World War 1 Medal Card Question

[wavey]

Hi! I wonder if someone could help. I have a medal card for 1914-15 in the name of Nulty J - written in red - Sergeant Connaught Rangers 2279 . Written in blue underneath this is Inniskilling Fusiliers. My question relates to something which is written beneath this again. In blue the name James Joseph is written and a ditto mark under Inniskilling Fusiliers and Captain. There are then various medal notations for the Vistory, Star and British medals.

I have been researching James Joseph Nulty. His father was James Nulty and his brother was John Nulty (all Js!) The medals were applied for in 1921 (shortly after James Nulty died - James Nulty had not served abroad in the First World War so we presume the medals card is not his.) The address given in 1921 is the address that all 3 lived at.

When we search for the medals card of James Joseph Nulty, this is the one which is turned up and which the Inniskilling Museum also sent to us. The MOD have also sent notification that James Joseph Nulty received the Ordre de Leopold for service in 1918.

It has been suggested that James Joseph Nulty did not serve in the First World War at all so my question is whether, if he did not serve, he could have somehow annotated the card to seem as if it were his own when it wasn't? And is it possible that medals belonging to one soldier could be wrongly identified to another or is there some cross check?

Sorry if that sounds a little confusing. I am applying for service records from Glasgow shortly which might clear this up but I have also wondered whether someone could pretend to have the service record of another. I have no reason to think this particularly but it has been quite adamantly suggested that the James Joseph Nulty I am researching didn't serve. Thankyou for any help!

[mmm45]

Hi
The James Nulty card you have viewed was an army document filled in by clerks.
Officers had to apply for their medals whereas other ranks had them sent to last known address on their record.
So somewhere along the line a James Nulty from that Belfast address applied for his medals.

The Card itself seems to have belonged to a carreer soldier...He was a Colour Sgt in 1914 so had seen some service pre war.

I see that you are applying for a record...Did he have post 1922 service?
If not then his record is more than likely one of the 70% destroyed in WW2

There was no conscription in Ireland so its possible that he did not serve.

Hope that helps

Ady

[wavey]

Hi Ady! Thanks! Actually it does help but makes me think that the man I am trying to research really didn't win the medals we thought he did and wasn't the soldier on the card although there is still some mystery.

I am guessing that you have seen the card as you seem to know what I was writing about better than my own poor description! This is the mystery: -

The James I am researching did live at the address to which the medals were sent (1911 census has him there.) He was only 19 at the outbreak of war so I don't know if he would have been old enough to have been a Colour Sergeant by 1914. Any idea?

He did serve in the Royal Sussex Regt in the second world war but is listed as a private being promoted to 2nd lieut in 1940 - is this likely if he had been an officer in the first war?

As you say, someone with the name J Nulty applied for these medals at that address. The father, James Nulty, was a career soldier as you say and had died a few months before the medals were applied for but he didn't serve abroad in the first war and only served in Home Defence for a few weeks so he couldn't have won those medals?

Would it have been possible for the man I am researching to have seen that another soldier from somewhere else but with the same name as himself had served and for him to have applied for that soldier's medals to be sent to his own address rather than the actual soldier because they had the same name? That is the scenario I am now thinking is likely! What do you think? Thanks for your help - it's much appreciated. I am a bit lost with army protocol etc.

[mmm45]

Hi
Sounds like a real mystery?
Its highly unlikely that at 19 he would have been a Colour Sgt the number would have been issued pre 1914 I would think

Ref him "blagging" it and applying for medals that he wasnt entitled I suppose all things were possible...clerical error is also a possibility.

Have you ever seen any medals?
Does the 1911 census corroborate the address with other family members as there was probably more than 1 James Joseph Nulty?

Lots to work on.

Ady

[mmm45]

Theres a pension record for a Colour Sgt James Nulty address 26? Altcar St Belfast on Ancestry...born 1866 Thats same address on card after the Mount Pottinger one was scored out.

Getting confused now!

[wavey]

Hi! Interesting!!

No medals were ever seen and the man was, in later life, a mystery to his family and he disappeared often - we have discovered a bigamous marriage and 20 + children.

I think, from what you say, that the suggestions that the medals weren't his at all, is now starting to ring true. The suggestors also point to the fact that the man I am researching was christened James (not James Joseph - a name that only appears on his documents after 1921.)

We know that the address is correct for the man I'm researching as it fits too well with the details we have of a couple of other family members who lived there. I can't actually think of a scenario that fits the evidence other than that he applied for James Joseph Nulty's medals on the basis that he was also called James Nulty and either had them sent to his address or at least applied for them even if they weren't sent.

By the way, during the second world war, when he was going by the name of James Joseph, he was court-martialled. We have yet to find out why.

Thank you very much for your help!!

[jds1949]

According to the list of officers available from the National Archives the only J Nulty was James Joseph Nulty - unfortunately apart from his rank - Lieutenant - and the numbers: 187904 and P/139646 there is virtually nothing else on his entry. In the column where I would expect to see his regiment there is simply the number "88 ? 27 ? x" - not very helpful, but it would seem to confirm that the medal card was for James Joseph.

jds1949

[apwright]

In the column where I would expect to see his regiment there is simply the number "88 ? 27 ? x" - not very helpful,

The numbers are the pre-1881 Foot regiment numbers!
In 1881, 88th (Connaught Rangers) Regiment of Foot became 1st Bn Connaught Rangers, and 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot became 1st Bn Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.

Adrian

[wavey]

Thank you all so much for your expertise! Can I ask another question?

Is it possible that the medals on the card belong to James Nulty senior, father of James Nulty junior (who went on to call himself James Joseph from 1921 despite having been baptised just James)?

Both lived at the address the medals are applied for from. James Nulty senior was certainly a career soldier prior to the war. He died in 1921 which would account for the medals being applied for just after his death. However, we have papers for him headed "Short Service" (found on Ancestry) which imply that he served at home only and only for a short period of time in the first world war as he was 48 when the war broke out.

We have received papers from the Inniskilling Museum and MOD stating that James Joseph Nulty of the Inniskilling Fusiliers was awarded the Ordre de Leopold in 1918 (when James Nulty senior was no longer serving) - this might imply that there were two officers called James or James Joseph Nulty in the Inniskilling Fusiliers.

I really appreciate the help and knowledge as I am trying to find the truth about James Nulty Junior for better or worse for the children he had. Thanks!!