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Post by David Cochrane on Feb 3, 2016 3:30:29 GMT
The only indication of 1945 that I've come across was the VC/GC entry (I misspoke earlier - the book said 1945, while the Gazette said 1946). That kind of large-scale ordnance disposal went on for quite a while after the War was over, so either year seems possible to me.
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Post by anthony on Feb 4, 2016 1:51:07 GMT
Either year seems possible so it would be interesting to see when 1945 first appeared in print. I am away from my library at present and wonder what the date was in Sir John Smyth's The Story of the George Cross.
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Post by David Cochrane on Feb 4, 2016 22:56:36 GMT
His book says 1946 - but then it also lists Hav Abdul Rehman's action as 1945.
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Post by anthony on Feb 6, 2016 1:16:30 GMT
Agreed. Dinwoodie's award was published with full details including the year 1946 whereas Abdul Rehman's gazette notice contained no details and no date. The other difference was that the allies were in Germany in August 1945 but the Indian Army was in Burma in February 1945.
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Post by David Cochrane on Feb 9, 2016 22:58:30 GMT
Yes, either 1945 or 1946 seems like a possible year given the kind of work they were doing - I'm sure disposing of all of that ordnance took a very long time - but are you saying that the date for Hav Abdul Rehman was actually 1945 (as the recommendation states) and not 1946, as many current references claim?
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Post by anthony on Feb 10, 2016 12:02:33 GMT
The year for Hav Abdul Rehman was 1946. The British Indian Army was nowhere near the Netherlands East Indies until after the Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945.
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Post by David Cochrane on Feb 17, 2016 21:33:06 GMT
This is still a work in progress - biographical details and even pictures are very hard to track down in these cases (birthdates are still blank for a few of them, while others are estimates based on their reported ages at the time) - but here is a portrait gallery for Canadian CV recipients:  (A brief note of explanation: for a time after the three armed services were unified into the CF, everyone used army-style ranks; this is why the three sailors listed all have Army instead of Navy ranks, although if you look at tombstones or the memorial at Stadacona, all three are referred to by Navy ranks!) |
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Post by David Cochrane on Feb 17, 2016 21:48:24 GMT
One question: why, if the Australian CV was established in 1975, was Constable Pratt awarded the GC for an act that occurred in 1976?
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Post by David Cochrane on Feb 22, 2016 21:19:07 GMT
Have now gotten hold of recommendations for Lt Foster, Maj Biggs & S/Sgt Rogerson. The Word file on the first page of this thread has been updated to include them.
One note on the Biggs/Rogerson recommendation: like the lengthy group citations for incidents like the Tholthorpe crash, Lubeck disposal, Blackpool robbery etc., it served to illustrate the deeds of several people, recommended for different decorations. Unlike those other citations, however, each paragraph dealt with one man and one man only, describing his actions during the whole ordeal. It seemed to me as though each section was intended to be taken separately rather than as part of a whole, like those other citations were; for that reason, I've only included the first four paragraphs rather than the whole, as those were the ones to describe Maj Biggs' & S/Sgt Rogerson's deeds.
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