COLLECTING 101: NON-MEDAL BOOKS FOR AMERICAN MEDAL COLLECTORS, PART 1: UNITED STATES ARMY

JEFFREY B. FLOYD

Most of us start off collecting medals with no real sources

of information. Then we find some book or magazine

that sets us off on the road to discovery. My road started

with the ribbon charts in the Encyclopedia Britannica

and the October 1943 issue of the National Geographic

Magazine. In the years since that initial discovery, I’ve

found that there were many "non-medal" books that were

significant additions to my library. It’s these "non-medal"

books that can really illuminate some of the pieces in your

collection. I’ll cover a selection of those books relating to

the United States Army and perhaps point you to a source

that you had not yet considered.

The Army Register has been published since the early

years of the Army. It was meant to be an internal

document to note relative rank and seniority of officers.

Over the years, it came to include an officer’s service

number, decorations, schools, promotion dates and past

units. In the 1970s, it came in three volumes, covering

regular officers, reservists and those who had retired.

There is a parallel series of registers for National Guard

officers. As you focus on a specific period, you’ll find

that certain years will contain outstanding information

for the researcher. For example, the 1948 Arm); andAir

Force Register is a combined register that identifies those

officers who moved to the newly independent Air Force.

The Retired Registers of 1965 through 1975 pick up the

officers who were discharged at the end of World War II,

but retained reserve commissions and retired after 20-30

years of service.

The Army List and Directory was published at varying

intervals between the World Wars. It contains the

locations of Army units and a roster of active duty and

retired officers and their locations.

The Register of Graduates of the United States Military Academy contains short summaries of graduates’ and non-graduates’ services and awards. These summaries are provided by the graduates themselves, so some are more complete than others. Every tenth year a "Cullum" edition is published to cover every class back to the beginning of the Academy.

The "Cullum" edition is an extension of The Biographical

Register of Officers and Graduates, United States Militao~

Academy by Major General George W. Cullum. Cullum’s

registers, published every ten years, include both military

service SUlmnaries and civilian career details as well. The entries were submitted by the graduates themselves, so many are incomplete, but these are still invaluable references.

The Historical Register and Dictionary of the United

States Army, by Francis B. Heitmann, is a compilation of

Army Registers from 1789 through 1903, with additional

coverage of volunteer officers. Plus, Heitmann lists

officers who received brevets for meritorious service or

gallantry, with their citations.

For information on World War I units, the Order of

Battle of the United States Land Forces in the Worm

War provides compiled data you will find nowhere else.

For divisions deployed with the American Expeditionary

Force in France, this book gives you a matrix of units

assigned to the various divisions, a dynamic order of

battle (listing units attached and detached for service

with other units) and a fairly detailed chronology of the

division’s actions. So, if you have a Purple Heart to a

man in the 30th Division who was wounded in action on

September 29, 1918, you’ll find that the division broke

through the Hindenburg Line that day as part of the

British Fourth Army. For units part of the Zone of the

Interior, you’ll find their locations and the dates of their

movements overseas.

Another useful book, entitled Official Record of the United States ’Part in the Great War, initially appears to be a bland recitation of statistics like the fact that between June and November 1918, on average, an enlisted man in the American Expeditionary Force received a new set of drawers and undershirt every 34 days. However, the last part of the book contains citations for the Medal of Honor awards and rolls of Distinguished Service Cross and Distinguished Service Medal recipients, with their units.

Shelby L. Stanton produced World War lI Order of Battle

and Vietnam Order of Battle, which include chronolo- gies, unit subordination and even insignia of the various

units. These books are handy in researching the context

of individual awards.

These "non-medal" books represent only the tip of the iceberg for useful sources. As you refine your interests, you’ll discover many more.

Vol. 61, No. 2 (March - April 2010) 29

THE UNIQUE AND HISTORIC POLAR MEDAL TO COMMANDER FRANK WILD, VETERAN OF FIVE HEROIC AGE ANTARCTIC EXPEDITIONS

GLENN M. STEIN

Through the kindness of Robert Stephenson, Coordinator of the website The Antarctic Circle, and polar book author Angie Butler, I have been corresponding and speaking with the family of Commander John Robert Frances "Frank" Wild, CBE, RNVR, FRGS (1873-1939) (Figure 1). When his widow died in 1970, Frank Wild’s British War Medal and Victory Medal (LIEUT. F. WILD, R.N.V.R.), geographical society medals, British National Antarctic Expedition Sports Medal (FRANK WILD),

and a dress miniature Polar Medal with clasps Antarctic 1902-04 and Antarctic 1907-09, along with a quantity of original documentation, were initially sold at Sotheby’s in June 1971. They were last sold at Dix Noonan Webb on December 13, 2007, and are now part of a London physician’s collection.

Figure 2: The Polar Medal with four clasps awarded to Commander Wild (courtesy of Dix

Noonan Webb, auctioneers, London).

Figure h Colnmander John Robert Francis Wild, RNVR.

It has been known for years that Wild’s unique Polar Medal with clasps Antarctic 1902-04, Antarctic 1907- 09, Antarctic 1912-14 and Antarctic 1914-16 (Figure 2) remained with his family in South Africa. The medal was issued officially engraved: A.B.F. WILD. "DISCOVERY". Only two four-clasp Polar Medals have been issued, the other being to Ernest Joyce, featuring the clasps Antarctic 1902-04, Antarctic 1907-09, Antarctic 1914-16 and Antarctic 1917. Joyce also received a duplicate medal and both medals are known to exist.

Figure 3: Commander Wild’s miniature group (courtesy of Dix Noonan Webb, auctioneers, London).

Wild’s Commander of the Order of the British Empire (London Gazette, January 1, 1920) and dress miniature medals accompany his Polar Medal. The miniatures are

30 JOMSA

mounted for wear: Commander, Order of the British Empire, Polar Medal with four clasps, British War Medal, Mercantile Marine War Medal and Victory Medal (Figure

3).

Wild’s family sought my advice concerning parting with the medals, since various interested parties in South Africa and the United Kingdom have attempted to acquire them over the years. I strongly recommended the best way to preserve Frank Wild’s memory and the medals’ provenance was to auction them through the London firm of Dix Noonan Webb.) Consequently, the family infonned me that his Commander, Order of the British Empire and Polar Medal sold for £110,000 (before buyer’s premium), the successful bidder being the London physician holding Wild’s other medals.

Frank Wild had more Antarctic experience than anyone else during the heroic age of Antarctic exploration (1895- 1922), participating in five expeditions between 1901 and 1922. Wild’s work and leadership were universally respected by his Antarctic comrades, who virtually never had a critical word to say or write about the Skelton, Yorkshire native.

Wild first went to Antarctica as an Able Seaman with Scott during the British National Antarctic Expedition of 1902-04, having had 12 years in the merchant navy before joining the Royal Navy in 1900. He took part in several sledge journeys, including the tragic first attempt to reach Cape Crozier. His spirited leadership brought several men back to the ship after the death of Able Seaman George Vince, who drowned after slipping down a steep ice slope during a blizzard. Scott thought highly of Wild’s service and specially mentioned him in despatches, thus Wild was duly promoted to petty officer. During the expedition, Wild struck up a friendship with the third lieutenant, Ernest Shackleton. As a member of Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition (1907-09), Wild was placed in charge of provisions, and was one of the four- man sledge party to reach just 97 miles from the South Pole. Fellow Yorkshireman and expedition geologist Douglas Mawson afterwards wrote that his experiences during this time, "acquainted me with Wild’s high merits as an explorer and leader." Upon his return, Frank Wild left the Royal Navy by purchase.

Though Scott asked Wild to join his second Antarctic venture, Wild declined, as he felt Scott was "too much the navy man." Instead, he joined Mawson’s 1912-1914 Australian Antarctic Expedition as a sledging expert and was appointed leader of the Western Base. Under him were seven untried men; none had previously served in the polar regions. In spite of terrible sledging conditions,

Wild led successful sledge parties to open up a new region, Queen Mary Land.

Wild then played a vital role as second-in-command

of the Endurance during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic

Expedition of 1914-1917. After the ship sank, the

men made their way by sledge and boat to land on the

desolate Elephant Island. Here, Wild’s leadership abilities

were tested to the fullest, as he was left in charge while

Shackleton went on his epic boat journey to get help on

South Georgia. Wild never gave up hope that Shackleton

would return to rescue them, and whenever the sea ice

cleared, he would say, "Roll up your sleeping-bags, boys:

the boss may be coming today."

On returning home, Wild volunteered for duty and was made a Temporary Lieutenant, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. After a Russian language course, he became the Royal Navy transport officer at Archangel, superintending arriving war materials during the Allied Intervention in Russia.

After the war, Wild went to South Africa where he fanned with two former Antarctic comrades. They worked the soil in British Nyasaland until 1921, the beginning of Wild’s final Antarctic adventure. They cleared the then virgin forest and planted cotton, and loved the life, though suffering from intermittent bouts of lnalaria.

From 1921 to 1922, Wild was second-in-colnmand of the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition, a poorly-equipped venture, with no clear plan, and a small ship, the Quest. Shackleton died of a heart attack on South Georgia, and Wild took over and completed the journey, combating unfavorable weather to Elephant Island and along the Antarctic coast. He returned to South Africa to work his farna. Frank Wild died onAugust 19, 1939, in Klerksdorp, where he was employed as a storeman at the Babrosco Mine. He was cremated on August 23, 1939, in the Braamfontein Cemetery in Johannesburg.

Frank Wild’s younger brother was also a polar explorer. Petty Officer Harry Ernest Wild, Royal Navy, looked after the stores and dogs of the Ross Sea Party during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Harry Wild died of typhoid in 1918, and in 1923 was posthumously awarded the Albert Medal (Second Class/Land) for the expedition. His Albert Medal, Polar Medal with clasp Antarctic 1914-16 and Italian Messina Earthquake Medal (1908) exist together, while his World War I Memorial Plaque is known in a separate collection. H.E. Wild was also entitled to the Antarctic 1917 clasp, and though sent to brother J.R. Wild in 1921, it was never attached to his Polar Medal.

Vol. 61, No. 2 (March- April 2010) 31