British Great War Trio to a Connaught Ranger.

[Kev in Deva]

A few weeks ago I got a phone call from a Romanian lad I know in Bucharest, he was telling me about some medals that he found in his Grandfathers house which he was in the process of clearing, what caught my attention was the description, gold medal with a winged lady Great War for Civilization 1914 - 1919, a star with a crown and the dates 1914-15, silver medal man on a horse . . . . . I then asked him was there a name to the rear of the star and the rim of the other medals . . . yes, there was:-

4615 PTE. T. MC KENNA CONN RANG.

Would I be interested in obtaining them? You bet!!

Kevin in Deva. :jumping:

Edited May 12, 2012 by Kev in Deva

[Kev in Deva]

The rears, all named to the same man.

The Romanian lad has no idea how they came to be in his Grandfathers possession,

his Grandad had the distinction of being one of the earliest members of the Romanian Communist Party.

So far I have found this out:-

Name: Thomas McKenna

Regiment or Corps: Connaught Rangers, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.

Regimental Number: 4615, 48490

Posted to France on 17 Dec 1915. Later to Class Z reserves.

That he survived the war, and was under the "Z" classification

for further service if Prussia and the Associated German States broke the Armistice.

Kevin in Deva

Edited May 12, 2012 by Kev in Deva

[Kev in Deva]

Some close-ups:-

The 1914-15 Star (Front.)

Kevin in Deva.

[Kev in Deva]

The 1914 -15 Star (Rear.)

Kevin in Deva.

[Kev in Deva]

The British War Medal 1914 - 1918. (Front)

Kevin in Deva.

[Kev in Deva]

The British War Medal 1914 - 1918. (Rear)

A fantastic patina.

Kevin in Deva.

[Kev in Deva]

The British Inter-Allied Victory Medal for WW1. (Front.)

Kevin in Deva.

[Kev in Deva]

The British Inter-Allied Victory Medal for WW1. (Rear.)

First trio I have had in my collection well worth the wait,

to a Connaught Ranger, and even more so to find them in Romania.

Kevin in Deva.

[Kev in Deva]

Sadly the original ribbons are a bit grubby, must source some replacements, original period pieces hopefully.

Kevin in Deva. :beer:

[Tony]

A great find and good to see they're still together.

The ribbons look quite good from here but if you do try to get a set in better condition there are usually some to be found online. You may have to be patient if you prefer not to spend too much on them.

I did a quick check on ancestry but didn't find anything, maybe you already looked there.

Tony

[Kev in Deva]

Hallo Tony,

I also posted about this on the GWR Forum, did not yet get into Ancestry.com.,

would love to know where he was originally from, hopefully something turns up,

The biggest mystery is how the trio got here in Romania.

Kevin in Deva

[Herman]

À very nice trio, Kev.

As Tony said, no problems with the ribbons just looking at the picture.

Perhaps you can carefully clean them in the laundry machine. Just stuff them carefully in your wifes stockings. Might work out fine.

If they are too worn, don't bother.

success with your search for more info,

Herman

[Kev in Deva]

Closer view of the ribbons

The 1914 - 15 Star ribbon.

Kevin in Deva.

[Kev in Deva]

Closer view of the ribbons

The 1914 - 15 Star ribbon.

Kevin in Deva.

[Kev in Deva]

The British War Medal Ribbon.

Kevin in Deva.

[Kev in Deva]

The British Inter-Allied Victory Medal ribbon.

This one appears to be in the best condition.

Kevin in Deva.

[Tony]

The ribbons look very good indeed, it'll be difficult to find better ones unless you're willing to pay around £20 or buy those horrible cheap nylon ones.

I've had another look on ancestry and although plenty of men had the same name there's no one I could find with the same number in either the Connaught Rangers or Royal Innniskilling Fusiliers.

Tony

[AlecH]

Very nice first trio - Kevin

[Kev in Deva]

Very nice first trio - Kevin

Many thanks AlecH,

well worth the wait, now hopefully some research will turn up some information on the man himself.

Kevin in Deva,

[paddywhack]

id keep the ribobns with the medals as they survived 70+ years with the medals and are part of them! id did a search as well on ancestry but there are just to many mckennas to get your man sadly so unless he was mentioned in the london gazzette its going to be VERY hard to find him sadly!but still a very very nice group!!! :)

Edited May 19, 2012 by paddywhack

[Kev in Deva]

Hi Paddy,

I fully intend to keep all together as found, I was considering obtaining better ribbon for a framed display.

Yup, quite a few McKenna's out there, but we can keep trying.

Kevin in Deva. :cheers:

[renmore]

Hi Kev, very nice trio to a member of the 6th Connaughts who were with the 16th Irish Division, I will have a look at the 6th Connaughts war diary to see if he is mentioned but it would be a long shot.

[Kev in Deva]

Many thanks "renmore"

Kevin in Deva.

[erichjr]

Very nice medals.

Erich

[renmore]

Hi Kev, unfortunately no mention of your man ,there were a few McKenna's mentioned in casualty lists in the diary up to June 1916,after that other ranks were not really mentioned.

Regards,

Renmore