John Holmes was commissioned into the Bedfordshire Yeomanry in 1912 and served in the Great War as a Captain. He reached the age limit for officers in 1923 and retired at that point. His medals, consisting of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Serving Brother’s badge, skeletal, silver (unnamed); 1914-15 Star (Capt., Bedf. Yeo.); British War and Victory Medals (Capt.); Special Constabulary Long Service, G.VI.R., 1st issue (John Holmes), were sold via DNW in June 2012. Apart from that information, I know nothing about him. He has a very common name and his service papers haven't survived at the National Archives. Most "Specials" aren't researchable and I believe that the Order of St John's badge was awarded before 1950, a period for which records aren't generally available. I'll try some less common avenues of research and report back. In the meantime, if anybody has any information, I'll be very pleased to hear from them.
In that same auction was a 1914/15 star to Pte. 904 E. Humphreys. What was intriguing about this medal was that the medal index card showed that his British War Medal and Victory Medal were both returned 'undisposed of'. This note on the card usually means that the recipient couldn't be found and that the medals were returned to the mint to be scrapped. It would certainly tally with the appearance of the star only. Before the medal appeared, I had carried out some basic research, but based on the fact that this man appeared in the roll in "Bedfordshire Yeomanry in the Great War" [by Southern] as "A.E.Humphries". Having carried out much more research since, I'm convinced that it's Ernest Arthur Humphreys who was born in Godalming in 1879 and served 10 years as an artificer in the Royal Navy from 1902. He married Susan Izzard in Bedford in 1901 and stayed in the town until his death in 1958. In serving in the RN and then in the Great War in the Army, Ernest took the same path as my grandfather.
In that same auction was a 1914/15 star to Pte. 904 E. Humphreys. What was intriguing about this medal was that the medal index card showed that his British War Medal and Victory Medal were both returned 'undisposed of'. This note on the card usually means that the recipient couldn't be found and that the medals were returned to the mint to be scrapped. It would certainly tally with the appearance of the star only. Before the medal appeared, I had carried out some basic research, but based on the fact that this man appeared in the roll in "Bedfordshire Yeomanry in the Great War" [by Southern] as "A.E.Humphries". Having carried out much more research since, I'm convinced that it's Ernest Arthur Humphreys who was born in Godalming in 1879 and served 10 years as an artificer in the Royal Navy from 1902. He married Susan Izzard in Bedford in 1901 and stayed in the town until his death in 1958. In serving in the RN and then in the Great War in the Army, Ernest took the same path as my grandfather.
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