McCarthy Medals

1915 Star and Pair to Brothers RND and Can INF, POW and KIA

1914/15 star CZ1875 J BURNS AB RNVR

James Burns an apprentice boilermaker from Springburn Glasgow served in the Hood Battn RND, he was reported wounded in Gallipoli in 1915 and was taken POW at Ypres on the 24th of March 1918, he was held at Kriegsgefangenen-Stammlagere POW camp in Limburg Germany and was repatriated in 1919

WW1 Pair 427336 PTE J D BURNS 46-CAN INF

John Donaldson Burns a 33 year old boilermaker from Springburn Glasgow served with the 46th Canadian Infantry and died of wounds on the 14th of November 1916, He is buried in Albert Communal Cemetery . he had 8 years previous service with the HLI

It is highly likely that both brothers were originally boilermakers with the North British Locomotive Company Springburn Glasgow

Medals with original ribbons and in NEF condition

Code: 50578

Reserved

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Sudan Pair to The Lan Fus, POW And Later Wounded In The Boer War

Queens Sudan Medal 5298 PTE W RATHBONE 2/LAN FUS , Khedives Sudan Medal bar Khartoum 5298 PTE W RATHBONE 2ND L F

William Whittle Rathbone a 20 year old labourer from Bolton enlisted into the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1895 , he served in the Sudan and in the Boer War with the Lanc Fus detachment of the 5th Mounted infantry and was taken Prisoner at Vryheid on the 11th of December 1900 and was slightly wounded at the defence of Itala Fort on the 26th of October 1901

The Mounted Infantry of the Lancashire Fusiliers formed part of the garrison of Vryheid when that town was attacked on 10th-11th December 1900. After very severe fighting the enemy was driven off with a loss of 100 killed and wounded. The men of the battalion had about 10 casualties

At Fort Itala on 26th September 1901 (see 2nd Royal Lancaster) the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers were represented in the little force which made one of the finest stands recorded in the campaign. One man of the battalion was killed and 5 wounded

During the second Boer incursion into Natal Colony, Cmdt-Gen L. Botha, laagered at Babanango, sent Asst Cmdt-Gen C. Botha on 25 September 1901 with some 1,400 burghers to storm the fortified British post at Itala on the eastern slopes of Itala Mountain. It was occupied by 300 men of the 5th division mounted infantry and two guns of the 69th battery Royal Field Artillery under the command of Maj A.J. Chapman, Royal Dublin Fusiliers. On receiving warning of the Boer advance, the peak of Itala Mountain was manned by 80 mounted infantrymen under Lt B.P. Lefroy, 1st The Royal Dublin Fusiliers, and Lt H.R. Kane, 1st The Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire) regiment. At midnight, Botha first attacked the detachment on the summit which put up stout resistance and fought for over an hour before it was overwhelmed. The garrison thus had time to prepare for an attack which came about 2 am and for the next two hours repeated Boer rushes were repulsed. During the day, the burghers maintained a sporadic but accurate fire on the British defences from their positions on the mountain above the camp. Faced with this resistance, Botha withdrew his burghers that evening and Chapman, having provided for the wounded, withdrew from the camp at midnight retiring to his base at Nkandla. The British lost 22 killed, including Kane, and 59 wounded. Driver F.G. Bradley, 69th battery Royal Field Artillery, was awarded the Victoria Cross for carrying a wounded soldier to safety under heavy fire. Boer losses were 15 killed, 40 wounded and one missing; among the dead were Cmdt J.S.F. Blignaut, Swaziland Police, and Capt P.J. Scholz, Vryheid Commando scout corps.

Medals are dark toned VF condition

Code: 50639

575.00 GBP

Shortlist item

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QSA To The Welsh R, KIA

QSA two bars Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg 8505 PTE W BISHOP WELSH REGT

Pte Bishop was killed in action at Paardeberg on the18th of February 1900. He is commemorated on the Cathay Park. National Memorial, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales

That the Welsh Regiment performed their share of the task in a manner worthy of all praise is proved by the following quotation from the despatch of Lieutenant General Kelly-Kenny of 20th February, relating to the attack on Cronje at Paardeberg: "I will take an opportunity of bringing to notice the special acts of devotion to duty on the part of individuals; I confine myself at present to representing the fine spirit and gallantry of all the troops engaged; I feel bound, however, to bring to your lordship's notice now the very gallant conduct of the 1st Battalion Welsh Regiment, who were on our right flank: a portion of the battalion charged right up to the Boer laager with the bayonet in the finest possible manner, losing heavily in their gallant attempt to capture it". The Welsh have to thank some pertinacious catechists in the House of Commons for the publication of this despatch: the object of the catechists was not, however, to add to the glory of this or any other regiment.

At Paardeberg the Welsh had 1 officer killed and 5 wounded, 15 men killed and 57 wounded.

Medal with original ribbon and in toned EF condition

Code: 50640

Reserved

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Group of Five to the RE/ Togoland Civ / KAR

QSA five bars Belmont , Modder River, Orange Free State Transvaal SA01 570 BGLR R N KILBY RE 1914/15 Star R N KILBY British War and Victory medals ( MID ) LIEUT R N KILBY Army LSGC ( Geo V ) 570 CPL R N KILBY RE

Reginald Norman Kilby was born in Bermuda West Indies in 1882. he enlisted into the Royal Engineers in 1896 aged 14 , being 4 ft 11 in height and weighing 80Ib !

His reason foe enlisting at such a young age may have been to escape a slight troubled childhood as in 1892 aged 12 he along with a friend received at Chatham 8 strokes of the birch for attempting to drop a 7Ib rock down the funnel of a London Chatham and Dover train as it emerged from a tunnel !

He served in the Boer War and West Africa from 1905 and was mentioned by the Colonial Office for good services whilst employed with the Gold Coast Mines Survey . He was discharged in the Gold Coast in 1911 and took up a post with the Survey Dept there

He was still in the Gold Coast in 1914 when WW1 broke out and he took part in the Togoland campaign from 12th August 1914 as a special military probationer ( ex RE ) , he was later commissioned into the east Surrey Regiment attached Nigerian Regiment and was mentioned in despatches in the London Gazette of the 12th of June 1918 as Lieut East Surr R att Nigerian Regt WAFF

The medal Index cards show approx. 125 1914/15 stars were awarded to Europeans for services attached columns operating in Togoland , these men would have been amongst the first British troops in action, nearly 2 weeks before actions commenced in France and Flanders

Togoland 1914

After calling on the German colony to surrender on 6 August 1914, French and British troops invaded unopposed the next day. No military personnel were stationed in the protectorate. The police force consisted of a commander and deputy commander, 10 German sergeants, 1 native sergeant and 660 Togolese policemen deployed throughout the territory.[12] The Entente forces occupied Lomé, then advanced on a powerful new radio station near Kamina, east of Atakpamé. The colony surrendered on 26 August 1914, after the German technicians who had built the radio installation destroyed the station during the night of 24/25 August. In the weeks before the destruction, Kamerun, German Southwest Africa, German East Africa and 47 ships on the high seas were sent reports of Allied actions, as well as warnings of trouble ahead

Reginald Norman Kilby died in Wimbledon in 1926 at the young age of 44, the circumstances of his death have not yet been researched

Medals are mounted as worn on original frayed ribbons and are in GVF condition

Code: 50642

Reserved

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IGS 1908 To The R Mun Fus Taken POW At Etreux 27th Aug1914

IGS one bar North West frontier 1908 6583 PTE J MCSWEENEY 1ST BN M FUS

John McSweeney a shoemaker from Killarney was taken Prisoner of War during the epic stand of the Royal Munster Fusiliers at Etreaux on the 27th of August 1914, he was repatriated to Switzerland from Germany in 1916 and eventually returned home in December 1918, the reason for his move to Switzerland is unknown but possibly through wounds

2nd Munsters stand at Etreux 27th August 1914

The German 2nd Army commander General Karl von Bülow had ordered a rapid pursuit after the battles of 21–24 August against the French Fifth Army and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The 1st and 2nd Armies were sent to the south-west to gain the left flank of the Allied line. After encountering "especially obstinate" resistance at Marbaix and Le Grand-Fayt, the German Imperial Army's X (Reserve) Corps had been ordered to continue its advance to the south-west.2 The 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers had been ordered to hold its ground at all costs, in their first action in France

Less than a battalion strength, just 3 companies of the 2nd Battalion of "The Munsters" supported by a couple of field guns halted the advance of the German Army for fourteen hours in the area of Oisny and Étreux during the retreat from Mons on 27 August.1914

Under continual pressure from German attacks the Munsters fell back to an orchard near the village of Étreux. As night fell on the evening of the 27 August, they found themselves surrounded by the Germans. Having exhausted their ammunition they surrendered. In their action at Ètreux only four officers and 240 other ranks of the 2nd Munsters survived but the battalion delayed German pursuit of the British I Corps, gaining time for the British Expeditionary Force to escape. The 2nd Munsters were outnumbered at odds of over 6:1 and when finally defeated, the survivors were congratulated on their bravery by the German soldiers they had fought.

Medal with original ribbon and in GVF condition

Code: 50646

Reserved

1915 Star and Pair to Brothers RND and Can INF, POW and KIA

1914/15 Trio And Plaque To The 15th London Regt

E&WA Bar Benin 1897 To RN, An Interesting Character From N Ireland

Sudan Pair to The Lan Fus, POW And Later Wounded In The Boer War

QSA To The Welsh R, KIA

QSA And Natal 1906 Pair

Group of Five to the RE/ Togoland Civ / KAR

1914/15 Trio To a Lieut North Fus , KIA

Afghan Medal To The 72nd Highs , KIA

IGS 1908 To The R Mun Fus Taken POW At Etreux 27th Aug1914