Filed under Medals: A Method Guide
What to check first in this record
Find a roll entry from name, number and unit, in the catalogue or index for the medal in question. A surname alone will return many people, so the number and unit are what narrow the search to one person.
One dated fact from a record outweighs three plausible details from a story, and the timeline should show which is which. A search term that returns nothing in one catalogue may return everything in another, because catalogues index different fields. Try the holder catalogue directly.
The order to work in
If a step takes you to a holder, a catalogue, or an archive, fix the reference before you go. A visit or a request without a reference wastes the visit. Start from the reference, not from the search box: know which record you are about to open, and why, before you open it. If a step sends you back to an earlier one, that is the method working, not failing. Loops are how errors get caught.
- Find the roll entry first, and note its reference, the medal, and any clasps shown.
- Check name, number, rank and unit on the roll against the personal file.
- Use the index card, where one survives, as a finding aid to the roll, not as a replacement for it.
- Test any family medal story against the roll before adding it to the timeline.
As an illustration only, suppose a family medal carries a clasp that the roll does not show: the roll entry wins, and the clasp then becomes a question about remounting or a later addition, not proof of an extra campaign.
Where this kind of research usually stalls
When a trail breaks at a transfer, a renumbering, or a reorganisation, follow the dates and the people, not the name of the unit or the ship. Do not spend a session repeating a search that failed. Spend it on a different record type, a different holder, or a different filter, and note what changed.
- A medal never claimed or never issued.
- A roll entry under a variant spelling or a different number.
- A clasp that looks obvious but is not on the roll.
- A forfeiture or return that removed the medal from the record.
How do you read what you find?
Ranks, trades and roles should be read with their dates, because acting rank, temporary postings and reorganisations all leave traces that look like contradictions. Check whether an entry was written by the unit, by a clerk, or by a later compiler. The writer decides how much weight the entry can carry.
A term that appears only once in a file deserves more care, not less: a single unusual entry is often the clue that explains a transfer or a change of role. The absence of an entry where the form expects one is worth noting. A blank column can mean not applicable, not recorded, or not surviving, and each means something different.
The next record in the chain
Move from personal records to unit records, or from unit records back to personal ones, deliberately. Each direction answers a different kind of question. When two next steps present themselves, take the one that can disprove something, not the one that can only confirm. Disproof strengthens a timeline faster. Leave the timeline in a state a stranger could retrace. That stranger, in six months, may well be you.
Primary sources for this guide
Everything here is kept general and tied to official holders, so check the current position with the holder for your own case. The guide is educational information only: it is not personal professional advice, it is not a lookup service, and it settles nothing about any one person's service.