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Medal
Medal, military, British War Medal, silver, 1914-1918
Medal, silver, War Service Medal, 1914-1918. Non-swivelling suspender, ribbon and pin missing. Obverse: Profile of head of King George V and the legend “Georgius V Britt. OMN: REX ET INDInd:Imp: Reverse: St. George on horseback holding a short sword. The horse is trampling on the shield of the Central Powers and a skull and crossbones. In the background are waves of the sea, while the sun is above the horse’s mane. The dates of ‘1914’ and ‘1918’ occur on either side of image. Rim: “6045 PTE. J.M. KELLY, LEINS. R.”
The ribbon in the photograph is the wrong one and actually belongs to a Second World War English medal. The medal came to the museum with this ribbon on it, while the correct ribbon was donated to the museum in 2007.
The Medal was awarded to Pte. John Montague Kelly of the Leinster Regiment who was from Ruan. He survived the First World War but suffered badly from shell shock. During the IRA raid on Ruan Barracks in October 1920, he went outside to investigate the commotion and was ‘shot in the ankle by the Black-and-Tans’. He was arrested and taken to Ennis and his mother had to come to town to have him released. He was not a participant in the raid.
Category: Medallion/Badge