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Ministry of Defence

Answer

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future of paper records of medals issued to First World War combatants; what electronic records are kept of these medals; whether those records contain all the information contained in the paper records; and what arrangements he is making to ensure that records of these medals are not lost. [223633] Mr. Caplin: The Ministry of Defence, together with The National Archives, has been actively seeking to identify a suitable institution prepared to take these cards. So far, a home for just a small part of the collection has been found. No decision on the retention or destruction of the cards will be taken until all such avenues have been explored. However, the information from the front of the First World War medal index cards is already preserved in a microfilmed format and is available to researchers at The National Archives (in Class WO 372) and through the National Archives website online. During microfilming the reverse side of the cards was not copied as the vast majority of them are blank. Sampling found that information on the reverse is restricted to about 1 per cent. of the cards.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

432 c1212W; 223633

Session

2004-05

Subjects

ICT Documents Paper Public records Medals Military decorations World War I Information retrieval

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk