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I think the best way to proceed would be to make a list of all possible recipients in your family, you would need to know their full names and their place and dates of birth, then simply compare what you have with surviving papers in WO97, WO363, WO364 and WO126 at Kew.

JenniG wrote: Hi - thanks for the reply.

My grandfather was Percy Towler Inge but he was born in 1889 so is too young to have fought. All the brothers and sisters I have located were present on the 1901 census so I'm not sure if any could have qualified for QSA and KSA. Percy's father, William, was born in 1845 so was presumably too old to have served.

I have now found an M Inge in findmypast who only received the QSA - he was part of the YMCA, which is quite possible given some of my family history, but I never knew they served over there!

Thanks to you all.

The problem with working from my family records is that there tended to be an average of about 7 children in each family (although some were obviously girls!). My grandfather was the youngest of 10.

Is there a database somewhere of DCM recipients? (Having seen on Wikipedia that there have been several thousand awarded!) I guess it makes it more difficult not knowing which war the ribbon relates to.

Hi - I'm back again!

I have identified that my great uncle, William Charles Count, was in the Boer War and apparently awarded a DCM. This would explain all the ribbons. He was subsequently killed in WWI and is buried in France. He was married to my grandfather's sister and they had no children.

On some records he is shown as William James Count but his army number remains the same 22495. There is a correction in the Gazette to correct his name when mentioned in dispatches in WWI so the discrepancy continued throughout his career!

On this site, I can find only a very brief mention of his DCM which states that he was slightly wounded. But the date (April 1901) doesn't seem to match action listed at Honingspruit.

I'm hoping to investigate this further but don't know where to start. Would there be any joy in applying for his service record? Or would that only cover his WWI service? And is there any way of tracing what happened to his original medals?

Many thanks in anticipation of your advice.

Hello Jenni.......

Here is what is listed in FMP......

First name(s) William James
Last name Count
Service number 22495
Rank Bombardier
Regiment 81 Battery Royal Field Artillery
Other regiments/units Unit: 81 Battery Royal Field Artillery, Rank: Bombardier, Number: 22495
Awards DCM
Literary references Abbott
Event detail Mention in Despatches, London Gazette number 27353 page 5930 published on 20/04/1901 at Honing Spruit
Event unit 81 Battery Royal Field Artillery
Event source SAFF
Second event detail DCM Award, London Gazette number 27359 page 6309 published on 27/09/1901
Country Great Britain

Mike

Thanks, Mike. That's the same information I found - the Gazette reference is correct but the page and date are wrong (it was published 10/9/1901)

But how do I find out what he actually did which led to the mention and medal? I've looked at the regiment notes on here but because I don't actually know the date of his deed, I don't even know what action it refers to. Or is the information no longer in existence?

JenniG
My copy of the book "Recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal" shows "22495 Bdr. Count, W.C." of 82 Battery, RFA as being awarded the DCM in the London Gazette on 27/9/01 and announced in Army Order 15/02. The Palmer Casualty roll shows him as slightly wounded at the location you mentioned on 20/4/01 with 81st Battery, RFA. The Battery number agrees with the entry in the official SAFF casualty list.
However, the QSA medal rolls show him as being with 82nd Battery; medal with clasps Cape Colony, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Dreifontein, Paardeburg and Wittebergen. No marginal note regarding other service.
Regarding the award of the DCM, the book entry mentioned above does not show any "Details" of why the award was made. The matter of your GU being slightly wounded at Honingspruit and "Mentioned" most likely caused a recommendation. Many such medals were apparently awarded for outstanding service over a period of time - not specific instances..
You might want to check the commercial sites concerning his military career. The matter of your locating his medals (if they still exist) will be a matter of luck. You might care to place an ad in Medal News.
Good luck with your quest.
IL.