My First British Pair

[Ammersee]

I've been wanting a WW1 British pair for quite a while. I finally ran across a pair that I liked and could buy reasonably. They were purchased from the vets great-nephew. The nephew could only tell me a couple of details about the vet, but that was better than nothing.

The vets name was Aaron Bashkow and he emigrated to the US sometime after WW1. He lived in Los Angeles and was killed by a bus there in the early 1950's. He died long before the nephew was born so he knew little about him.

I am wanting to know about the number/name/regiment stamped into the medals. J-4014 PTE. A. BASHKOW R. FUS. I believe R.FUS. is the Royal Fusiliers. Are they infantry? What is the significance of the "J" in the number?
Is PTE like the US private first class?

The BWM ribbon is new from Defence Medals in Canada. The BWM didn't have a ribbon when I got it. The ribbon on the Victory is original and I made the bracket to keep them together.
Ammersee

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[Adam H]

A nice WWI pair.

I will try to answer some of your questions/ confirm info:

1) R Fus is indeed the Royal Fusiliers, a line infantry regiment.

2) The prefix J with the first numbers 38, 39, 40 for the R Fus usually designates one of the Jewish Battalions. See Tony Farrell's excellent thread on "Service Number Prefixes" that is a sticky in the Commonwealth Forum.

3) PTE would be roughtly equivalent to PVT/PFC (my knowledge of US ranks of the era being admittedly somewhat lacking) It is the lowest rank for a soldier.

A quick check on the British National Archives website reveals that this man's forename was Aaron. His name of Aaron Bashkow would seem to support the probability/possibility that he was Jewish.

See this link:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/d...=*&queryType=1

You are able to search by name, number etc. In this case I only found 2 Bashkows, one being your man. You can download his Medal Index Card in .pdf format for a fee. These can have some information that will facilitate further research. (they vary in terms of details provided, so a bit hit or miss).

I hope that is at least somewhat helpful and points you in the right direction. If you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask I am sure others will be happy to help out if I cannot.

Cheers,

Adam

[max7474]

One point is that you have the BWM back to front - the Kings head should be facing to the front and the inscription is on the reverse of the medal.

Alan

[Ammersee]

Thanks for the quick response and useful information. I'm quite surprised to learn he was Jewish, and just as surprised to find out there were separate Jewish groups in the service.
I knew that there was the possibility to research this man with the good record keeping of the British. The beauty of the British medals is that they are all marked. I may research him sometime in the future. For now, I'll just enjoy the medals he obviously took good care of. I'll do the same.
And yes, I knew the BWM was backwards. I couldn't help it...the engraving of St.George (?) on that huge horse is far better artwork than the King.
Ammersee...a new fan of the Crown

[Ammersee]

I do have a couple more questions, Adam. What would Aaron Bashkow's Royal Fusiliers hat badge look like? Is a WW1 era badge like that available or totally rare? I think one would look good in a frame with his medals. Thanks, Gary

[Tony Farrell]

Unlike the rest of the regiment, the Jewish battalions utilised the badge illustrated in the link. I don't know how hard they are to find but an internet search should turn up the goods.

http://www.regiments.org/regiments/m...gts/JewLeg.htm

Here you go:

http://www.arbeia.demon.co.uk/srs/co...adges/atoz.htm

[Ammersee]

Thanks Tony, I found it.
Now I have another question. I'm not clear on this serial number on the medals...Bashkow's number. It is J-4014. The J is for Jewish Batallion, okay. Is the 40 the regiment he was in, or is it just coincidence that the Jewish regiments are 38,39,and40 and his number starts with 40?
Thanks, Ammersee

[yellow]

Nice British medal pair to a Russian.

Number is just coincidence.

[byterock]

The segregation of Jews into their own separate battalions was more a logistical matter rather than an 'anit-semitic' one. As well there was a political overtone with Zionism being one of the driving forces behind the Bn. Many members coming for the ex-pat Russian and Eastern European community.

It was also the time of 'Pals' battalions and this was just one of them it was also much easier to give them kosher food if they were all in one unit with their own cooks etc.

Long history of this in the Indian army and British Army India for Moslem and Hindu troops just to name two.

Jews served in all military formations of the British Empire during the War they were not groped into separate units or had any special serial numbers.

The funny thing is that the powers that be did not consider the Jew to be a Marshal race and therefor most units were supply and transport units. Mule skinning seems to be what the Brit staff thought the Jews capable of.

It wasn't until 1918 that Jewish fighting Units actually engaged the enemy.

Some of these units also contained a lager number of American volunteers so perhaps your chap was one of those?

[Ammersee]

I just don't know byterock. The nephew I got the medals from knew very little and I didn't want to press him for info. Since Bashkow ended up back here in America after the war I suppose he could have been here before the war also.
Thanks, Ammersee