Cased and named Military Cross...help!

[Dave-B]

Hello all,
I have been offered a cased and named WW1 Military Cross(I have always wanted one ) but I have a distinct lack of knowledge when it comes to British awards

The reverse of the award is engraved Lt W J Jones,I know not the best of names to research!
The thing is how do I go about researching such a piece,I'm not sure where to start??....also if he is a casualty does it make the award more desirable??

Sorry for the probably obvious questions but I'm a newbie in the British award collecting scene,Iron crosses..yeah no problem

Cheers

Dave

[Cam_S]

Research

Hello,

You can either try to do it yourself or you can have someone do it. It is quite hard to get started yourself so since you said you are new to this you might try these guys:

http://www.militaryresearchon.com/

Hope this helps,

Cam

[Dave-B]

Cheers Cam

Dave

[Adam H]

I would be very cautious when approaching engraved MCs...

As they were officially issued unnamed, I would want to have quite a bit of provenance before spending a significant amount of money on one as a single. If the other medals are there, then that gives some reassurance. But...especially with an award named to a "Jones" or similar, I would definitely want to know what I was getting into before taking the plunge.

You should be able to find him in the London Gazette archives if it is a genuine item.

Any chance of some pics and the story you have behind it?

Cheers,

Adam

[Garth Thompson]

Dave,

Adam is offering very sage advice. the ability to research the recipients of British medals and awards, to my mind, makes them much more attractive than the TR bits. Here is my MC. The London Gazette piece came in the case shaped to fit the form of the lid. The naming of MCs is more commonly found on WW1 awards vice WW2.

Garth

[Garth Thompson]

reverse

[Garth Thompson]

London Gazette

[Jack]

MC and bars

Hello here are 2 more to check naming on back of cross they are both different.
Cheers Jack

[Jack]

back

Notice different type of naming. Also the bar on one is blank the other engraved.
Cheers Jack

[yellow]

If you can afford it I would buy a cross with the other medals with it. You may later regret buying a single if you ever try to re-sell it.

I had a look in Army Honours for you and there is only one W. J. Jones entitled to the MC. He is listed as 7th Battalion Worc. R. rank is Qr-Mr-Sgt.......not Lt. as it is on the medal.

I then consulted his records and sure enough he is recorded as the highest rank attained: Lieutenant and Quarter Master...........he was never a straight Lieutenant.

You can make your own mind up about that one.

Steve.

[Greeves]

Good work Steve! I'm in shock that there's only on W.J. Jones entitled...but there you go. I can only echo others sentiments regarding this piece. Approach with caution and see if there is other provenance.

[Dave-B]

Thanks for all of the advice and help chaps There are no other medals or in fact anything else with it,there is only the MC and case.Tomorrow I will go and take some photos of the award and post them here,see if anything is "dodgy" with it.

Cheers

Dave