09 April 2022

Medals to two generations of the same family

These are three more medal that came to me from RSL Care SA. I was a little bit confused at the start of this research, despite the surname on all the medals are the same the initials are different. My confusion was trying to make the connection between the two individuals.

The oldest medal is the Imperial Service Medal (1st type) named to JJ Gould. The other two medals are the 1914-15 Star and the Victory Medal awarded to Lieutenant R E Gould, RFA. I enlisted the help of the experts on the British Medal Forum who assisted me to correctly identify the ISM and who it was awarded to. The recipient of the ISM was Joseph James Gould. This is the London Gazette entry for the award of this medal.

Additional clarifying information  provided to me was:
'Of the 1906 awards [ISM] in 1906, 40 went to people working in various departments of the War Office, including the Royal Arsenal and of these 39 were to men and one to a woman. It is most likely the he had completed, at least, 25 years service in, or around 1906, and it is likely to be a retirement award, hence his age about 65.'

The two WWI medals were awarded to LT Ralph Edmond Gould RFA .

Having all the names was the key which led to the current generation. Via an Ancestry family tree I've been in contact with the great great grandson of Ralph and 4 x great grandson of Joseph. Timing is everything and this family will be in Canberra next week and I'll be able to hand them the medals.

Thank you so much to Andrew, Damon and Radal from the BMF whose knowledge and skills significantly assisted this research. The returned medal tally is now 2735.








No comments:

Post a Comment