OT George Medal Winners

Bloody hard to find info on the GM winners - I've had a look for the
past couple of hours and nada.
Perhaps an email to No 10, or whoever keeps the lists - there must be a
list somewhere, just not on the net.

On the gov't site there's a mention of a couple of people who deal with
current awards; they might know something about historical ones.

"The full citation for the George Medal is attached. More information
about this award and fuller details of the Commendations can be obtained
as follows: Eliza Ward - Executive Information Service (Tel no: 028 905
23336) Stephen John Brown - Home Office Press Office (Tel no: 020 7273
4610) Scott McKenna - Department of the Environment, Transport and the
Regions Press Office (Tel no: 020 7944 3150)"

 

Reserve and Stiff Upper Lip, old chap.

 

Dave Emerson wrote;

Oh dear oh dear oh dear. You've done it now.

 

DOes the online archive of the London Gazette not include the citations? I
know all military galantry awards are contained there, but they can be a
little difficult to navigate.

 

Grimly Curmudgeon wibbled:

London Gazette?

 

Oh sod off. <grin> I didn't realise. I'm slightly surprised their archives
don't have anything.

Ali

 

Bad form I know, but yes the online London Gazette archive does include
George Medal awards, however the archive search is lousy. If someone with
more time and patience than me wants to try, the search page is here:
http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/archiveSearch.asp?WebType=0

Cheers

 

My Godfather was in the army based on Malta. He said that at one time an
American unit turned-up and complained a lot about the endless
bombardment. When asked why they were not lending a hand fixing stuff
after one raid they replied that there were not moving until the
ice-cream machine arrived. A few weeks later the Americans got shifted
off to North Africa.

 

Less than surprisingly, the logistics problems involved in supplying
the US troops were immens. They would get through five times the
daily ration of a Wehrmacht soldier, and more than twice that of a
British soldier. That's why they always had gum, chocolate and
cigars, for example. The soft cunts.

 

I recall some wartime writer drawing a comparison between the American
Forces and the Soviets in just such a matter. He observed the US QM
stores being unloaded after the invading troops had departed inland and
saw a multitude of things in the cargo, including dentists' chairs.
Fair enough, a fighting army needs to be looked after, and if the
resources are available, then fine.

When he was in Russia, otoh, the supplies for the troops consisted of
guns, guns, guns, and ammo, ammo, ammo. The average Russian troop wasn't
expected to survive long enough to need dental care, I suppose.

 

They needed trade goods, of course. Pa swapped a case of Scotch for a
million cigarettes during his time in Italy. Not sure where he liberated the
whisky from. He also laced cheap white wine with Epsom salts and sold it to
the Septics as champagne. Resourceful, yer average squaddie, and the British
Army has always been superb at foraging and improvisation. Oh, and then
there were the cases of lemons he managed to ship home, and the obligatory
parachutes. Him being a paratrooper, and all.

He captured an Italian at one point, who turned out to be a decent cook. The
man travelled with them all over Italy till they got close to Cassino, at
which point he decided a POW camp was safer. In 1950, my parents went to the
Ligurian Riviera on holiday - the waiter in the cafe seized my Pa, hugged
him, and uttered glad cries of "Sergeant McIntosh!" Turned out to be said
cook: parents were not allowed to pay for a damn thing the rest of the trip.

Ali