A rare Great War ‘India theatre’ M.S.M. group of six awarded to Sergeant Major 2nd Class R. T. Short, Royal Air Force, late Army Ordnance Corps

1914-15 Star (216 Q.M. Sjt. R. T. Short, A.O.C.); British War and Victory Medals (338059. S.M. 2. R. T. Short. R.A.F.); Delhi Durbar 1911 (Q.M.S. Short. A.O.C.) neatly engraved naming; Royal Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, G.V.R. (216. S.M. 2 R. T. Short) naming slightly rubbed, and missing unit; Royal Air Force L.S. & G.C., G.V.R. (338059. S.M. 2. R. T. Short. R.A.F.) mounted on card for display, (6) £600-£800

M.S.M. London Gazette 3 June 1919 (India).

Awarded the M.S.M. for services in India, one of just 4 M.S.M.s awarded to the R.A.F. for this theatre during the Great War.

Reginald Thomas Short was born in Plymouth, Devon, in December 1876. He enlisted in the Army Ordnance Corps in August 1901, and was attached as Armament Quartermaster Sergeant attached to the 66th Battery, Royal Field Artillery at Jhansi, India in 1911 (Delhi Durbar confirmed on the roll of Ordnance Department - Headquarters, 6th Brigade A.O.C.)

Short remained in India throughout the Great War, and according to his MIC he had some affiliation with the Royal Flying Corps. This may well have been behind his decision to transfer to the Royal Air Force on its formation. At some stage he re-engaged for a term of 21 years. Short’s service record is a little confusing in that an original entry shows transfer to the R.A.F. as being on 5 August 1918 - this is later amended to 1 April 1918. This could be the part explanation of his A.O.C. Service Number ‘216’ continuing to be used during the first few months of the new organisation. Short’s R.A.F. M.S.M. is gazetted on 3 June 1919 as ‘216 S/M2, and surprisingly the medal itself is so named - but with the exception of his unit. Obviously by this time he had the R.A.F. number ‘338059’. At the time of transfer his unit was R.A.F. Air Park, India confirming his previous attached service to the R.F.C.

Short remained with the above unit until leaving for the UK, 15 May 1920 (R.A.F. L.S. & G.C. announced in AMO N.119/1922, but with an effective date of 13 August 1919). His only unit thereafter being the School of Technical Training, Manston, where he remained until discharged to pension on completion of 21 years’ qualifying service, on 13 August 1922. The confusion with the dates of his transfer form the A.O.C. appears to have continued with the award of his medals - with them all being issued a year or two after his discharge. Short died in Truro, Devon, in 1945.

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