WW1 Medals Cards

[yappie]

Good morning to our Military Genies. Revisiting my Great Uncle Patrick Ruddy's (56066) Medal card it appears that he was awarded medals but these were crossed out and there is a comment in the "remarks" column which I do not understand. Does this mean that they were not awarded. He died on the Somme 15 March 1917 in a mine explosion. I have the details of his death and a photograph from a Bootle newspaper which Katie very kindly sent me some years ago. Your advice will be gratefully received. yappie

[Bertieone]

Yappie,

It appears he was Convicted of Desertion and an application was re-submitted for the medals.
A line through Convicted of Desertion on the Medal card suggests he was awarded the medals.

[yappie]

Bertieone - thank you so much for such a quick response. Would there be any record of his desertion I wonder. I do have a copy of the War Diary is it possible the reason would be recorded there. yappi

[Bertieone]

Yappie,

I was thinking Court Martial records, the only one I could find that's a possible,

Ancestry, UK Naval & Military Court Martial Register

Name:
P Ruddy
Court or Trial Date:
2 Feb 1916
Court or Trial Place:
Rees Heath
Regiment:
Liverpool
Reference Number:
WO 86/70

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/ss ... rs&h=65847

There might be a transcription error, it might be Prees Heath Camp
http://thegreatwar.whitchurch-shropshir ... eath-camp/

On the Medal Card, the Conviction date was 8-7-1916, I don't know if it would take that long from the trial date to convict?

Fold 3
https://www.fold3.com/choose-a-plan/?iid=1887

[daggers]

The time lag might be between the date of sentence by the court and the confirmation by a higher authority.
I agree that Prees Heath is the probable location.

Daggers

[Bertieone]

The time lag might be between the date of sentence by the court and the confirmation by a higher authority
Daggers

Yes, a reasonable assumption.

[yappie]

HI Bertieone & Daggers - Have had trouble trying to sign in to Fold3. Finally managed to sign in for a 7 day free trial but cannot access the document unless I take out Premium Membership. Fold3 is part of Ancestry and as I already have Ancestry World I am reluctant to pay more as I am not convinced it is my Patrick. Would he have been convicted of desertion in this country if he was already in France? In 1911 He was in Birkdale Industrial School and was probably enlisted from there. Strange that his siblings were either Dock Labourers of the MN. yappie

[Bertieone]

Yappie,

Considering they had Field Court Martials I think it would be unlikely the above P Ruddy would have been brought back from France, for what appears to have been a minor offence (WO86)

The 12th were in France on the trial date, unfortunately there doesn't appear to be any records available to suggest Patrick was with them. He may have joined up with them later.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/path ... artial.htm

[MaryA]

Fold3 is part of Ancestry and as I already have Ancestry World I am reluctant to pay more

You aren't alone in feeling this way there have been a lot of complaints about it. Personally I feel its very cheeky of them to add on an extra subscription on top of the charges we already pay. Fold3 isn't available even on the top subscription rate of Ancestry.