New member interested in John Thomas Hughes 1/5 Battalion

[5ploughwin]

Hello
My Grandfather John Thomas Hughes was a  CSM in 1/5 Manchester regiment.

I have some information on him but would be delighted to find out more.
He was at the Gallipoli campaign and was shot and wounded on 11 May 1915.
He returned home on HMS Delta and was in and out of a few hospitals.
He died some years later of complications which arose from his wound.

I have a discharge document which lists his service as 17 years in the territorial s and 1 year and some days in service abroad.
It says he is entitled to a long service medal and I am curious what other medals, if any, he is also entitled to.
What I don't have however, is his service number and would welcome any advice on how to discover this.

Hope someone can help.

Regards
 

[timberman]

Hi 5ploughwin
Welcome to the forum.

His medal index card is on Ancestry,
I can't see any other records for him.

The information on the MIC is
Service no 48
Rank A/WO class 11
2b Balkans
entered the war 6/5/1915
Discharged 31/3/1916
Silver War Badge list  4193/1/B

He was entitled to the 1914-15 star
British and Victory Medals

Good luck with your research

Timberman

[5ploughwin]

Thanks for your quick reply timber man.
I will have look on ancestry at local history shop and get a copy for my records.
Do you know if it is possible for me to claim the entitled medals?
Regards

5ploughwin

[sphinx]

He was issued with his 3 WW1 medals and the silver war badge after the war.
He was also issued with the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal (TFEM) which is the long service medal you referred to.

The Medal Office stopped re-issuing medals some years ago, and in any case you yourself would not have been eligible.

His original medals may still exist and be cared for by a collector.

Regards

[5ploughwin]

Thank you sphinx
That piece of knowledge will now stop me from going down a blind alley.

Would you know if there are any pictures of the medals mentioned on the forum?

I read on another posting that such medals are often sold on ebay.
It may be worth a look.

Regards
5ploughwin

[sphinx]

Ebay is awash with such medals, just search it using the terms given above.

Google them also, the internet has millions of photos.

regards

[Wendi]

5ploughwin Welcome to our forum. another member, tonyrod has been listing (and continues to do so) medals on sale at ebay and other sites on this thread for some time

http://themanchesters.org/forum/index.php?topic=360.msg51949#msg51949

Wendi

[mack]

hiya sploughwin
contact wigan local studies on 01942 828020,theres two articles about CSM j.t hughes in the wigan papers on pages 88 and 181,theres also a reference to WE,dont know what WE is,could be a photo gallery.good luck,let us know how you get on.

mack
ps.theres a charge for sending you the articles,but if they add more info to your search,it will be worth the cost

[themonsstar]

From Letters from Helles by Col Sir Henry Darlington. the Commanding Officer 1/5th Bn Manchester Regiment.

Dardanelles

In the trenches 10/5/1915

Pages 26-28.

Just as I started this letter the Turks started to shell our aeroplane,which was very high right over us.We could hear the pieces of shell falling and actually see them in the sunlight,they fell quite close, I am very well, I'm not taking any risks.

We are at present in the second line trenches a good way behind the firing line. As is usual in support we get a lot of "overs," and are also shelled some time during the day. We are quite safe, however, in our trench and I fancy the Turk is short of ammunition. we have had one officer ( Jim Walker's brother Lt T.C. Walker, killed June 15) very slightly wounded, he has not left duty and about 12 men are wounded, all slightly. More shells at are aeroplane and more pieces.I wish the beastly thing would go away.

We had a good voyage on a filthy ship and I sent a cable back by Allen, who had jaundice. We landed in tugs and I went in the first one with A Company,  we had three shells in the water fairly near near us from a gun called "Asiatic Annie"* so you know where she is. We have bivouacked since and have  no kits, no blankets, no camp kettles and no nothing, but we are very well fed. There was a devil of an attack by us the day before yesterday; we were in reserve and I was ordered up to support part of the attack in the afternoon. we went up ( as we went through a rather exposed nullah one of the inhabitants put his head out of a hole in the ground and said, " they call this hell-fire Valley, Sir." it cheered the men more then anything.) and got into some support trenches just at dusk and were shelled and fired at mildly coming up,the casualties were only three though. We are still in these trenches, but don't know for how long, we watched, earlier in the fight, the most extraordinary bombardment by our guns and saw the French charge the trenches and chase the Turks out. they caught it from our guns as they left, the usual evening bombardment rifle firing is starting.

Last night I got a message about 1 a.m. to stand by for an expected counter-attack which never came off,  both sides, I fancy were nervy and expecting an attack,the result was firing of all sorts all night, I slept pretty well between times, the snipers here are very clever. It is getting dusk now and I must stop, also letters have to go down to the base at once.  It is very cold at nights but a lovely climate,absolutely perfect.  Only one shower of a few drops since we came and the flowers and birds are lovely,I feel very fit and quite like old times, it is very funny how all the different people take shells.  I find I am the only one from my South African experiences who can tell where they are coming and the range is just right,  you have time to tumble into your trench.

[5ploughwin]

Just been away for a few days and unable to get online.
Thank you again sphinx and also to wendi for pointing me towards a source of where my grandfathers war medals may be. They could however still be residing within the family somewhere. I will need to check both sources

Thank you mack for the valuable piece of information you have posted. I will follow this up and see where it takes me.

Thank you themonster
The letter from Col Sir Henry Darlington is very interesting, especially the date.
Does this represent extracts from a "war diary"?
If so would it specifically mention where my grandfather was shot, as I can pinpoint the time and date of the actual shooting from a letter which was sent to the family by a colleague who was with him at the time. He was shot on 11 May 1915, which I believe was only about 5 days after they had landed on the beaches.
Regards

[mack]

the quote is from sir henry darlington book.letters from helles,the last copy i saw on sale last week,was going for £130.

mack

[5ploughwin]

Wow!
Would there be a war diary covering this early part of the landing ops?

[themonsstar]

Its a book of his letters.

The War Diary should be online at:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/army.htm


Roy

[5ploughwin]

Thank you for that.
Checked the national archives site and it seems like the diaries which are digitised are not for operations in Gallipoli

[5ploughwin]

I emailed Wigan heritage today with the info Mack gave me.
The article on p88 is from the Wigan Observer and is a list of those killed and wounded in action.
The one on p181 is a pic of CSM JT Hughes.
The WE referred to is the Wigan Examiner newspaper.
I am calling to get copies later this week
Regards