WW1 Medal Trio – 1914-15 Star, British War Medal & Victory Medal – Private THOMAS WILLIAM CATLOW – East Lancashire Regiment & Machine Gun Corps

Reference: MM-MED-0013

You are looking at a WW1 trio of medals awarded to THOMAS WILLIAM CATLOW of the East Lancashire Regiment, later the Machine Gun Corps.

The medals are:

·      1914-15 Star inscribed ‘5349 Pvt. T.W.CATLOW. E.LAN.R.’

·      British War Medal & Victory Medal inscribed ‘5349 Pvt. T.W.CATLOW. E.LAN.R.’

Private 5349 THOMAS WILLIAM CATLOW, of the 1^st Battalion the East Lancashire Regiment, first arrived in France on the 23^rd of November 1914.

The 1^st Battalion arrived in France on the 22^nd of August 1914, three months earlier than THOMAS, and they were almost immediately in action at the Battle of Le Cateau (26^th August), followed by the Retreat from Mons (August 1914), Battle of the Marne (September), Battle of Messines (October-November).

It is likely THOMAS was in a machine gun section of the East Lancashire Regiment, and he transferred to the 11^th Brigade Machine Gun Company, service number 17958, when they were formed on the 23^rd of December 1915. The 11^th MG Company were part of the 4^th Army Division, the 11^th Infantry Brigade, and the 1^st Battalion East Lancashire Regiment were one of the regiments within their number, so THOMAS, having transferred to the new Machine Gun Corps, was probably still serving alongside his East Lancashire Regiment colleagues.

The 1^st Battalion East Lancashire Regiment went on to be involved in further action, including Beaumont-Hamel (July 1916) and Arras (1917), where they suffered heavy losses.

There are two records of 17958 THOMAS CATLOW having been wounded:

Incident date 24^th July 1916 – He was 22 years old at the time, and a member of the 11^th Machine Gun Corps. He was admitted to the 2^nd General Hospital (Le Havre) with an ankle injury. In 1916, the No 2 General Hospital handled a great number of British casualties from the Battle of the Somme.

It is likely the 11^th Machine Gun Company were engaged in operations during the Battle of the Somme at the time, and probably still working alongside the 1st Bn East Lancashire Regiment.  

Incident date 18^th October 1918 – THOMAS is listed amongst the wounded within the Weekly Casualty List dated the 22^nd of October 1918.

Of those 14 x members of the MGC who were killed according to the same casualty list, and based on CWGC records, 6 x were from the 2nd Battalion and are commemorated at Vaulx Hill Cemetery, 3 x from the 58th Coy, 1 x from the 63^rd, 2 x from the 74th, and 1 x from the 3rd Bn, are all commemorated at the Vis-En-Artois Memorial, with 1 x B Coy soldier commemorated at Epehy Wood Farm Cemetery, and most of these men were  killed over the 10^th-11^th of September.  

In March 1918, the 9^th, 10^th, 11^th and 23rd Machine Gun Companies were amalgamated to form the 3rd Battalion, Machine Gun Corps, and it is likely THOMAS was part of the reorganised battalion, and in September 1918, was serving with them during the Allied Hundred Days Offensive on the Western Front, and with his appearance in the weekly casualty list, was probably wounded during this particular stage of the War.

THOMAS appears to have remained in France after the War, and he was discharged from the army on the 22^nd of May 1919.

THOMAS WILLIAM CATLOW, the son of THOMAS and MARTHA ELLEN CATLOW, was born at Burnley on the 26^th of January 1894, and in 1920, a year after he returned from the War, he married Elsie Brown. THOMAS and ELSIE cannot be found in the 1921 Census, but in 1939, the were living in Blackpool with THOMAS working as a fruit warehouseman. THOMAS died in 1986.

SELLER NOTE = Supporting documentation obtained and / or created during my research into this medal will be provided.

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