue