Corporal John Sayko VR Royal Engineers and Officer Training Corps
The Man John Sayko was born on 12th June 1948 in Castle Ward, Northumberland and never married. It would seem John enlisted into the Territorial Army Royal Engineers with service number 24066999 in about 1965. He was awarded his Efficiency Medal (T&AVR) in about 1977 as a Lance Corporal appearing in Army Order 118 of April 1978, followed by the first clasp in 1983, the second in 1989 and third in 1995, appearing in Army Order 191 of 1996. In 1999 the newly instituted Volunteer Reserve Service Medal became available and John, who had served the 10 years required from 1989 – 1999, exchanged the third clasp to his Efficiency Medal for the award, this appearing in the London Gazette of May 2001 together with the cancellation of his EM clasp. He was further awarded the first clasp to the VRSM dated 2004 and shown in the London Gazette of March 2005. His medal combination totalled 39 years in the Territorial Army, not only in the RE but also the Officer Training Corps, in which he reached the rank of Corporal.. He lived at 15, Stamford Avenue, Stalybridge, Cheshire and died on 11th July 2016 in Ashton Under Lyne, Manchester.
The Story The medals awarded to John Sayko were seen on CJ and AJ Dixon’s website late one night in October 2020. They caused a restless hour or two and so were purchased about 0130am. The reason for the interest was the double long service combination of the Efficiency Medal and Volunteer Reserve Service Medal, the first in this collection and both having additional long service clasps. Initial research on Forces War Records and the London Gazette confirmed the award of the Efficiency and Volunteer Reserve Service Medal and the clasps with the dates of award generally tying up. It seems however that the London Gazette is not as specific on its award dates for the VRSM clasp as it used to be with those of the Efficiency Decoration. Whilst everything is confirmed it seems the entries appeared in the Gazette some months after the award and contain errors. The two specifically are the engraved date of John’s VRSM is 2004, but appears in the LG of March 2005 and the cancellation of his second clasp to the EM (T&AVR) when it fact it was his third clasp awarded in 1996! However, all ties up generally but despite the unusual name no details could be found on Ancestry.UK but interestingly an additional entry in the London Gazette confirming Jon’s death intestate with no family has provided a little more information.
Medal Details:
- Golden Jubilee Medal 2002: Unnamed as awarded.
- Efficiency Medal: 24066999 L.CPL. J.SAYKO. R.E.
- Volunteer Reserve Service Medal and clasp: 24066999 CPL J SAYKO RE / 2004
This page last updated 14 Oct 20