WW1 Army Medal Index Cards

[Example of two types of Medal Index Card]

[Photographs of the three most common WW1 campaign medals]

The Army Medal Office at Droitwich maintained a card index of all soldiers who had been awarded a campaign medal in WW1. These cards were for internal War Office and Ministry of Defence use only, but they have now been copied onto microfiche, and are available for public viewing at the National Archives at Kew. They have also been made available on-line on the National Archives' website, where you can search for the MIC of a particular soldier and download the MIC for £3.50.

The cards recorded the names, regimental numbers and ranks of all officers and men who had been awarded the following medals:

If a soldier had been awarded one of the above, then the card will be annotated to this effect. For the genealogist, these cards are extremely useful, as they effectively list all army personnel who served overseas in WW1. Since they are arranged in alphabetical order, it is therefore possible to find a card for a man even if his regiment or regimental number is not known!

This only works if he has a rather unusual name, but it is well worth trying. As well as discovering his regiment, regimental number, and a list of campaign medals that he was awarded, you may also find the following:

If only the soldier's regiment is given, it may be possible to work out his battalion from his date of arrival overseas.

Although the Medal Index Cards give details of other regiments that the soldier had belonged to during the war, they are not necessarily comprehensive. I have found several cases where a casualty has had a former regiment listed in "Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-1919", but that regiment has not appeared on the MIC.

It is interesting to see how many times some soldiers transferred from one regiment or corps to another. for example, the MIC for Private George Logie shows that he was forever being posted to and from the Labour Corps!

Royal Scots Fusiliers 38273
Royal Scots 3588
Labour Corps 5878
Military Foot Police P-12474
Labour Corps 236544
King's Own Scottish Borderers 47254
Labour Corps 503686
Seaforth Highlanders 30578

 

Several different layouts of these Medal Index Cards exist. To see two examples, click here. The is also more information on these MICs on the National Archives' website.

 


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