A fine ‘East Africa’ M.S.M. awarded to Acting Warrant Officer 1st Class B. A. Embelin, Royal Army Medical Corps, who was twice Mentioned in Despatches, recognised for ‘courageous conduct and splendid work’ during the Retreat from Mons in August 1914, served a year as a German Prisoner of War, and suffered a gunshot wound in the twilight of a 24-year military career

Army Meritorious Service Medal, G.V.R., 1st issue (11236 Sjt: B. A. Embelin. 19/S.H. R.A.M.C.) good very fine £200-£240

M.S.M. London Gazette 13 March 1918:
‘In recognition of valuable service rendered with the Army in the Field during the present war.’

M.I.D. London Gazette 8 February 1917, 30 January 1920.

Bernard Augustine Embelin was born in Bromley-by-Bow around 1874 and witnessed initial service with the 3rd Battalion, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment. Transferring to the Medical Staff Corps on 1 September 1896, he was appointed Orderly 3rd Class 5 March 1897 and served on the Nile Expedition. Advanced Orderly 2nd Class, Embelin administered medical aid during the Boer War from 3 November 1899 to 14 October 1902, before marrying and transferring to Dublin. Here he passed courses in skin lesion skiagraphy and electrotherapy, qualifying as operating room attendant 12 March 1914.

Posted to No. 14 Field Ambulance, Embelin joined the B.E.F. in France from 21 August 1914 and was heavily involved in administering medical aid to the steady stream of casualties emanating from the Belgian town of Mons. A contemporary account of this time was published in The Fifeshire Advertiser on 12 September 1914:

‘A Kirkcaldy Highlander home wounded: His experiences at the Front
On the Tuesday morning after the Battle of Mons, while in the trenches with the 4th Division, he was wounded in the foot with a fragment of shell, and conveyed to the rear by the 14th Field Ambulance. On arriving at a point immune from the fire they were turned out of the ambulance, and he, along with others who were still capable of holding a rifle, were ordered to return to the trenches. The 14th Field Ambulance then returned for the more seriously injured, and was not again heard of...’

Private W. Watson of Pathead was fortunate to eventually escape by motor transport, but Embelin was soon captured by the Germans, spending almost a year as a Prisoner of War before being repatriated via the Red Cross to his family on 30 June 1915. His Army Service Record adds: ‘Brought to notice... For courageous conduct and splendid work under trying circumstances. Laimont. August 25th, 1914.’

Given the Army’s omnipresent need for medically trained personnel - heightened following the high rate of attrition at Gallipoli - Embelin was only able to enjoy four weeks at home before being sent to the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force on 26 July 1915. Raised Sergeant, he was transferred to East Africa and it was here that he suffered a gunshot wound to the leg on 27 February 1917. He was subsequently awarded the M.S.M. for devotion to duty and demobilised at Woking in April 1920.