The First Buckinghamshire Battalion 1914-1919

APPENDIX VII

Reading edition

(A) COPY OF WAR OFFICE LETTER

War Office, London, S.W.

27th July, 1920.

Sir,

I am commanded by the Army Council to inform you that they have recently received through the Foreign Office for distribution to the Army seven bronze reproductions of a Gold Medal which was presented to His Majesty the King of Italy by a National Committee in commemoration of the War. Four others, it is understood, have been allotted to the Navy, and one to the Royal Air Force.

The Council, after consultation with Lieutenant-General the Earl of Cavan, have selected the following units to receive these medals, as representatives of the British Military Forces which were engaged on the Italian Front:

Northamptonshire Yeomanry.

Bucks Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.

1st Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

Royal Artillery Mess, Woolwich.

Royal Engineer Mess, Chatham.

Honourable Artillery Company.

Royal Army Medical Corps Mess, Millbank Hospital.

I am accordingly to transmit herewith a copy of the diploma which accompanied the medals, together with a translation of the same, and to inform you that the medal will be forwarded to you forthwith by registered post. I 216am at the same time to request that you will be good enough to furnish a formal receipt at your earliest convenience.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient Servant,

H. J. Creedy.

The Officer Commanding

Bucks Battalion,

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire

Light Infantry.

14, Temple Square, Aylesbury.

(B) TRANSLATION OF THE ITALIAN DIPLOMA

THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE ARMY AND NAVY COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL, instituted in Rome with the object of offering to His Majesty the King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele III, as Supreme Head of the Army and Navy, a large medal in gold, in memory of the War fought in the cause of Freedom and Civilization, presented this medal to the August Sovereign on the 10th December, 1919.

The National Committee has also offered a facsimile of the medal to all the Ships and Regiments which took part in the Great War, and each individual Italian soldier and sailor who distinguished himself on active service.

With the desire that this medal should also be a solemn emblem of distinction for the Armies and Navies of the Great and Valiant Allied Nations, the National Committee has decided to present to them reproductions of the same as a token of the profound sentiments of fraternity by which it is animated.

This diploma, together with a facsimile in bronze of the medal, is presented to:

The Bucks Battalion,

Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.

For the Executive Committee,

The President.

Rome, 28th March, 1920.

Il Comitato Nazionale per la Medaglia d’onore all’Esercito e all’Armata, istituito in Roma per offrire alla Maestà del Re d’Italia Vittorio Emanuele III, quale Capo Supremo dell’Esercito e dell’Armata, una grande Medaglia in oro celebrante la Guerra di redenzione e di civiltà, ne fece consegna all’Augusto Sovrano il 10 Dicembre 1919. Il Comitato Nazionale ha inoltre offerta una riproduzione-ricordo della stessa Medaglia a tutte le Navi ed a tutti i Reggimenti che hanno partecipato alla Grande Guerra, nonchè singolarmente a soldati e marinai italiani, che maggiormente si sono distinti in fatti d’armi. Volendo il Comitato Nazionale che l’omaggio sia anche una solenne testimonianza di plauso per gli Eserciti e le Armate delle forti e valorose Nazioni alleate, ha deliberato ancora di offrire Loro delle riproduzioni-ricordo a conferma di sentimenti di sincera fratellanza. Il presente attestato con una riproduzione in bronzo viene rilasciato a the Bucks Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Roma, li 28 Marzo 1920. Il Presidente per la Giunta Esecutiva Il Presidente

ITALIAN MEMORIAL CERTIFICATE.

Illustration from The First Buckinghamshire Battalion 1914-1919

Map No. 4. THE ASIAGO PLATEAU. April-November, 1918.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

Fixed typos; non-standard spelling and dialect retained.

Renumbered footnotes and moved them all to the end of the final chapter.