WWI medal Query

[ozgirl]

I have found the medal card for OH's grandfather - http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/12...l=ReturnRecord (Ivan Quanstrom b 1894 Eastbourne)

He only seems to have qualified for the victory medal. Does this mean that he was not sent abroad? Also trying to work out which part of the RFA he was in, according to what I can see, he was in the 159th brigade. However this one seems to have come from Glasgow and he came from Eastbourne, and lived there all his life - doesn't make much sense to me! He was born in 1894 and would have been old enough to join up right from the start.

[Guest]

http://www.1914-1918.net/rfa_units.htm this might help explain it

[ozgirl]

Thanks Val, I had a look at those pages, but it hasn't helped much - maybe it's me! I can find reference to the CLVIX brigade (Shouldn't it be CLIX?) which seems to be the 159th, which was part of the 35th Division. Again this says the CLVIXth is in Glasgow, and also says that the brigade is made up of Bantams, or men under the regulation height of 5' 3". According to OH his Grandfather although not very tall, was definitely taller than that.

[Guest]

looks like it may have been Cheshire

The 159th (Cheshire) Brigade was a formation of the British Army during the First ...1/4th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment; 1/5th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment (until ...

[keldon]

I read it that he also received the British Medal: do = ditto

[ozgirl]

Oh Phil , you could be right - I read it as No not "do". Duh - I tell you I'm definitely not with it today! Val, I'll have a look at that Cheshire Regiment, (though it's still a bit far from Sussex)

[AntonyM]

That medal index card show he qualified for the Victory Medal, and the British War Medal. For that he must have served overseas in a theatre of war (with only a couple of exceptions).

The Reference (TF)RFA159/B refers to the document number of the medal roll itself, not necessarily the 159th Brigade (but probably does).

Looking at the entry in the medal roll at Kew http://discovery.nationalarchives.go...s?uri=C4435293) may give a unit/battery number that he served with, which will then allow you look at the relevant war diary (presumably this one http://discovery.nationalarchives.go...s?uri=C7353942 ) which should give some detail about where he may have served.

The 159th Brigade of the RFA was part of the 35th Division, which went to France in early 1916 (which would be why he doesn't have a 14 or 14/15 star). The "Bantam" units in the 35th would probably only refer to the infantry battalions, not necessairly the artillery units. The 159th RFA (CLIX) was raised in Glasgow in 1915, but that doesn't necessarily mean all the men joined there, or came from there.

[ozgirl]

Thanks Antony, I had just found another page on a different forum which also says that about the Medal Roll Number. Thanks very much for the info and the links, makes more sense to me now!

[Diana Fronaeus]

Sounds like you have some Swedish relatives in you family. Quanstrom is very swedish. Spells in Swedish Qvarn or Kvarn stöm. Mening a mill by the stream.
My grandfather have the also three registrations nr. And it seems like he was in a speciell unit... the gunners. The B after means the brigade. I tried to get a hang of it as I went along.
If you take a look in my photobox, you will se a simular indexcard for my grandfather. The nr upp in the left corner is hes registration nr. This nr is on the box front side where his medal is.

http://s160.photobucket.com/user/diana_fronaeus/media/f637e422-97e0-4ca7-a48f-088427d2516b_zps203bac68.jpg.html?state=copy

I think the had a funny name for those..pip, squek and something ells.
Diana

[grumpy]

They were called Pip,Squeak and Wilfred after a British newspaper strip cartoon. Why I don't know.:o

[AntonyM]

Sounds like you have some Swedish relatives in you family. Quanstrom is very swedish. Spells in Swedish Qvarn or Kvarn stöm. Mening a mill by the stream.
My grandfather have the also three registrations nr. And it seems like he was in a speciell unit... the gunners. The B after means the brigade. I tried to get a hang of it as I went along.
If you take a look in my photobox, you will se a simular indexcard for my grandfather. The nr upp in the left corner is hes registration nr. This nr is on the box front side where his medal is.

http://s160.photobucket.com/user/diana_fronaeus/media/f637e422-97e0-4ca7-a48f-088427d2516b_zps203bac68.jpg.html?state=copy

I think the had a funny name for those..pip, squek and something ells.
Diana

Gunner is his rank -i.e. he was a private in the RFA (Royal Field Artillery).

The number in the box is the reference to the page in the Medal roll. The black numbers (which are dates) on the right show replacement medals were issued in 1963.

When soldiers received the 3 standard campaign medals for WW1, - the 14 or 14/15 star, the war medal and the victory medal, the set of three was often known as Pip, Squeak and Wilfred. When they only had the 2 - the war medal and the victory medal, they were sometimes called Mutt & Jeff. Both nicknames were derived from comic characters of the time.

[Diana Fronaeus]

Thank you Anthony. This I didn´t know.
Diana

[ozgirl]

Hi Diana, yes Ivans' father was born Carl Qvarnström, but later anglicised the name. Carl was born in St Petersburg, Russia, around 1850 and came to England we think sometime in the 1880's. Unfortunately we have not been able to find out anything about the family in St Petersburg so he is one of my big brick walls!

[Diana Fronaeus]

Are you sure he was born in Russia? Qvarnström is a Scandinavian name, and if he spells it like that, I am pretty shore it is from Sweden. The O with two dots over it says so. Sweden use to have a lot of business going on in St: Petersburg by that time. And they where at war with them several times. When war ended some of the soldiers staid behind. That's why we still can find villages in the eastern part that still speak old, old Swedish.
Best regards
Diana