You are here: Home > Search the archives > DocumentsOnline > Research tools > About the medal cards

First World War Medal Index Cards

What is the Medal Rolls Index?

You can search and download over 5 million medal cards. The Medal Index Cards (MICs) were created by the Army Medal Office towards the end of the First World War. The cards record an individual's medal entitlement, their rank(s), or unit(s) and often the first theatre of war they served in.

What are campaign medals?

Top of page 

Campaign medals were awarded to individuals who served in the First World War, who met the qualifications laid down for each medal. In general all those who saw service overseas were awarded a campaign medal. The qualifications for each campaign medal are:

Searching the medal cards

Top of page 

You can search for cards by:

Search tips

Don't pay twice for the same download

Top of page 

There are six cards to a page

Your download will contain 6 medal cards (with the exception of the Indian Army medal cards found within pieces WO 372/25 to WO 372/29, which were scanned individually). If you are ordering two or more medal cards for individuals with similar names, check first that their cards are not in the same image.

You can do this by looking at the reference number given on the "image details" page, which is two numbers separated by a forward slash, for example the image reference number for the medal card of Albert E. Blood is 433375/33042. The second of these numbers indicates the download that contains the medal card.

If you also wanted to buy the card of Albert G. Blood, you should look at the image reference number for his card. It is 433377/33042. The second number in this example is the same as the first example, which means both cards are contained in the same image.

How do you read them?

Top of page 

Design 1

The top of the medal card contains the soldier's name, rank(s), number(s) and unit(s).

The left hand side of the card contains a printed list of the campaign medals. A note in the 'roll' and 'page' column meant the soldier was awarded that medal. You may also see 'do', which meant 'ditto'. These notes refer to the medal roll; To find out more see Further research.

You might find information regarding the theatre of war first served in and the date the individual entered that theatre. If this part of the card is blank, this usually means that the individual went to France in 1916 or later.

You may see remarks concerning the career or fate of the individual, such as date of death and the date a soldier was discharged. The original medal issue and medal receipt may also be noted.

"Clasp and Roses" or "Cl" means the soldier received the dated clasp to adorn the ribbon of the 1914 Star, or a silver rosette to go on the ribbon when only ribbons are being worn.

"EMB" or "Emblems" denotes that an individual had been "Mentioned in Despatches" (MID) and that at least two "oak leaf" MID emblems had been sent to the recipient.

Occasionally the medal card will confirm that the individual did not receive any medals, including many soldiers who went to France after 11 November 1918. They thought they were entitled and applied, but had their application refused. Others failed to meet the required criteria for certain awards, had not served abroad, or forfeited their campaign medals due to a disciplinary infringement.

Design 2

This design contains the same information as the first card, the difference being that the medal entitlement is at the top right hand corner. The entire lower half of the card is left free for any remarks.

Design 3: the Silver War Badge

This MIC was used for individuals who received the Silver War Badge only. The card contains information about an individual and often gives the date of enlistment, date of discharge and reason for discharge. The card will also give the Silver War Badge roll reference.

Abbreviations

Medal cards often contain abbreviations and alphanumeric codes and we have listed some common ones below. The codes for those who saw their first operational service from 1 January 1916 onwards differ slightly from those who saw operational service before 1916. You can also read more about Abbreviations used for rank and Abbreviations used for unit.

Other Abbreviations

Other index cards

Top of page 

You can find other medal cards on DocumentsOnline. Some of the information on these cards will lead you to other records while others will not. The catalogue reference of the document will indicate whether you have located one of these cards:

The DCM, MM, MSM, TFEM, TEM and MiD indexes rarely use the first name of the recipient, so it is necessary to search using the soldier's first initial.

These cards cover awards granted between about 1909 - 1931. Apart from providing name, rank, number and unit, these cards often provide the Army Order number and date upon which the award was announced. Army Orders are preserved at The National Archives in the series WO 123 but very few lists of the recipients survive.

Most of the DCM, MM and MSM card indexes usually note in which operational theatre the award was won.

The Territorial Force Efficiency Medal (TFEM) was instituted in 1908 as a long service award for other ranks in the Territorial Force. Qualification for the award was 12 years' service, with war service counting double. The TFEM was renamed the Territorial Efficiency Medal in 1921 when the TF became the Territorial Army. The name and design of the award was changed again in 1930, becoming the Efficiency Medal (Territorial), sometimes noted as EM(T).

The DCM, MM, MSM and MID indexes all provide the date upon which the award was announced in the London Gazette. You can use the date you can consult the The London Gazette website. Some of the award dates are given as a numerical code- use the table below to interpret it.

Indian Army Medal Index Cards

DocumentsOnline holds the medal cards of over 20,000 soldiers who served in the Indian Army during WW1. The cards record the medal entitlement of soldiers who were entitled to, or made a claim for, campaign medals.

The Army Medal Office created these cards after the war had ended, and generally they record the latest unit that the soldier served in and the last rank he held. Some of the medal cards record claims for medals that were made as late as the 1930s.

The cards record a soldier's entitlement to the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Many soldiers were also awarded one or more clasps to go with the British War Medal, and this is also recorded on the cards. The award of a clasp is indicated by a reference on the right hand side of the card, but unlike other medal cards the reference will not direct you to other records.

Unlike the other medal index cards, which have been scanned 6 per page, you will only receive one medal card per download.

Further research

Top of page 

Harry Patch

You can view the medal card recording the medals awarded to Henry John 'Harry' Patch. Known at the 'Last Tommy', he was the last British survivor of the First World War trenches. Harry Patch was born on 17 June 1898 and died on 25 July 2009, aged 111. His medal card is at the bottom right of the page, outlined in red. It tells us that he was awarded the Victory and British War medals.

Medal rolls

For other soldiers you can use the references given on campaign medal cards to consult the medal rolls, however the only additional piece of information you may find is the battalion number, which is useful if you wish to search the War Diaries. To locate the roll you will need to consult the "Key to The Medal Rolls" in the series WO 329/1. This Key converts the original Army Medal Office reference into a WO 329 document reference. You may prefer to visit The National Archives or engage an independent researcher to obtain these copies on your behalf.

Service records

You may wish to look for a service record, however bear in mind that 60% of these records were destroyed by fire during World War Two bombings. Not all of the records are in the same place: Visit our resources guide and follow the prompts to be directed to the right area.

There is a list of the types of records destroyed at the Army Records Centre, Arnside Street, London as a result of bombing on the 8th September 1940, (WO 32/21769) available from DocumentsOnline.

Other resources