A Great War D.C.M. pair awarded to Sergeant J. Kelly, South Staffordshire Regiment, was killed in action at Hulluch Sector in December 1917

Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.V.R. (240729 Sjt. J. Kelly, 1/6 S. Staff. R. - T.F.); 1914-15 Star (3269 Pte. J. Kelly, S. Staff. R.), together with related Memorial Plaque (John Kelly), the first and last a little polished, otherwise generally very fine or better (3) £800-1000

D.C.M. London Gazette 22 October 1917:

‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during a raid on the enemy’s trenches. He was in charge of a party which came upon a large dug-out from which the enemy commenced to emerge. The first man was shot, and the remainder retired into the dug-out and fired rifles through the entrances. He went in alone to reconnoitre, and returning for help finally brought out four prisoners. He showed the greatest initiative and fearlessness throughout.’

John Kelly, who was born in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, and who enlisted in the 1/6th Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment at Wolverhampton, first entered the French theatre of war in late June 1915. As verified by official records, his D.C.M. was awarded in respect of a trench raid in the Hulluch Sector on 28 August 1917, a raid which is described in the following terms by a unit War Diary:

‘The day was spent in giving the finishing touches to the details of the raid, while our Heavy Artillery (the 6” howitzers) were turned on to the wire which had given so much trouble. At 6 p.m. reports were received that the wire was cut sufficiently and Brigade telephoned the order to carry out the raid. The 1/6th South Staffordshire Regiment (5 officers & 100 O.R.) rushed the German trenches at zero, which was 8.00 p.m. - in daylight. By 9.00 p.m. they had withdrawn, having reached the objective with ease and few casualties, and returned with 5 prisoners, 2 of them wounded, belonging to the 393rd Infantry Regiment (3rd Battalion). These men, without any visible signs of war-weariness, showed the usual pleasure at being taken prisoner. One of them, owing perhaps to some personal grudge against his Company Commander, was kind enough to point out on a trench map the location of the latter’s dug-out. Our artillery being notified undertook to shell this unfortunate officer’s quarters during the second operation.’

Sadly Kelly was killed in action in the same sector on 30 December 1917, the battalion’s War Diary recording that he fell victim to a Priester Bomb. He was buried in the Philosophe British Cemetery at Mazingarbep in the Pas de Calais.

He left a widow, then resident at Lettles Lane, Wolverhampton and, as verified by his MIC entry, she never claimed his British War & Victory Medals - as per King’s Regulations (1912), paragraph 1743, they were returned to the Medal Branch at Woolwich in September 1923, and broken up; sold with a file of research, including modern day colour photographs of the recipient’s gravestone.