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Archiver > GREATWAR > 2000-11 > 0973539352


From: Iain Kerr <>
Subject: Re: [WW1] Regiment Question
Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2000 19:35:52 +0000
In-Reply-To: <3A0654EA.C7CFBD86@konnect.net>


At 06:51 06/11/00, Patrick & Katrina Lawson wrote:
>Hi,
>
>This may seem obvious, but I'm asking just to be certain. I have a
>person listed in the Canadian Book of Remembrance (W.W.I p. 593) with
>the following information:
>
>2/Lt. Rounsefell, Eric de Wolf, M.C. Leins. R., B.E.F.
>
>Now, I know what a 2nd Lieutenant is, and I'm familiar with the Military
>Cross. But I'm a little uncertain about the Regiment. Is this
>"Leicestershire"? If not, then which regiment is this?
>
>I'd dearly love to find out what Eric did to get the MC.
>
>Thank you for any enlightenment you can provide.

Katrina,

During WWI, The Prince of Wales Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) raised
a total of seven battalions, based on the two regular and one reserve
battalion which existed in August 1914. These battalions were awarded a
total of 32 battle honours and four Victoria Crosses were won by its
officers and men. The regiment lost a total of 1,980 casualties during the
Great War.

On 31 Jul 1922, on the creation of the Irish Free State, in common with
five other Irish infantry regiments of the British Army, the Prince of
Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) was disbanded.

There is no specific British museum dedicated to the Irish infantry
regiments. The best sources are:


National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HT; Phone:
(0171) 730 01717; Fax: (0171) 823 6573; Web page at:
http://www.failte.com/nam/ Five centuries of the history of the Armies of
Britain, including the Indian Army up to independence in 1948. Medals
paintings, insignia and weapons. A gallery shows some of the 20,000
uniforms. Reference collection available to researchers.

Military Cross Citations

In World War I some 37,000 MCs, 3,000 with one bar, 170 with two bars and
four with three bars were issued. Since 1921, some 11,400 MCs, and some
532 with one bar have been issued.

Awards of the MC were published in the Supplements to The London Gazette
(the official newspaper of the UK Government) for the WWI years. The
Supplement is used to announce all awards of honours and medals for
gallantry etc. It still is, and is the source of the extracts published
today in The Times and The Daily Telegraph, here in UK. Archived copies of
the London Gazette may be found in major reference libraries in the UK
including the PRO, the Guildhall Library, London and the Newspaper Library
(part of the British Library).

In the main, MC awards were merely listed, in The London Gazette with no
citation. From 1915 onwards, some citations were published in The London
Gazette. For some reason, most in the early part of 1918 were published
with citations. If it wasn't published in the LG, you have very little
chance of tracking it, as it seems that most of the citations (of the
40,000 or so awarded between 1914-20) do not appear to have been retained.

The London Gazette Indexes for the war years are on open shelves at the
Public Record Office, Kew. If you are lucky, the index entry will take
you to a lengthy citation; if you're not, it will simply take you to a list
of names.

Yours aye,

Iain Kerr
In Windsor, Berkshire
Web Page at: http://home.clara.net/iainkerr/index.htm
RootsWeb Sponsor Listowner for the KERR; McTURK and SOUTHON lists and the
WORLDWAR2 list.
Maintainer of the Ayrshire Surnames Index Database at:
http://home.clara.net/iainkerr/genuki/AYR/SID/indexsid.htm
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