Private J. S. Kerr Rendering First Aid To The
Wounded At A Farm, Which Was Being Heavily Shelled.
During a heavy bombardment by high explosive and gas shells on
December 29th 1915, Private J. S. Kerr, of the Royal Army
Medical Corps (attached 7th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison
Artillery), left his dug out, near Ypres, and passed through a dense
cloud of gas over 200 yards to a farm in which another battery was
billeted. Here he rendered
first aid to several wounded men. The
farm was being heavily shelled at the time, but though wounded himself,
he continued his work among the other wounded.
He was subsequently awarded the D.C.M. for his conspicuous
gallantry and devotion to duty.
Gunner Rafferty carrying a
wounded woman to safety from a farmhouse, which was being shelled.
As the enemy were shelling a farm, on which the men of a
battery of artillery had been billeted, a shell struck a room full of
women and children. A child
was killed, and nearly everyone else was wounded and panic-stricken.
Leaving their dugouts, Gunners Rafferty, Holmes and Pridmore at
once rescued the inhabitants of the farm, and carried them to a place of
safety. For his conspicuous
Gunner J Rafferty of the 112th Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison
Artillery was awarded the D.C.M.
Sergeant Kirkcaldy Bringing Up
Fresh Horses, Under A Terrific Shell Fire To Save A Transport Wagon At
Veldhoek. The crisis of the first great battle at Ypres was reached on
October 31st 1914. Fierce
began early in the morning along the Ypres-Menin road, and in time the
attack developed in great force against the village of Gheluvelt.
To the north of it the first and third brigades of the First
British Division were driven back while the 1st Coldstream
Guards were wiped out in the fighting.
The entire division was swept back from its position at Gheluvelt
to the woods between Veldhoek and Hooge.
At a critical moment, Sergeant H. Kirkcaldy, of the 26th
(Heavy) Battery Royal Garrison Artillery, brought up fresh horses under
a terrific shellfire to replace those already killed.
His gallant conduct saved a transport wagon, and he was rewarded
with the D.C.M.Bombardier Nelson Working A Field
Gun Single Handed And Under Heavy Fire. An attack from Cape Helles, on the shores of the
Dardanelles, was
begun on August 6th 1915, in support of movements on the
Gallipolis Peninsula. When
every other man attached to one of the field guns had been killed or
wounded during the fighting on May 9th, Bombardier J. L.
Nelson, of the 4th Highland (Mountain) Brigade, Royal
Garrison Artillery, continued with the greatest courage to work the gun
although the enemy were directing a deadly fire on to the British at
close range. The services
of Bombardier Nelson were of the utmost value at a critical period, and
he was most deservedly rewarded with the D.C.M.
The Recoil Of His Gun Often Threw
Sergeant Bailey To The Ground.
On the 1st November 1914, at Ypres, when the guns of
the 150th Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, were being
continually employed in shelling the enemy, a breech mechanism of a gun
at which Sergeant D. B. Bailey was working became overheated and
resulted in premature firing, causing the carriage to recoil.
Sergeant Bailey was thrown to the ground by this on several
occasions, and showed most gallant spirit in working his gun after
regaining consciousness. Again
on the next day he continued to work his gun after being wounded in the
head by a shrapnel bullet. For
his bravery on this occasion and on many others, he was awarded the
D.C.M.