Genealogy Chat

Hi there not sure if this helps, but I have today downloaded from documents on line my the MBE citation for my father in law. He received it for his bravery during WW2. It also gave the date of the relevant London Gazette. Teresa

You can narrow down the search on The Times, type in Order of the British Empirei in the search box, then click on search for words in title and then chose to search between whatever date you wish and the date he died, that will narrow the results to the Honours list and right down to a reasonable number. I suggest you then restrict your search to the Military Division as I imagine he most likely received the award for military service. Unfortunately, you are only likely to find the date of the award, not the citiation. Alternatively, you could write to Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood St James's Palace, London, SW1A 1BG Jennifer

Also just had a look at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/ Typing 'Order of the British Empire' again brings up numerous hits.....I would suggest putting his name in the search facility here too. Just in case there is something available to download and the main NA search doesn't pick it up.. Chris

Another idea... http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ The NA do have details of OBEs but it looks as specific information may only be available for personal searches on site. If you put 'Order of the British Empire' in the search box there are numerous hits. You could also try puting his name into the search box and see if anything comes up. Chris

Might be of use britishempirecollection(.)com

Thanks. I have had a brief search for the name in the London Gazette but am unable to find him. Will try again over the weekend. However - assuming he was at some point awarded this gong for bravery, good deeds or whatever, it still won't tell me why he got it - just the year. Looking at it another way, is there any way to find out if he was claiming to have an OBE and yet had never been awarded it ? There doesn't seem to be a central database at all to check his credentials.

Simon Try the Gazett site: http://www.gazettes-online(.)co.uk/generalArchive.asp?webType=0 [remove brackets] Already available online is the period covering the World Wars and the 20th Century Honours and Awards. The entire 20th Century archive is now available to view online. Good luck Carol

I have an ancestor who is shown on the War Grave Memorial in Germany as having been awarded an OBE. He was with a South African regiment. However apart from knowing that it must have been after 1917 when OBE's were first awarded and before his death in 1944 there doesn't seem to be any way you can find out why or even when the award was made. I have tried looking through the Queens Honours in the Times but as there are tens of thousands of gongs awarded, not knowing which year to search and there being no word search facility, it is like looking for a needle in a very big haystack ! Is there someone out there who can help ?