Leading family history data websiteTheGenealogist.co.ukhas continued to affirm its status as a major resource for military records too with the release of more than 25,000 records detailing recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The records cover non-commissioned officers and ‘other ranks’ who were awarded the DCM for their role in either the Second Boer War or World War One.

Uniquely these new records show full details of the recipient’s original Medal Card combined with a link to the original award announcement in The London Gazette describing the heroic deed that won them the medal. The new records add to the Military Medal collection announced last month and described in the last issue of Discover Your Ancestors Periodical .

From capturing enemy machine gun posts, keeping telephone lines intact under fire, to discovering important enemy documents valuable to the war effort, the Distinguished Conduct Medal was an award of great significance marking bravery during the heat of battle. This new records collection features:

• a copy of the image of the Medal Card as well as information about how the medal was won
• full details of the medal-winning soldier – their name, service number, rank, regiment, date of medal citation and the details of their heroism in battle
• the site’s unique ‘SmartSearch’ feature can be used to see the citation in the official government paper (and one of the oldest surviving newspapers) The London Gazette
• SmartSearch also links to the comprehensive range of other military records published at TheGenealogist.co.uk
• These new records cover both The Second Boer War and World War One – in fact, the full periods covered are 1898-1902 and 1914-1923 respectively.

The Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) was (until 1993) an extremely high level award for bravery. It was awarded to other ranks of the British Army and formerly also to non-commissioned personnel of other Commonwealth countries.

The medal was originally instituted in 1854, during the Crimean War, to recognise gallantry within the other ranks, for which it was equivalent of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) awarded for bravery to commissioned officers. After 1942, members of the Navy and Air Force were also entitled to the award.

Bars were awarded to the DCM in recognition of the performance of further acts of gallantry meriting the award. Recipients were entitled to use the letters DCM after their surname.

These new records now available at TheGenealogist.co.uk reveal some fascinating stories about some of the medal recipients.

Lance Corporal Joseph Thomas of Aberystwyth was a professional soldier in the 2nd Battalion, Royal Scots. A soldier who fought with great personal courage, he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal at Hooge in Belgium in September 1915. According to local newspapers at the time, his award prompted great celebrations in the town of Aberystwyth .

Joseph Thomas received a promotion to Sergeant and in May 1917, his battalion, the 12th Royal Scots in fighting around Arras taking heavy losses. Again acting courageously, Joseph Thomas was wounded twice on the battlefield before succumbing to his wounds.

One mouse click gives you full details from the citation in the London Gazette of how the medal was awarded.

Meanwhile Sergeant John William Russell joined The Royal Engineers (Signals Service) as a Pioneer in 1914 and was promoted to Sergeant by 2 March 1915. He was ‘Mentioned in Despatches’ on 1 Jan 1916. He received his DCM in the King’s Birthday Honours gazetted on 21 July 1916.

Again, one click gives us further details: For conspicuous and consistent good work on his system of telephone lines. He has shown tireless energy and resource, besides great gallantry, under fire.

Sergeant Russell later fought in the major battles of Arras and Passchendaele, winning a Military Medal (the record of which is also available at TheGenealogist) and promotion to Second Lieutenant.

Mark Bayley, head of online content at the site, said: We cannot but admire those many brave servicemen that performed outstanding acts of gallantry. Even more record releases are to follow as we further expand our already comprehensive World War One military record collection this year.

To find out about the extreme bravery of these soldiers and their courage in the line of duty see the dedicated records page at TheGenealogist.co.uk/DCM. There you will find photographs, stories, statistics and a free search facility.