Historic Records Men of 1914

Arrived Overseas: 14 October 1914. Connection: Victory Medal. Years ago I swore I'd never buy a single medal that had been disunited from its group. But I was young[er] and foolish then, and have since bought hundreds of single medals, and even re-united a couple. For those starting out on their medal collecting hobby, and even for grizzled old hoarders like me, the Victory Medal from the 1914-1918 War can offer hours of researching pleasure for a very modest investment and, besides which, like all British designed medals - and perhaps some from other countries too - it's an object of aesthetic beauty. This particular Victory Medal, which cost me £28 in March 2022, was once owned and earned by 54571 Gunner Edward Brown of the Royal Field Artillery. He'd joined the regiment on the 20th January 1909 under his real name of Milward, deserted in 1910, and then almost immediately re-joined under the alias of Brown. He served overseas with IV Bde RFA in the 7th (Meerut) Division f...

Arrived overseas: 30 November 1914 Connection: Victory Medal Lachlan Carruthers's regimental number with the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders suggests that he joined the regiment in July or August 1913. In the normal course of events he'd have trained for a while with the home battalion (which was the 2nd Battalion) before being posted overseas to the 1st Battalion which was stationed in India. However, war in 1914 changed all that. The home-based 2nd Battalion landed at Boulogne on the 14th August, whilst the 1st Battalion was recalled from India, arriving at Plymouth on the 19th November. Lachlan was probably part of an advance party with the 1st Battalion as it did not fully embark until the 20th December. There is no surviving service record for Lachlan Carruthers but we know that he was wounded twice as his name appears in casualty lists published on the 31st January 1915 and again on the 26th May 1915. On both occasions he was wounded whilst serving with the 1st Battal...