Whereabouts is the small hamlet please?
So are you saying that he actually spent the war in England and not West Africa?
Have you found and requested his military file?
Also if he was 46 at the beginning of the war that is old for active service ie immediately going off to France though here in NZ at the start of the war older men holding rank ie on the reserve at the start of the war were assigned duties relating to their expertise eg admin tasks relating to call-ups etc, gunnery instructors etc. Later on these older men did go overseas to back up younger ones who were administrators or instructors and who were then released to fight in trenches etc.
I am not sure why you feel someone who was in the military especially if this started from service in the territorials ie before any war was declared, but not on service on the battlefields was not entitled to or receiving medals. That is not how it works.....at the very least if he was serving anywhere in the military in WW1 he would have an entitlement to the medals that all who served, no matter what capacity, got.
There is a huge number of people supporting the effort that goes to ensuring boots are on the ground in actual battles. I guess the numbers and set-up of the military would show those figures.
Another way of illustrating this is to look capacity in the NZ health sector, currently, it is estimated that every Dr in our public health system is backed up/needs the support of between 7 to 8 people in order to carry out their role. In the UK I am sure there will be similar figures.
To support thousands of men overseas fighting they would need thousands of people in back-up back home.
