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Archiver > GREATWAR > 2005-04 > 1114517637


From: "John Wilson" <>
Subject: British WWI Medal Index/Records
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 00:13:57 +1200


Re British WWI records from another list - John Wilson

> Subject: Medal Index
>
>
> A while back there was a discussion concerning the WWI Medal index that
> the Ministry of Defence in the UK were planning to destroy. Below is an
> article that appeared in the latest RootsWeb Review for those that do not
> subscribe to it.
> >
> > 1a. Editor's Desk: Saving the UK's WWI Medal Index Cards
> >
> > The Ministry of Defence (MoD) in England had planned to destroy more
> > than 5.5 million records that are valuable to genealogists. However, a
> > grassroots effort formed to stop the destruction apparently has been
> > successful.
> >
> > These World War I medal index cards were compiled in the 1920s to issue
> > campaign medals and contain soldiers' basic military details and medals
> > awarded. The fronts of these cards have been photographed and saved on
> > microfiche, but they contain only limited details. Many of the cards
> > have more information on the backs -- information that has never been
> > microfilmed. In addition, the quality of the microfilms is marginal;
> > some cards are not readable on the films, but the original cards are
> > easily readable when viewed in person.
> >
> > Although the fronts of the cards have been microfiched by the National
> > Archives and digitized versions of them can be searched at
> > http://www.documentsonline.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ experts believe
> > the information on the backs of many of them -- such as the addresses to
> > which the medals were sent -- should be preserved. Such information
> > could help researchers to identify the right serviceman.
> >
> > The Ministry of Defence has put on hold plans to dispose of the cards
> > after receiving thousands of e-mails and letters demanding that the MoD
> > and the National Archives preserve them. The Medal Index Cards are the
> > only complete record of all the UK soldiers who served in World War I --
> > around 40 per cent of service records were destroyed by German bombing
> > during World War II.
> >
> > The MoD has now received offers to adopt the cards. A key offer has come
> > from the Western Front Association (WFA), a WWI-focused charity. The WFA
> > has funds to move and store the records for a year while it seeks a
> > suitable public location for them. It is in the process of applying to
> > adopt the majority of the cards and has the support of the National
> > Archives in this move. The Imperial War Museum has agreed to take on the
> > records of women who served.
> >
> > In response to an editorial campaign in the UK-focused "Your Family
> > Tree" magazine, the "Daily Mail" newspaper ran a story on the
> > destruction of the records on 16 March, and the editor reports that they
> > been contacted by press from as far away as New Zealand. More
> > information about the magazine can be found at
> > http://www.yourfamilytreemag.co.uk/
> >
> > For more details on the Western Front Association and its fund-raising
> > campaign for these valuable records, see http://www.westernfront.co.uk/
> > The National Archives website is at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
> >
> > REPRINTS. Permission to reprint articles from RootsWeb Review is granted
> > unless specifically stated otherwise, provided: (1) the reprint is used
> > for non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) the following notice
> > appears at the end of the article: Previously published in RootsWeb
> > Review: 27 April 2005, Vol. 8, No. 17.
> > * * * *

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