Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Great War on The Wartime Memories Project Website

Add Information to Record of a Person who served during the Great War on The Wartime Memories Project Website





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233733

Sgt. Joseph Henry Joel MM.

British Army 1st Btn. Royal Fusiliers

from:Harrow

Joseph Joel served with the 1st Btn. Royal Fusiliers during the Great War. My Grandfather appears to have been in various battalions of The Royal Fusiliers over the years.

He was in the1st Battalion for Tibet in 1903-4 and by 1911, he was definitely in the 2nd Battalion in India for the 1911 Census.

He got married to my Grandmother in Colchester on 1 Dec 1914, so it looks like he returned to England earlier than the rest of the 2nd Battalion

His medal card shows that his first theatre of war was France and he arrived there 1st June 1915. (The dates indicate that he was probably in 8th Battalion after he returned from India) which is backed up by his record card which shows a discharge date of 5th Dec 1918 as a Sgt and his unit is showing as 8/R. Fus

My Grandfather was awarded the MM. Whilst we have found the entry in the London Gazette where the MM was awarded, we haven't yet found the citation.

It appears in the London Gazette dated 19th March 1918 (published on 15th March 1918). A very brief entry on page 3465. If anyone could help me track down the corresponding citation I would be hugely indebted to you.

Additional Information:

Joseph Henry Joel who served in 1 Bn, 2 Bn, and 8 Bn, Royal Fusiliers. There is a Supplement to The London Gazette dated 19 Mar 1918 which states,   ‘L/7510 Sgt J. H. Joel, R Fus (Deptford)’  recording the award of the MM which was in 1917 at Cambrai. Charles Messenger’s book Brief But Glorious published in 2007 confirms this, listing my grandfather’s award of the MM (page 169). L/7510 L/Sgt Joel J. H. 30/11/17 Cambrai (LG 15/3/18) The museum says: There are no surviving citations for the Military Medal.   The London Gazette of 19/03/1918 contains awards of the Military Medal mainly for the operations at Cambrai in November 1917. Our grandfather’s award isn’t mentioned in either 8Bn’s or the Divisional War Diary in 1917 but there is an entry in 8Bn’s War Diary on 11/01/1918: ‘Twelve NCOs and men awarded Military Medals (or bars) for distinguished conduct during the Cambrai battle’. A researcher was only able to identity 11 men from 8Bn in that Gazette but all of the evidence points to our grandfather as being one of the ‘Twelve’ men from the War Diary.    8Bn appears to have been in action on 20th, 24th and 30th November and the award could have been for any of these actions, (subsequently proven as 30 Nov 2017). Gerry Chandler, Stoney Stratton 8 Dec 2022 @ 2053.

Gerald Chandler








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