Corporal John Maher

[awilljenny]

I know a little about John from a "death penny" that I have been given but would like to know more. In particular I would like to find out why he was awarded a DCM and Bar and the Order of St George 4th Class (Russia). I am intrigued to know as to whether these are two/three separate awards or were they given for the same action - how should I go about trying to find this out?

[Peter Goodey]

It would have been helpful to have included his regiment and service number which is 7622 Leinster Regiment

First search the Gazette for the awards. The DCM citation is there. Search term of 7622 Maher should suffice. The Russian medal may not have been for a specific action - there may have been a batch of medals handed over with a request to the British authorities to dish them out to deserving recipients. See Wikipedia for information on the Order og St George.

[Peter Goodey]

I'm feeling generous. Here's one citation -

7622

Serjeant ... Maher, J.

Corps.
1st Battalion, Leinster
Regiment

Action for which commended.
For conspicuous gallantry, marked
ability, and coolness, at St. Eloi, on
15th March 1915, when he took
command of the trench after his
Oflicer had been killed, and repulsed
the attack of a very superior force,
inflicting great losses on the enemy.

The bar indicates a second award. I'll leave you to search for the other award.

Now have a look at the appropriate war diaries in National Archives series WO95

https://discovery.nationalarchives.go...=&_st=adv&_rv=

Refine that search as you wish

[awilljenny]

Thanks so much for both posts Peter! As a newbie to the site I wasn't familiar with the protocol so could have included the information that you suggested - I just didn't think anyone would a) respond b) be as helpful as you have been!
So thanks, again, for whetting my appetite and I'll follow up your suggestions!

[Peter Goodey]

I'm afraid the Gazette isn't always very easy to search. It's an OCR system so you may have to try different stratagems to find what you want.

I went back and has another look and the citation I copied above is definitely the second award. I went back to try and find the first award but it was giving me a headache so I decided to break for lunch

[SueNSW]

Looks like he landed in France with the 2nd battalion - the 1st were in India at the outbreak of war and didn't go to France till December - his medal index card shows he landed 8th September 1914. As he died with the 1st he obviously transferred at some point

With his low service number and early date of entry he was a regular soldier - his number suggests he enlisted in the second half of 1904 or first half of 1905 - he may have continued to serve until the outbreak of war - or possibly finished his initial term of service and was in the reserves - so liable to immediate return to the regiment on the outbreak. 2nd battalion were in Cork when war broke out. Have you found him in the 1911 census?

War diaries for both battalions have been digitised by the National Archives and can be downloaded for GBP3.30 each

2 Battalion Leinster Regiment - Aug 1914 - Oct 1915 - https://discovery.nationalarchives.go...ils/r/C7352345
1 Battalion Leinster Regiment - Dec 1914 - Oct 1915 - https://discovery.nationalarchives.go...ils/r/C7353482

You may learn more about the actions that prompted the awards from them

[SueNSW]

The initial DCM award looks to have been gazetted 23rd Feb 1915 in the Edinburgh Gazette - 7622 Lance-Corporal J Maher, 2nd Battalion, Leinster Regiment. Citation was published 6th April 1915 - https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinbur...12791/page/509

The bar that Peter found is here - https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinbur...12815/page/824

The Cross of the Order of St George (4th Class) was gazetted in a supplement dated 25 August 1915 - here
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/...upplement/8508 - but no citation

[awilljenny]

Wow! Thanks for both of these posts - as I said to Peter, I did know some of this (I had found him in the Gazettes that you mention) but I had no knowledge of how to work out when he landed in France (I guessed/worked out from the death penny that he was an early recruit - it's an Acton one with no Woolwich number on the back) so I'm very grateful for your info.
I've now got to decide how much more to spend on researching him but have to say that the enthusiasm and dedication of both Peter and yourself is inspiring me!
The thing that persuades me to push further is that the CWGC (where I started) describes him as a Corporal and indeed his first (February 15) award seems to confirm this, but by his bar (March 15) he is a Sergeant, so why, if he died in May 15, is he still registered as a Corporal? Had the promotion not been confirmed or am I missing something obvious?
Thanks again to Peter and yourself.

[SueNSW]

So far as the differences in rank are concerned - without a service record it will be difficult to find out for sure - possible reasons could be that it was a only a temporary promotion - or he may have requested for some personal reason to return to his previous rank - or even I guess despite his obvious bravery he might have got himself into some sort of trouble and been demoted back to Corporal as a result.

As well as downloading and reading the war diaries you might like to look at this website and possibly make contact - https://www.leinster-regiment-association.org.uk/

Another avenue might be to post on the Great War Forum - where there are some real experts - hopefully by including the regiment name and his decorations in your title along with his name (if it will all fit!) it will catch the eye of someone who has in depth knowledge of the regiment and the campaigns of the 1st and 2nd battalions

Good Luck!

[awilljenny]

Again very many thanks! Once I have a little more time I shall certainly explore your suggestions - to be fair I hadn't even considered the idea that a soldier could have a temporary promotion so that's really helpful. Thanks again.