Fireman John Williamson Horner Fireman Armed Forces and Bedfordshire Fire Brigade
Medals mounted as worn with Imperial Service and Fire Brigade Long Service in wrong order.
The Man Despite the unusual name, no record of John Williamson Horner can be found on Ancestry.UK. He saw service during World War II, possibly as part of the British Expeditionary Force in France, or in Norway. He worked for the Ministry of Public Building and Works and in October 1969 was awarded the Imperial Service Medal upon retirement as a Stoker ‘C’. John also served as a retained firefighter being awarded the Fire Brigade Long Service Medal. It is unconfirmed, but John may have worked at RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire and as a Retained Firefighter in Henlow village.
The Story The group of medals awarded to John Williamson Horner were acquired from E-Bay in April 2020 following an offer made. They were of interest because of the unusual double long service combination of the Imperial Service Medal and Fire Brigade Long Service Medal. Initially it seemed that research would be possible due to the unusual middle name, and some minor detail that came with the medals. However, the research provided was limited and referred to a John William Horner born in 1906 living in Bedfordshire. Although this person could be one and the same (a possible transcription error on the ISM roll?) there are so many John W Horners living in Bedford that it was impossible to confirm either way. Sadly this group will remain unresearched unless someone searching on the internet can make a link or definitive connection. A pity as it is an unusual combination of medals with a story to be told.
Medal Details:
- 1939-45 Star: Unnamed as awarded.
- Defence Medal: Unnamed as awarded.
- War Medal 1939-45: Unnamed as awarded.
- Imperial Service Medal: JOHN WILLIAMSON HORNER
- Fire Brigade Long Service Medal: FIREMAN JOHN W.HORNER .
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This page last updated 4 May 20