Orders, Decorations and Medals

A C.B. group of eight to Lieutenant-Colonel J. F. Donegan, Royal Army Medical Corps

The Most Honourable Order of The Bath, C.B. (Military) Companion’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel; India General Service 1854-95, 2 clasps, Burma 1887-89, Burma 1889-92 (Surgeon, M.S.), possible erasure after unit, 2nd clasp loose; India General Service 1895-1902, 1 clasp, Punjab Frontier 1897-98 (Major, R.A.M.C.); Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 5 clasps, Talana, Defence of Ladysmith, Orange Free State, Laing’s Nek, Belfast (Major, R.A.M.C.); King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps (Maj., R.A.M.C.); 1914-15 Star (Lt. Col., R.A.M.C.); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Lt. Col.), early medals with some edge bruising and contact marks, nearly very fine and better (8) £1200-1500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Medals to the Medical Services formed by Colonel D.G.B. Riddick.

View
Collection

James Francis Donegan was born in March 1868, the son of D. V. Donegan of Sydenham, Monkstown, and was educated at Mount St. Mary’s Jesuit College. After medical training in which he gained the L.R.C.P. Edinburgh and L.R.C.S. Edinburgh, he entered the Army Medical Service in 1886 as a Surgeon. He served with the Burmese expedition in 1887-89 with the Poukan Column under Brigadier-General Wolseley, and afterwards with the Tonhon Column. He then served in the campaign on the N.W. Frontier of India under Sir William Lockhart, 1897-98. Promoted to Surgeon Major in July 1898, he then served in the Boer War in command of the 18th British Field Hospital and took part in operations in Natal, 1899, including the action at Talana and the defence of Ladysmith, including operations on 10 December 1899 and 6 January 1900. He then served in operations in Natal, March-June 1900, including the action at Laing’s Nek; operations in the Transvaal, east of Pretoria, including the actions at Riet Vlei, Belfast and Lydenburg; operations in the Transvaal, November 1900-31 May 1902; operations in the Orange River Colony, 30 November 1900-31 May 1902 and on the Zululand frontier of Natal in September-October 1901. For his services he was mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 8 February 1901) and recommended for special recognition.

During the siege of Ladysmith Donegan had a series of clashes with the Principal Medical Officer, Colonel Exham. He contended that hospital conditions were kept needlessly bad and that the cause was the man in overall charge of the garrison’s health. Keeping a detailed account, Donegan noted that in January he had been verbally instructed to cut off all medical comforts to the sick men of the 18th Field Hospital, even to the extent of stopping the pitifully small allowances of sago, arrowroot and brandy. Asking for the order to be given in writing provoked Exham to threaten Donegan with dismissal. Donegan wrote, ‘All he cares about is to have some medicines and medical comforts when the relief column comes in & then pretend he made a most splendid [defence] whereas in reality he is leaving the men [to] starve at present & does not care....’ Worse than this hoarding of medicines and medical comforts for appearances sake was the further charge that same items were being diverted by Exham to his associates amongst the civilians, journalists and influential officers - Donegan being forced by Exham to invoice goods as if it were used by the 18th Field Hospital whereas they went straight into the hands of Exham’s cronies. To add insult to injury, Exham was fussy with regard to the appearance of the makeshift hospital wards. A comment from Donegan is recorded, ‘God Almighty! We have four doctors for 120 patients scattered over three churches and thirty-six tents, and the P.M.O. only worries about whether the man’s clothes are neatly folded, or if their boots are in a line ...’

Donegan was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in the R.A.M.C. on 28 July 1906. During the Great war he served in the Mesopotamian theatre of war, with VI Division under Major-General Townsend. He was present at the engagement on 20 January 1915, the attacks on Norfolk Hill, Tower Hill, Gun Hill and capture of Amarah, the battles of Kut-el-Amarah and Ctesiphon and subsequent retirement. During the course of the war, he was wounded, several times mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 5 April 1916 [three times mentioned] and 13 July 1916) and awarded the C.B. (London Gazette 17 April 1916). He retired from the service in 1929. Lieutenant-Colonel Donegan died at Lysses House, Fareham, Hampshire on 8 March 1934.

Donegan was also a noted musical composer and song writer, with numerous Burlesques published and played in India. In Britain he had published Rag-Time (Military Poems); Camp-fire Songs and The Uses of Aeroplanes to the Medical Service in War. Sold with copied research. For the recipient’s miniature medals, see lot 1211.