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209001Pte. Richard Marson
British Army 8th Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps
from:Birmingham
Richard Marson was my grandfather, he was bateman to Second Lieutenant Philip Henriques. Philip Henriques was killed 24/7/1915 and is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium. He was the son of Sir Philip and Lady Henriques. Sir Philip was then, I believe, The Lord Chief Justice of England. I was told by my father that my Grandfather retreived his body from no man's land and returned his belongings to his parents. I still have the letter sent to my grandfather from Sir Philip thanking him for the part he played, and for writing to him and telling him his son was a brave English Gentleman. Sir Philip asked my grandfather to visit him when he was home on leave so that he could give him a gift to show his thanks, but my grandfather never did visit him at his home.
One thing I have never understood was why my grandfather did not receive the British Medal only the Victory Medal as he was obviously in Belgium and France in 1915
Additional Information:
You may have become aware of this but if not; Your grandfather received both the British War Medal and Victory Medal which were recorded on the same Medal Roll. I think what you are querying is why he apparently was not awarded a 1914-15 Star and I can confirm that indeed he did.Normally these entitlements would have been noted on the same medal card. In the case of Richard Marson his name was misspelt Harson on the original Medal Index Card (MIC). Clearly the Record Office could not find this MIC and so a separate card was created in the correct name Marson. Amongst medal collectors/WW1 enthusiasts this is sometimes known as a split MIC. You will find both cards on sites such as Ancestry with the different spellings. This error does not appear to have been uncovered as the different spellings are on the resulting medal rolls and the medals would have been issued to your grandfather with the incorrect spelling. There is no indication that the 1914-15 was ever amended.
I was interested to read his story. My great-uncle served with the 8th battalion and was killed in action with them on 02/06/1916. I have been researching the battalion for a number of years and have visited 2/Lt Henriques' grave in Lijssenthoek a number of times.
Mike Shingleton
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