INTERPRETING FIRST WORLD WAR CAMPAIGN MEDAL INDEX CARDS

Although there are variants of types of card, they will all include some or all of the following information. Most of the cards contain information about campaign medals which were awarded to all those who served overseas. As the cards were completed at different times, information varies. Remember, the cards are compiled information so you should search the original rolls and associated records for more accurate details.

Information likely to be found on the cards:

• individual's name (sometimes just forename initials)
• service number/s (usually included)
• rank
• unit(s) in which the soldier served (you may have to look at the actual medal rolls to find which battalion, brigade, company or battery in which the individual served)
• enlistment date
• the first theatre of war in which they served
• date (usually only provided if it was before 1st January 1916)
• medal(s) received/entitled. Most of the cards record medal entitlement rather than the awarding of medals
• Army Medal Office Roll and issue number for each medal
• death information
• any remarks, correspondence etc. Where additional remarks are recorded on a card, you may find information on date of death, date of discharge or other remarks concerning the career or fate of the person.
•  

It’s important to note that the cards do not contain very much personal information; however, they are a vital research tool to find out more from the person’s service record - if it survives.

The medal index cards are not always easy to interpret and researchers often do not interpret the content correctly. It is important to remember the index cards only relate to soldiers who actually served overseas in operational theatres of war. If your ancestor served in the army during the First World War and you cannot find an index card for him, then he may have never served abroad. Here are some tips that will help you make sense of a card any card relating to your ancestor.

• 1 Western Europe
• 2 Balkan Theatre a) Greek Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria, b) Gallipoli and Aegean Islands
• 3 Egyptian Theatre
• 4 African Theatre British East Africa, German East Africa, Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Uganda, German South West Africa, Kamerun (Cameroon), Togoland, Caprivi Zipfel Rhodesia
• 5 Asiatic Theatre a) Mesopotamia and Bushire, b) South West Arabia, c) Aden, d) Muscat (Musquat,) e) Seistan, f) Tochi Valley, g) Hafiz, h) Katlang, Rastam and Swati, i) Landekai Ridge, j) Perim, k) Kalat, l) Katchin Hills m,) Tsing-Tau
• 6 Australasian Theatre a) German New Guinea including, b) Nauru, c) German Samoa
•  

Officers’ index cards will often give the date on which he first went overseas even if it was after the end of 1915.

The medal index cards and medal rolls refer to codes that indicate which theatre of war the soldier first served after leaving his native country after January 1916.

• 1A France and Belgium
• 1B Italy
• 2A Greek Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria or European Turkey
• 2B Gallipoli
• 3 Russia (up to July 1920)
• 4A Egypt (up to March 1916)
• 4B Egypt (from March 1916)
• 5A East Africa, Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia
• 5B South West Africa
• 5C Cameroon
• 5D Nigeria
• 5E Togoland
• 6A Hejaz
• 6B Mesopotamia
• 6C Persia
• 6D Trans-Caspian
• 6E South West Arabia
• 6F Aden
• 6G Frontier regions of India
• 6H Tsing-tau
• 7A New Britain
• 7B New Ireland
• 7C Kaiser Wilhelm land
• 7D Admiralty Islands
• 7E Nauru
• 7F German Samoa

Class Z Army Reserve

These index cards show a reference as A.R.Z. which means that the soldier was discharged to Class Z Army Reserve. This was  established in December 1918 because it was feared that Germany would not accept the terms of any peace treaty, so the War Office needed to quickly recall trained men should hostilities erupt following the armistice. Soldiers who were demobilised who had agreed on enlistment to serve “for the duration”, were posted to Class Z reserve, albeit that they returned to civvy street. It turned out that the reserve was not needed and was disbanded in March 1920.

Death in service

If a soldier died during his army service, then this was usually recorded on the index card. It often appeared as “KiA, (killed in action), “Killed” or “Dead”, DoW (died of wounds) or similar. In some cases a man’s death was officially accepted when he had been missing and presumed dead. In all cases the date is usually given. This information is vital to find details of his grave or memorial on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.

Time Expired or Terms of Engagement

Very often these two abbreviations are misinterpreted. TE or T/E usually means “Time expired” and “T of E” means “Terms of Engagement”. They apply when the soldier had reached the end of his duration of service and only applies to those enlisting in the regular army, special reserve or territorial force before the start of the war. Those with the notation TE returned to, or were retained on, active service as conscripted soldiers.

392

This designation relates to King’s Regulation 392 covering the early discharge of a soldier. There were various reasons/classes for such action and these again usually appear on the index card if they apply, together with the date when the man left the army.

Returned

An annotation such as Rtd, Retd or “Retd undisposed of”, appears on the card when medals were undelivered. Soldiers' medals were automatically sent out and if the man or his named next of kin had died or had moved, then the medals were returned to the Army Medals Office. If an error was made on the rim inscription, the soldier usually returned them for re-issue and a note to that effect could be included in the correspondence section of the card. It was normal for the Ministry of Defence not to issue medal replacements before 1920 irrespective of entitlement.

You can search for an individual medal index card online through the National Archives research guide - British Army medal index cards 1914-1918 using the form in the document. The search results are then displayed in Discovery and can then be downloaded, for which a charge may apply.

If you have a subscription to Ancestry then an online search and download is possible.

Occasionally there might not be a regimental number recorded on the card; this would happen if the soldier was or became an officer. It is worth just searching by name and regiment in such situations.

If personnel of the Royal Flying Corps did not see overseas service until 1916 or later, there may not be a medal card because the Air Ministry maintained these medal records.

Name variations or initials may present a challenge. Ranks may also have been spelt differently. Sergeant or serjeant was common when the cards were instigated. So depending upon information used in your search, you amy not be able to find a card.

If your search only reveals a Silver War badge index card, then search again for the card relating to campaign medals. The reason for this is that officers had to apply for their campaign medal - and if they did not apply, then there will not be a medal card.