May I say how delighted (and staggered) I am to have found my Grandad in the Delhi Durbar March Past?
It started with research into my great-uncle (61168 Arthur Williams, 17 Bn., captured at St. Quentin, 22.3.1918). He was my Grandad's brother-in-law and I knew him very well. He was a lovely, lovely bloke.
While researching him I stumbled across Issy Smith V.C., which started me off in another direction, and I managed to clear up the misunderstanding about his Russian medal, which, it turns out, wasn't awarded for anything he did in Mesopotamia. (A great deal about Issy, though, remains a mystery).
When I saw that Issy had received the Durbar Medal, it jogged my memory. I recalled my father mentioning that his father had also had one. Thanks to this site, I found the name of Richard Reeve, 1st Manchesters, on the list. I couldn't believe my eyes.
He was a very fierce-looking bloke, and I was always rather frightened of him, which was a pity. He died when I was about ten, so I never got chance to talk to him about much; it was great-uncle Arthur's reminiscences that started my interest in the War.
I knew that Grandad had been in The Great War, but no other details at all. I had no idea that he'd been in India and was, presumably, a regular. He's listed in the 1901 Census as being 14 and living in Salford, and his occupation was "Cloth Sample Boy", whatever that was.
I'm so grateful for the info. If anyone can add anything I'd be delighted.
