Military Medal – 10th battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps (P.O.W. and Military Medal, Cambrai 30th November 1917)

Description Military Medal – 10th battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps (P.O.W. and Military Medal, Cambrai 30th November 1917) Military Medal (Geo V) 5712 SjtJ. McCarthy 10/ K.R.R.C. John McCarthy was from Gospel Oak His MIC confirms he is entitled to a 1914 trio with Mons bar. He landed in France on the 22nd August 1914 initially serving in the 1st battalion K.R.R.C. P.O.W. records show he was taken prisoner at Cambrai on the 30th November 1917. Military Medal, London Gazette 23rd February 1918, most likely for the Battle of Cambrai On the morning of November 30, 1917, the 10th Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps (K.R.R.C.) stood on the precipice of disaster at the Battle of Cambrai. Positioned on the extreme right of the 59th Brigade (20th Light Division), the battalion was dug in on the Bonavis Ridge, just northeast of Lateau Wood. The day began quietly, but the calm was deceptive. At approximately 7:30 AM, the German army launched a massive counter-stroke designed to encircle the British forces in the Cambrai salient. The attack did not begin with the usual long artillery bombardment; instead, German stormtroopers utilized infiltration tactics, using the morning mist to bypass strongpoints. The blow fell heaviest on the 12th Division, immediately to the right of the 10th K.R.R.C. The German infantry punched a hole through the 12th Division’s lines and poured into Lateau Wood. This tactical failure on the flank spelled doom for the Riflemen. While the 10th K.R.R.C. successfully repelled two desperate frontal assaults with withering Lewis gun and rifle fire, they were unaware that the enemy was simultaneously swarming through the trees behind them. Within minutes, the battalion’s situation became critical. Telephone lines to the rear were cut, severing contact with Brigade Headquarters. The Riflemen found themselves attacked from three sides: the front, the right flank, and the rear. The defensive line effectively became an island in a sea of field grey. The fighting was ferocious and often hand-to-hand. Captain J. Davidson of the RAMC was killed, along with Second Lieutenants Bull and Hall. The Battalion Headquarters, realizing the trap had snapped shut, attempted a fighting retreat to join the Brigade reserve near La Vacquerie. They moved back while firing, contesting every yard of the ridge, but the sheer weight of the German numbers was overwhelming. By the time the sun set on November 30, the 10th K.R.R.C. had effectively ceased to exist as a fighting unit. The “Chronicle” of 1917 records a chilling statistic regarding the day’s toll: from a battalion strength of several hundred men at dawn, only 4 officers and 16 other ranks answered the roll call that evening. The rest were dead, wounded, or marching east as prisoners of war, victims of one of the most successful German counter-attacks of the war. Condition – GVF, a little polished to obverse, a couple of small edge nicks.