Orders, Decorations and Medals

Three: 2nd Lieutenant W. McC. J. Mooney, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry

1914 Star (2 Lieut., D. of Corn. L.I.); British War and Victory Medals (2 Lieut.), mounted court-style as worn, good very fine (3) £180-220

Mooney landed in France with the 1st Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry on 15 August 1914. In the attack on Chivres on 14 September, his unit sustained casualties of 150 killed or wounded, while on 21 October, as a result of an enemy attack near Lorgies, it suffered losses of 27 killed, 88 wounded and 151 missing. Then in November, at Messines Ridge on the 17th, the Battalion suffered further casualties as a result of an enemy artillery bombardment, on which occasion Bandsman Thomas Rendle was awarded the V.C. for rescuing wounded comrades under fire. According to his MIC entry, Mooney appears to have later served on attachment to the Hampshire Regiment; also see Lot 1163 for further family Honours & Awards.