Harry Hodge - Essex Regiment - India

[jimbohodge]

Hi,

My Grt Grandfather was called Harry Hodge born 1888, Luton.

I only ever had a  photgraph and knew family rumours that he was in India apparently 'Guarding Ghandi' in WW1. I literally knew nothing else!

I found this extract about him in the  National Roll Of The Great War.

Hodge, H., Private, 2nd Essex Regiment
Joined in June 1917, and after his training was sent to India, where he served for two years, during which time he was stationed at Rawal Pindi, Poona and Delhi, engaged on duties of an important nature. He was demobilised after his return to England in January 1920, and holds the general service and victory medals.

Can anybody offer any help here?
Help memake sense of this extract?
More on the Essex regiment in India?
The training?
Wy he may have joined so late - and left so late?

Anything at all - Im looking for as much info as possible.

Thanks
Jim

[neil1821]

Hi Jim,
Well the general service medal mentioned is I'm guessing the India General Service Medal 1908-35 as illustrated here (but not with the bar illustrated of course). As he was in Rawalpindi (North West Frontier), I'm guessing he would have had one of the following bars: Afghanistan NWF 1919, Mahsud 1919-20 or Waziristan 1919-21.

The Victory Medal is of course from WW1, but I'm a bit puzzled why he would have this and not the British War Medal 1914-20. If anything, I'd have thought it would be the other way round!

Neil

[manchester regt]

i dont think he was guarding ghandi in ww1,ghandi was away serving with the medical corps,i think he was a stretcher bearer,mack

[neil1821]

Have you downloaded his medal card for clues, Jim?

The 2nd Essex as a whole weren't in India at the time, which makes it all the more interesting what he was doing there.

Neil

[jimbohodge]

Hi,

I am no expert - but had a look on the documentsonline website for his medal index card and cannot see a Harry Hodge for the Essex Regiment.

Although there is a H Hodge?

What do you think?

Jim

[neil1821]

That would seem like a reasonable bet to me Jim.

After all, if he had the Victory Medal then there must be a medal card for him. And if that's the only one that pops up........

[OldBraggs]

"The general service medal" is the British War Medal. I cannot think of any circumstance under which a Victory Medal could be awarded without the British War Medal. It would be interesting to see the MIC, if all he was doing was garrison duty in India from 1917-1919 then I would not expect to see any medal entitlement at all. You will probably find that he was 2nd Garrison Battalion, Essex Regiment which was based in India during the war.

Steve

[neil1821]

That's a possibility, Old Braggs, but why say "general service medal" if you mean British War Medal? I agree he couldn't have the Victory without the War.

My guess is he'd have the British War Medal and not the Victory. To qualify for the war medal you had to be serving abroad, to qualify for the Victory medal you had to serve in a theatre-of-war (which India wasn't during 1914-18).

As I think someone mentioned in another post somewhere, the National Roll of the Great War is full of errors. But if we see the MIC, hopefully should resolve it!

Neil

[OldBraggs]

The 'British War Medal' was originally called the 'General Service Medal' for 1914-18. It was intended to issue clasps, but the scheme was dropped. It probably changed to British War Medal to avoid confusion with the other General Service Medal that was instituted at the end of the war.

Attached is a piece of a report on an a parade in 1920 from The Times, which describes men wearing 'the General Service Medal and the Victory Medal':


Steve