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3RD (BOMBAY) SAPPERS AND MINERS IN WW1


sommewalker

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Quite often the contribution of the commonwealth countries made,
to WW1 is either forgotten or not given much space,
on groups and publications,,
this I aim to change in this post.
This post is about a group of Indian soldiers,...
and one in particular
MEHAR DIN No 1064
AND
THE 3RD BOMBAY SAPPERS AND MINERS,
and their involvement in ww1
the first pic is of their battle honours,
also a little known fact,
they are shown in the order of battle for
NEUVE CHAPELLE
10th to the 13th of march 1915 at arras
they have an illustrious history in ww1, and their contribution shouldn't be forgotten.
pics 2 and 3 show the types of uniforms they wore
the 4th pic shows a medal index card of 1
MEHAR DIN SAPPER NO 1065
the 3 ww1 medals are there but not dated,
but the general service medal is,
perhaps he re joined in ww2
the GSM The General Service Medal (1918 GSM) was instituted to recognise service in minor Army and Air Force operations for which no separate medal was intended. It was equivalent to the 1915 Naval General Service Medal. Both these medals were replaced by the General Service Medal in 1962
the 3rd sappers were in Iraq 1941-42, the 4th/5th pics,
are of a ww1 victory medal ,
to a SAPPER MEHAR DIN No 1064,
NOW I very much doubt that there were 2 men of the same name,
with consecutive serial numbers ? in the same unit?
so maybe we can surmise that the difference in the numbers,
1064--1065, is down to a clerical error or an error ,
by the person stamping the numbers on the medals .
and finally a ww1 field service from a member of that battalion,
to his sweetheart
that lived in HOWS WELL LANE CROWBOROUGH,
the last pic shows a view of a sleepy village green at Crowborough,
of that time,
we know of the royal pavilion in Brighton, being used for a hospital in ww1,
and a great deal of Indian soldiers were treated there,
and of course there is the
Chattri Memorial for Indian & Sikh Soldiers World War I,
in Sussex a mile outside patcham on the beautiful Sussex wield ,
thank you INDIA for your support in ww1,
and may the sacrifice your countrymen made to the final victory never be forgotten..............

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very likely the difference in the numbers, 1064--1065, is down to an error ,I've had quite a few medals where the numbers were slightly out :thumbsup:

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very likely the difference in the numbers, 1064--1065, is down to an error ,I've had quite a few medals where the numbers were slightly out :thumbsup:

Absolutely right thanks Kenny ,

when you think of the millions made and stamped its no wonder there were a few mistakes,

that could be one of the reasons in ww2 the medals were not stamped with the owners name rank and serial numbers?

which unless you have the paperwork with them or you know who had them its hard if not impossible to , tie them to a single individual :kopkrab:

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As far as I know WW2 medals were not named due to the extra costs involved, but sometimes that is a good thing, for example we get allot of old veterans in who have lost their medals, and it's great for them to replace their medals without having some ones else's name on them. The downside is you can't trace them unless there is a named medal in the group or paperwork as you say. :)

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  • 5 years later...

Respected Sir,

I Have Read your article about sappers and miner ... my great grand father had recieved gallant or something related to that .. and ive been searching for his contribution in WW1 .. i will be very happy if you could help me somehow 

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Hi Ajaysing welcome to the forum, I'm sure some of the medal collectors will be able to help, Leon is very good at finding records if you can supply  as much information about your great grandfather as possible. :thumbsup:

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