Awards and citations

In a letter home on the 29th Aug 1916 Stan Dallas
states that he has received his DSC. The citation however is reportedly dated as Sept 7th. Did they receive the award before the publication of the citation ? Any clues ?

The following was sent to another party dealing with a similar problem:

By my understanding, the regulations were that a man was not even to be
informed that he had been recommended for an award, as it would be very
embarassing for all if the recommendation either failed to produce the gong
or produced a lesser one. Moreover, he was not to be told of an award being
approved until it had been announced.

We normally think of "announcement" as being publication in the LONDON
GAZETTE. However, the Commanders-in-Chief in the field (i.e. Haig on the
Western Front) had a great deal of delegated authority from the King to
award decorations (other than Victoria Crosses) and there may well have been
some "leakage" of information from GHQ back to units once Haig or his staff
had cleared a gong. Moreover, if one looks at First World War communiques,
one will find instances of awards being reported in said communiques well in
advance of LONDON GAZETTE announcements (to use a Canadian example, H.J.
Burden's DSO and DFC were reported in communiques two weeks before the
LONDON GAZETTE announced them).

Note, too, that in some instances an award would be reported (with no
citation) in the LONDON GAZETTE, followed several weeks later by a further
announcement that gave the citation.

The other thing to remember is that in many cases French decorations were
recommended by the French, announced in French army orders, and presented to
the recipients months (even years) before LONDON GAZETTE announcements. This
observation does not apply with French awards that were presented upon
British initiative rather than French initiative.

If this sounds confusing, bear in mind that most French awards to British
and Commonwealth personnel were awarded via one of three channels (1)
Senior French officers, having direct contact with a British unit (such as
No.3 Naval Wing in1916-1917), are familiar with events at first hand, single
out those British personnel they deem deserving, and (with British consent)
write up citations, publish the awards, and hold on-the-spot investitures;
these are the awards most often delayed in LONDON GAZETTE publication.
Goble's Croix de Guerre is a case in point - announced four or five years
after the French had granted it. (2) French authorities hand over a batch
of awards (say 100 Croix de Guerre) to British GHQ which in turn delegates
authority to the various Armies and Corps to nominate candidates. The
choice of recipients is thus left to British officers, and because
everything goes through British channels, the results turn up quickly in
LONDON GAZETTES. (3) Upon the conclusion of fighting, senior Allied
officers arrange for mutual exchanges of awards (this is when there is an
upturn of very high awards such as Legion of Honour) and the results again
are expeditiously published in the LONDON GAZETTE.

The regulations about not informing people of award recommendations were
very strictly enforced during the Second World War, and the severity of that
enforcement may well have been in response to lax enforcement earlier.