Soldier – Read H. – A Kilnhurst Decoration.

Stories from the War

Soldier – Read H. – A Kilnhurst Decoration.

November 1917

Mexborough and Swinton Times November 24, 1917

A Kilnhurst Decoration.

Cpl Vincent H Read
Household Battalion

Corporal Vincent H Read, of The Wharfe, Kilnhurst, has been awarded the Military Medal for distinguished service in the field.

He enlisted in November 1914, at the age of 17, and has been serving in France a year.

Before enlistments he was employed at Thrybergh Hall Colliery.

From Curator Houshold Cavalry Museum

I hope you don’t mind the contact out of the blue, please ignore if you do.

My interest is in Vincent Herbert Read 1896-1962. I am the curator at the Household Cavalry Museum in Windsor (UK) and we hold his medals. Vincent was clearly a brave and courageous man as you know being awarded the Military Medal on two occasions, thereby obtaining a bar to the original medal.

Until very recently i knew very little on him but from what I’ve found out, please correct me if im wrong;

Vincent joined the 2nd Life Guards (2LG) in 1914 aged 19 years. He did not deploy abroad until late 1916. In these two years, he will have been held in reserve, I believe at Combermere barracks in Windsor with 2LG . During this time it became apparent that cavalry were not best suited to trench warfare so men in the 1st and 2nd Life Guards regiments and those from the Royal Horse Guards (these three making up the Household Cavalry) were transferred into the Household Battalion (HB), an infantry unit. Their history is short and they were disbanded by Feb 1918 taking a lot of casualties. Whilst with the HB he is awarded the Military Medal for his bravery. His rank was Coproral of the Horse, which is sergeant in any other regiment. In early 1918 he was transferred again to the Coldstream Guards, retaining his rank of sergeant where in 1918 he again qualifies for the award of Military Medal, this time being issued a bar to the medal itself. I believe this brave second action could be closely associated with two Victoria Cross award actions but need to look into this in more detail to be sure.

I didn’t have a photo of Vincent, so it’s great to be able to put a face to the name. I would like to print this off to place alongside his medals, could I ask if you have a better copy please?

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Hi there

Susan Denton has been good enough to pass on your enquiry regarding Vincent Herbert Read.

The photograph was from an article on our Kilnhurst web site. It is from the Mexborough & Swinton Times, November 24^th 1917.

As the soldier received a Bar I shall attempt to find further reference to it.

The one amendment I would suggest is his age when joining the guards.

Your narrative suggests 19, the article states 17.

I have verified that it is 17 by researching the Ancestry site. The extract also shown below is from the Census of 1911, confirming his family, address and age.

He was 13 in 1911

If there is anything else we can help you with we will be only too pleased

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Many thanks for the contact and thanks for the information re photo.

I’ve took his age from his army pension papers on ancestry, where age is recorded as 19Yrs 182 days in 1914. I don’t have fold 3 but there is an indication there may be Household Cavalry papers on him. Maybe he lied about his age?

I’ve included a photo taken today of the medals. What hasn’t been picked up on until I physically held them today is that the star has been skimmed, origional recipient details erased and Vincent’s details added. This has been done professionally and renamed. What’s odd is his rank is recorded as SCM – Squadron Corporal Major, which is inflated by two ranks to that a year later when he is awarded the MM. I have no record of a SCM VH Read receiving this medal. In fact only 25 men from the regiment received this medal.

I believe the Household Battalion Military Medal award was for the Poelcapelle action and the 1918 MM bar for the Coldstream Guards attack on the Hindenburg line where two Victoria Cross’s were awarded. More researched needed.

I’ll see if I can find the newspaper article you mention.

Medals :

Extract from 1911 Census