Medal entitlement.

[SillyOldGrandad]

Hello, just a simple question that I am sure has been asked many times before but here goes anyway. Did the British soldiers who served in Ireland during the Easter Uprising, but saw no other service elsewhere, receive any medals at all?. I ask because I know that the soldiers involved in the raid on Hartlepool received the British War Medal and wondered if the same applied to those in Ireland. Any help would be much appreciated. Pete.

[Gunner 1]

I cannot find a definite answer to your question but one of the qualifications for the British War Medal was that one had to leave the UK - I am quite sure that Ireland was part of the UK at that time.  The men who received the BWM for Hartlepool were fighting enemy forces - I do not believe the Irish were enemy forces. As I am not a resident of the UK I stand to be corrected.

[SillyOldGrandad]

Thanks for the reply. I understand what you mean about the Hartlepool soldiers being in an action against the enemy and about the Irish not being enemy forces. It just seems odd somehow that men can be placed in a situation where they face a good chance of being killed, and many of them were, at the hands of armed rebels/insurgents/freedom fighters and their efforts not being recognised as active service. Pete.

[graham]

Not a British soldier but an interesting story: -

www.broadsheet.ie/2013/01/22/1916s-greatest-heroine/

Regards,

Graham

[SillyOldGrandad]

Thanks for that Graham, great stuff and a great girl, I'd never heard of Louisa Nolan before. I liked the "cough" and "splutter" bit as well.☺️. Pete.