Private George French
This isn't a long story to put here, but every little counts. Some years ago, I was given a small box with a lot of things in it, after my Great-Grandmother died. The box is a green, cardboard box that once contained 100 Churchman's No.1 cigarettes. It actually now contained my Great-Grandfather's medals and other wartime things.
Some of what's in the box shows more than just a war record, but also a little of the record of his capture during whichever battle he was part of, early in the war. I don't know which, although it could be either Festubert or Loos in 1915. This is due to the box containing German and Netherlands coins and a ticket, which is labelled for 5 pfennig and Gefangenen-lager Zollverein, which I think is a detention camp money ticket.
His medals are in the box, so are his metal clothing tags showing T 18 London, or smaller ones showing T London. I have his coat buttons with the London Irish Rifles insignia on them and also some bits of cloth, his soap with something carved on it and, much more interesting to me as a young boy when I got this, his 6-sided brass put and take game.
As he died young and my great-grandmother didn't talk much about him, we didn't know much about his wartime life. Both I and my brother have tried to find stuff on the Internet, but we don't seem to get too far.
British War Medal, Victory Medal, both with a Service Wounded Stripe on their ribbons.
Single Service Wounded Stripe.
3 brass flat-strip Service Wounded Stripes (with No. 4 printed on them).
2 T 18 London clothing tags, metal.
Single T London clothing tag in metal, probably a hat insignia.
1 small and 1 tiny brass buttons with royal insignia on them.
4 large, 6 medium and one small buttons with London Irish Rifle insignia.
1 brown soap with something carved into it.
1 put and take brass game.
A 5 Pfennig ticket from Gefangenen-lager Zollverein.
6 Dutch coins
6 German coins.
A piece of light-brown cloth
A piece of dark blue cloth with a button sown onto it.
CONTRIBUTOR
Darron Mould
DATE
1914 - 1918
LANGUAGE
eng
ITEMS
1
INSTITUTION
Europeana 1914-1918
PROGRESS
METADATA
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Some coins from Germany and the Netherlands as well as a 5 Pfennig token given to prisoners of war in German camps.