5th lancers

[mgbarrett1]

Hi all,

Looking for some help. A friend who recently purchased an old house and found the name of a soldier inscribed in one of the bricks the name of 16277 Pte McDonell 5th Lancers 1917 and was wondering if anyone has any information on the same man.He does not seem to have been a casualty of the war.

regards to all

Martin

[high wood]

Martin,

I cannot find a medal index card for a Mcdonell with the service number 16277. There are no medal index cards for any Mcdonell who served with any of the "Lancers". There are four medal index cards for Mcdonnells who served with the Lancers, but none with the service number 16277. It is therefore possible that if this man served overseas during the Great War it wasn't with the 5th Lancers.

A new first Reserve Cavalry regiment was formed at the Curragh early in 1917 mainly from the 6th, 7th and 8th Cavalry Regiments. The affiliated regiments were the 5th, 9th, 12th, 16th, 17th and 21st Lancers with the Bedford, Lincoln, City of London, Surrey and East Riding Yeomanries.

Is the house near the Curragh?

Simon.

[mgbarrett1]

Martin,

I cannot find a medal index card for a Mcdonell with the service number 16277. There are no medal index cards for any Mcdonell who served with any of the "Lancers". There are four medal index cards for Mcdonnells who served with the Lancers, but none with the service number 16277. It is therefore possible that if this man served overseas during the Great War it wasn't with the 5th Lancers.

A new first Reserve Cavalry regiment was formed at the Curragh early in 1917 mainly from the 6th, 7th and 8th Cavalry Regiments. The affiliated regiments were the 5th, 9th, 12th, 16th, 17th and 21st Lancers with the Bedford, Lincoln, City of London, Surrey and East Riding Yeomanries.

Is the house near the Curragh?

Thanks for the reply simon it is not far, it is County Laois or Leix not far outside Portlaoise or Maryborough as it was known then. i checked with him again and his name was spelt Mcdonnell and not Mcdonell as i said in the first post he may not have served in the war at all just would be interesting to know what became of him

regards Martin Simon.

[mgbarrett1]

Thanks for the reply simon it is not far, it is County Laois or Leix not far outside Portlaoise or Maryborough as it was known then. i checked with him again and his name was spelt Mcdonnell and not Mcdonell as i said in the first post he may not have served in the war at all just would be interesting to know what became of him

regards Martin

[Ciaran Byrne]

Just checked the medal rolls and found "Michael McDonnell Lancers 5L/4966 Corporal". The service number confirms that this soldier did indeed serve in the 5th Lancers during WWI however, it doesn't match your serial number. Other lancers listed with that name are as follows:

McDonnell Michael Lancers L/11693 Private Corps of Lancers L/11693 Private.

McDonnell John Royal Welsh Fusiliers 22719 Private Corps of Lancers L/18574 Private.

McDonnell Vivan Lancers 5022 Private

Again, none of the above match your number. There is a strong possibility that this soldier did not serve overseas and was a member of a reserve cavalry regiment (if this was the case, it would have been 6th Reserve Cavalry Regiment).