A 'Hertford Heath' Merchant Seamans Great War service with 'Sea-Plane Carriers' medal group of 4: Chief Electrical Artificer Thomas Gerald Randall, Royal Naval Reserve and Merchant Navy

- 1914-15 Star (EA. 1857, T. Randall, E.R.A., R.N.R.)
- British War Medal. Silver issue (1857EA T. Randall. C.E.R.A. R.N.R.)
- Mercantile Marine War Medal (Thomas G. Randall)
- Interallied Victory Medal (1857EA T. Randall. C.E.R.A. R.N.R.)

Medals Verification: All four medals confirmed as entitled per the respective Admiralty medal roll and Board of Trade medal index card cited below:

- 1914-15 Star: ADM 171/123
- British War Medal. Silver issue: ADM 171/123
- Mercantile Marine War Medal: BT 351/1/116605
- Interallied Victory Medal: ADM 171/123

The recipients Royal Naval Reserve service records is extant and is held and accessible at The National Archives

Sea-Plane Carriers Great War Service: Amongst other naval postings, including early 1915 service aboard the sloop H.M.S. Acacia the recipients extant Royal Naval Reserve service records confirms 'War Service as a crew member of the below following 'Sea-Plane Carriers'

- H.M.S. Riviera (1916-1917)
- H.M.S. Empress (1918

H.M.S. Riviera: Was a seaplane carrier which served in the Royal Navy (RN) during the First and Second World Wars. Converted from the cross-Channel packet ship SS Riviera, she was initially fitted with temporary hangars for three seaplanes for aerial reconnaissance and bombing missions in the North Sea. She participated in the unsuccessful Cuxhaven Raid in late 1914 before she began a more thorough conversion in 1915 that increased her capacity to four aircraft. Riviera and her aircraft then spent several years spotting for British warships bombarding the Belgian coast and making unsuccessful attacks on targets in Germany. She was transferred to the Mediterranean in 1918 and returned to her owners the following year

Thomas Gerald Randall, second son of William Airey Randall (a Clerk Accountant at Haileybury College) and Emma Randall (nee Campbell) was a native of Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire, England, where he was born, 15 November 1886. At the time of the compilation of the 1901 National Census for England & Wales, Thomas is recorded as 'at school' and residing with his parents and elder siblings comprising, his sister, Elsie Randall (an eighteen year old employed as a school teacher), & brother Harold (a fifteen year old, employed as a Clerk in a publishing office) at their home located at Fir Tree Cottage, Little Amwell, Hertford, Hertfordshire, England

Condition: GVF

Code: 24941