WW1 Victory Medal – WILFRID DUNCAN-JONES - 2/1st Shropshire Yeomanry – Unusual award

Reference: MM-MED-0009

You are looking at an interesting and unusual WW1 Victory Medal awarded to WILFRID DUNCAN-JONES of the 2/1st Shropshire Yeomanry.

The medal is inscribed ‘2139. W.DUNCAN JONES. 2/1^ST SHROPSHIRE YEOMANRY.’

The medal is an unusual and anomalous award, having been issued despite no qualifying overseas service.

From the available service record, we know WILFRID served at ‘HOME’ only, between the 23^rd of December 1914 and the 10^th of December 1917 when he was discharged from the army having been found medically unfit for further military service due to neurasthenia.

Despite this, he was issued the Victory Medal, an award normally granted only to those who entered a recognised theatre of war, which makes the award of this medal interesting and unusual.

WILFRID joined the Shropshire Yeomanry on the 23^rd of October 1914, at the age of 18 years and 9 months according to his attestation record, and his address recorded as Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire. He qualified as a 2^nd class signaller in April 1916, was promoted to acting Lance Corporal around a week later and became acting corporal less than three months later. In April 1916 he was posted to the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry depot at Shrewsbury, followed by the 432 Agricultural Company of the Labour Corps in June 1917, and eventually posted to the Western Command Labour Centre at Oswestry in September 1917.

Following his transfer to the Labour Corps, he was given the service number 242886, and it is likely this number was provided in the June of 1917, and he appears under a Labour Corps  ‘Silver War Badge’ records as being entitled to the badge due to him suffering from neurasthenia.

He was discharged from the army on the 10^th of December 1917.

Despite service records indicating Home Service only, WILFRID DUNCAN-JONES was issued the Victory Medal, and this suggests either an unrecorded period of overseas service or an unusual entitlement anomaly. While it is possible that he did serve overseas for a period not reflected in the surviving records, no definitive evidence of such service has been identified. Alternatively, the medal may represent an administrative anomaly, issued despite the absence of recorded overseas service, and this makes it an interesting and unusual case, highlighting the complexities of medal entitlement and wartime service records.

NOTE - According to his baptism record, WILFRID DUNCAN-JONES was born on the 25^th of June 1897, so his claim to being 18 years and 9 months old when he attested into the Shropshire Yeomanry is incorrect, he was in fact 17 years and 4 months old, nearly 1 ½ years younger than claimed, although it was possible some yeomanry regiments would recruit seventeen year olds, but not allow them to serve overseas until they were older.  

SELLER NOTE = Supporting documentation obtained and / or created during my research into this medal will be provided.

Postage

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If the actual postage cost within the UK or to the destination country is lower than the amount charged, any overpayment will be refunded after dispatch.