Warrant Officer II OBE and other awards

[Shazbaz]

Hello

My friend is looking for some information about her Great Grandad, all I know is that his name was George Edward Turner, he was in the Royal Artillery and he received an OBE and some other medals. If anyone could  help to figure out what these are for without knowing a DOB or Army number we would really appreciate it 😊

[Andy J2022]

The medals are (l to r) the 1939-45 Star, the France and Germany Star and the War medal 1939-1945.  The award on the right of the case is his MBE (not OBE). The award of the MBE occurred before the death of King George VI in 1952. Apart from those details it's not possible to say much more about this man, based on these items alone. The MBE could have been awarded for any number of things, not all of them necessarily directly connected to his military service. For example I know of a Warrant Officer who got his MBE for welfare services connected with Army families, running social and sporting clubs for kids etc.

Your best bet would be to approach the Royal Artillery Association to see if they have any details about this man,  which would allow your friend to then get his service records.

There is a mention of a Gunner George Edward Turner 2080748 in a casualty list dated 25 Dec 1944, but because this was the result of a raid in Greece, I don't think this can be the same man, since 'your' George Turner was not awarded the Italy Star, which I would have expected if he had been involved in operations in the eastern Mediterranean. Gunner Turner 2080748 had previously joined the Coldstream Guards.

[Jebber]

Try a search on the National Archives, they have some military citations. I was able to download  my husband’s citation for a Military MBE.

I have been unable to find one for my Uncle in 1949, also a military one. So it is hit and miss, but would be worth your while looking.

[Andy J2022]

Shazbaz,

If you have time on your hands and plenty of patience, you will find his award of the MBE in the London Gazette, and this in turn will provide you with his army number. I have spent about 20 minutes trying to do this without success, but the Gazette is notoriously difficult to search, especially for the military notices which can use a wide range of name formats, such as for example  GE Turner, Turner GE, Turner G.E. and George Edward TURNER. Needless to say you will get plenty of false positives. Make sure you enable the search Supplements button.

[Shazbaz]

Thank you to everyone for your messa a. Research so far has been really informative, I've found these,  so now we have his Army number too 😊