Researching Medal Recipients at the Royal Artillery Museum Library


Medals as symbols of service are a fascinating subject in their own right but, fortuitously since 1815, most British medals have been inscribed with the name of the person to whom they were awarded, giving at least details of their regiment if not the all-important service number. This personalisation provides the genealogist with an excellent starting point for further information-gathering. It must be remembered that this avenue of research is by no means solely restricted to the medals themselves as any paperwork, letters, official forms, scrolls, Great War Memorial Plaques, or the empty cardboard medal boxes, packets and tubes that the items were delivered in can all open the door to further research. Providing just a photograph for the trained eye to scrutinise can also lead to more information.

Medals and associated ephemera research falls into three categories; awards for campaign service, gallantry and Orders of Chivalry. These can be further subdivided into historical periods and the periods related to the award of medals which are researchable at Firepower's Library are as follows:

Napoleonic 1800-1815           
Pre-Victorian 1816-1836
Victorian 1837-1901
Pre-First World War 1902-1913
The First World War 1914-1918       
Between the wars 1919-1939
The Second World War 1939-1945
Modern 1946-1982


Medal Rolls contain the entries for individual soldiers and were compiled as checklists to ensure that men were issued with the correct medal and, where appropriate, the correct campaign clasp or clasps. The campaign medal rolls for members of the Royal Regiment that can be found at the Royal Artillery Library are:

The Military General Service Medal 1793-1814       
Waterloo
The Army of India Medal 1799-1826           
China 1842
South Africa 1853                       
Canada 1866-1870
Abyssinia 1867-1868                   
Afghan War 1878-1880
India General Service Medal 1854-1895 for the Clasps : Umbeyla, Bhootan, Perak
South Africa Medal 1877-1879
The Boer War 1898-1902 Medal Roll for 38th Battery Royal Field Artillery
Campaign Service Medal 1962- date, the clasp Dhofar

Information relating to medal entitlement for soldiers serving between 1914-1919 can also be provided.

The RA Library holds the Medal Rolls for the following gallantry medals:

The Victoria Cross                   
The George Cross
The Distinguished Service Order           
The Military Cross 1914-1918
The Distinguished Conduct Medal 1914-1920, 1939-1992
The George Medal                   
The Military Medal

The library can also provide London Gazette dates for awards of Mentioned in Dispatches 1939-1945

Please note that whilst the Library holds a list of those awarded the above gallantry awards, it is not always possible to provide the citation.

The Library holds the Medal Cards providing the London Gazette award date for the following Orders of Chivalry bestowed during World War Two:

GCB    Knight Grand Cross The Most Honourable Order of The Bath
KCB    Knight Commander The Most Honourable Order of The Bath
CB      Companion of The Most Honourable Order of The Bath
GCMG Knight Grand Cross of The Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George
KCMG Knight Commander of The Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George
CMG   Companion of The Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George
GBE    Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
KBE    Knight of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
CBE    Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
OBE    Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
MBE    Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire


Details of officers and soldiers of the Royal Regiment of Artillery killed in World War One and soldiers killed in World War Two are also available. Typically providing name, rank, number, place of birth, domicile and enlistment, date and theatre of death, and whether recorded as Killed in Action, Died of wounds, Died or Drowned