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Remembered Today:

Lt Campbell Joseph O'Connor Kelly, OBE, GM, MC, MM


corisande

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I am not having much success in tracing the life of this man Lt Campbell Joseph O'Connor Kelly (1894 to 1943). He received an extraordinary collection of medals ( OBE, George Medal, MC, MM, Croix de Guerre)but for various reasons is not recorded in history. Mind you he was dismissed from the army in 1928 by General Court martial for reasons the I have not been able to find, but does not appear to have forfeited his medals, as LG quotes him as having them in the GM announcement in 1941.

My notes on him are on this link - click

1. I cannot find his birth. I suspect that this was not his birth name. He appears to have been born in Ireland.

2. He enlisted in RGA in Kildysart, Co Clare with service no 34071 (from MIC) and landed in France Oct 1914

3. He was gazetted MM in Dec 1917

4. Commissioned Jan 1918 (from MIC)

5. Sep 1918 citation for MC in LG

6. Jan 1919 Gazetted Croix de Guerre

7. Was 6 Division Intelligence Officer in Ireland (Special Appointment Class FF). The IRA had his photograph, but although they tried to kill him, never appear to have got even close to succeeding

8. Jan 1923. Gazetted OBE

9. Aug 1928. Dismissed the service by General Court Martial

10. Jan 1941. Awarded the George Medal

11 1942 died age 48.

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The citation for the George Medal is interesting - obviously a man that did not hesitate in putting himself on the line:

Awarded the George Medal:(Supplement to the L/G. 35055, 28th January 1941, pp. 531.)

Campbell Joseph KELLY, O.B.E., M.C, M.M., Control Officer, Works Air Defence Department, Coventry.

Awarded the Medal of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, for Meritorious Service:

David LLOYD, First Officer, Works Auxiliary Fire Service, Coventry.

Mr. Kelly's organisation and personal bearing have been largely responsible for the building up of a highly efficient Works Air

Raid Defence team. His personal activities on the night of an intensive air raid were largely instrumental in saving his factory

from destruction. He extinguished an incendiary bomb and immediately afterwards took twelve volunteers to help the City Fire

Service deal with a serious fire. After that, they attended at another fire and on the way back helped to extricate the bodies of

policemen who were trapped in debris left by high explosive bombs.

A large high explosive bomb hit a works shop but fire was avoided by prompt action under Kelly's guidance. Until five o'clock in

the morning Kelly continued to give inspiring leadership to his men. There was no cover for any of the working parties and they

all carried out what was asked of them with fortitude and courage. Mr. Kelly was ably assisted in this work by David Lloyd, First

Officer of the Works Auxiliary Fire Service.

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Corisande

You may have already done this genealogical digging but your man's first marriage was to Eileen M Eschle Q4 1917 Bristol. They had five children - Gertrude b 1922 Bristol, Monica b 1923 Pembroke, Phyllis b 19125 Pembroke, Robert b 1926 Cardiff and Eileen b 1929 Cardiff.

Campbell married a second time to Elfrida Holmes Q4 1939 Coventry and died Q1 1942 Coventry aged 48.

There is a tree on Ancestry that has Campbell in it but, unfortunately, it is not public.

Mel

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Thanks

If you click the link I have in my original post you will see what I have on the family.

I assume the first marriage was probably a divorce after the court martial, as I could not find a death of the first wife.

I did find an Eschle on GeneReunited with him, and have contacted them. The info there said that the Eschle did not know where he was born. 50/50 of getting a reply on Genes!

I did find on TNA

1928 July 24. Trial by General Court Martial. KELLY, C. Lieutenant (Temporary Captain) Offence: fraudulent statement . WO 209/94

I won't be there for some time, but it looks as if they have his court martial papers. One wonders what his fraudulent statement was!

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Ah ! I should have had a look.

I have had a look at his RGA number sequence and the 340** sequence looks as if it was for enlistments in Ireland.

34017 attested 28 October 1910 and 34096 attested on 24 December 1910 - so it looks as if your man attested around November 1910 and seems to have over-declared his age by a couple of years.

The MIC is slighly curious because it has a disembarkation date of October 1914 but he was ineligible for the 1914 or 1914-15 Star which suggests that he was sent overseas to India or other colony.

Mel

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I think it can cover (deliberately) writing a cheque (or more likely, cheques) that bounced. Not the done thing you know.

There's no divorce records in J 77 at TNA, but those are only 80% of files are held centrally for 1928-1937, and hardly any at all after that. You might find a mention in The Times

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Thanks

A couple of very interesting points there

I was confused by his being ineligible for Star. As you say it appears that he went to a non-war zone. The date "landed" is also vaguer that normal when an exact date is given on most MIC

The date of his attestation is interesting. As you say he must have added a year or so to his age, which affects where I try to look in Irish GRO database. If his age at death was correct then he was born 1893/4, but his attestation points to probably Nov 1892 if he is telling the truth or Nov 1893 if he is manipulation his age.

The problem is that if he changed name at some point, if he was not born Kelly, I assume he was born O'Connor. Both are extremely common in Ireland. He may have been born in Kerry or Clare. The Christian name "Campbell" should make him easy to find, but that seems to have been changed too. One has to narrow the year to get a manageable number of results to investigate.

He must have got to a war zone at some point, in as much as his MM was gazetted Dec 1917. Problem with MMs is that it is difficult to find where they were awarded. His whole service in WW1 is a bit of a blank sheet apart from the medals.

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I think it can cover (deliberately) writing a cheque (or more likely, cheques) that bounced. Not the done thing you know.

There's no divorce records in J 77 at TNA, but those are only 80% of files are held centrally for 1928-1937, and hardly any at all after that. You might find a mention in The Times

I thought that a bounced cheque as the most likely thing, as "real" fraud would presumably have brought about criminal charges and loss of medals. But I have no idea if the charge "fraudulent statement" covered that or not.

A divorce seems more problematical to find - if I get a reply from the Eschle on GenesReunited, then I might me able to solve this one. I could not find it either on TNA, and the problem with Times is the commonness of "Kelly" without a fairly narrow time band. Family seems the way to go here

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Quite staggering the way the web works, I have just got a reply from a Len Eschle through GenesReunited. He is related via Campbell Kelly's first wife, Eileen Eshle. He has not that much information, but has tried in the past to find more

1. He has marriage Cert (I have asked him to email me a copy) which says

1917 Nov 17. Married in Bristol Register Office to Eileen Mary Eschle. Campbell's stated 'Rank or Profession' is, "Sergeant RGA." He was also recorded as a bachelor, aged 23. His father is named on the marriage certificate as Charles Luke O'Connor Kelly, a farmer. The witnesses were Victor Street and Alice Roberts. Campbell's address is given as 5 Ashley Hill, Bristol. Eileen's is given as 5 Gwyn Street, City Road, Bristol.

2. My correspondent does not know why the first marriage ended, but does know that the first wife Eileen Kelly dies as Eileen Kelly in 1980 in Hillingdon.

I had hoped that the father's Christian names would give me something in either Irish GRO for birth, death or marriage (there is a possible death of a "Luke O'Connor Kelly" in 1935 which could be him). Or in Irish 1901 or 1911 censuses, but nothing definite

There is a file in TNA CO 762/16/10 Charles Luke O'Connor Kelly, County Dublin, No. 185 which has to be him.

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Campbell Joseph O'Connor Kelly (the Army List shows him as 'Campbell Kelly' through January 1928)

Born on 21 Sept 1892

MM London Gazette, 12 Dec 1917, as a Sergeant, RGA

In the ranks for seven years and 47 days

Served in France and Flanders from October 1916 to June 1918

Commissioned 2nd Lieut, RGA on 7 Jan 18

Served with 185th Siege Battery, RGA

MC, London Gazette 24 Sep 1918 as a 2nd Lieut., RGA: 'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. While out with a patrol he encountered a strong hostile party, who bombed him, but by using his revolver he succeeded in getting away and bringing back information. Again he did excellent work with a party of gunners, with rifles, in holding up the enemy while the guns were being withdrawn. He frequently returned to the battery under heavy fire to obtain further supplies of ammunition, though at the time he was suffering from the effects of gas.'

Croix de Guerre, London Gazette 7 Jan 1919 as 2nd Lieut, RGA

Also received the BWM and VM and was once wounded.

Lieut, RGA, 7 July 1919

From 1 May 1919 to 20 May 1922 he held a special appointment with the Intelligence Division, Irish Command, and was responsible for interrogating members of the Irish Republican Army. Became a major target for the IRA (see On Another Man's Wound.

OBE,London Gazette, 1 Jan 1923 as Lieut, RGA for services in Ireland

Adjutant, Portsmouth Docks, RA from 3 Feb 1923 to 10 Jan 1926

Temp. Captain, 11 Jan 1926

Adjutant, Glamorgan, Heavy Brigade, RA, TA from 11 Jan 1926 until he was dismissed the Army, 24 July 1928

GM,London Gazette, 28 Jan 1941 as Control Officer, Works Air Defence Department, Coventry.

His medal group was sold by Sotheby's in 1973, Lusted in 1980 and Christie's in 1989.

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Thanks Mark

Useful stuff there. And I have got some more this morning from the relative, Len Eschle, so I will redo the page on Kelly this afternoon.

On Another Mans Wound is not well indexed, can you give a clue to where Kelly is mentioned in it?

Out of interest, any idea what the medal group fetched in 1989

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I have made a bit of progress with him now

click for updated notes on Campbell Kelly

1. Given that he was in 185 Battery RGA, I assume he was in it's predecessor, the 97th Company of the RGA who were at Simon's Town, Cape of Good Hope District in 1914. 97th Company RGA returned to UK in Jul 1915 and went to France in Oct 1916, which is when Campbell Kelly went to France. Does this explain why he would not be eligible to Star

2. I finally tracked down his Birth Cert - born Mayo 1 Dec 1893, and gave the army a birth of 21 Sept 1892 in order to enlist in 1910

3. His father is an interesting man too. He went to Australia in 1880s and his first child, Campbell Kelly's brother, was born in Melbourne in 1890

The father also enlisted twice in 1915 but was discharged each time after a few weeks on health grounds.

4. I still need to go through reference books to pull out mentions of him in War of Independence. Kelly seems to have avoided the limelight more than other Intelligence Officers like Percival.

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Corisande

You have accumulated some interesting information and not least with Dick's (not Mark) contribution.

In answer to your question 1 above, I would say that the South African posting explains perfectly both the ineligibility for the Star and the date of entry into the the theatre of war.

Had your man served overseas and had not entered a theatre of war then he would have only been eligible for the BWM.

Mel

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not least with Dick's (not Mark) contribution.

Mea Culpa, my apologies to Dick :blush:

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You may be in luck here i have read all coventry papers from ww2 for my books on Coventry during WW2. I have photos etc and all articles that featured Lt. Kelly try this for a starter for ten

Kelly, Cambell Joseph Captain ARP Control officer and fire chief at a large Coventry factory, the award of the George Medal. He had already gained in the last war and Ireland – the OBE, MC, MM and Croix de Guerre with palm. Mr. Kelly’s organization and personal bearing have been largely responsible for the building up of a highly efficient works air raid defence team. His personal activities on the night of an intensive raid were largely instrumental in saving his factory from destruction. He extinguished an incendiary bomb and immediately took 12 volunteers to help the City Fire Service deal with a serious fire, and on the way back helped to extricate the bodies of policeman who were trapped in debris left by a high explosive bomb. A large high explosive hit a workshop, but fire was avoided by prompt action under Kelly’s guidance. Until 5 o'clock in the morning Kelly continued to give inspiring leadership to his men. There was no cover for any of the working parties and they all carried out what was asked off them with fortitude and courage. Served with the Royal Artillery, MM at Passchendaele, MC in 1918 26 Beaumont Crescent.

Extract from Coventry 14th/15th November 1940

I will load more tomorrow actually it is tomorrow Ok later today including photos

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Hey

That is great, thanks very much. Look forward to seeing that

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Please find below brief details. With such military honours I had this logged too follow up on. But I guess this thread has been doing that. Articles from Feb 1941 to Feb 1942

February 11th 1941 George Medallist in Court

- Coventry Captain Charged with Bigamy

Appeared at the magistrates court today charged with bigamy. Kelly who is in charge of a local ARP for a factory was in the dock for only a few moments and was remanded for one week on that charge. On December 16 1939 then being married to Eileen Mary Kelly feloniously did marry Elfrida Holmes during the life of his wife.

He gravely shook his head when asked if he had any cause to show why he should not be remanded and was allowed to bail on his own funding of £5.

one year later

February 10th 1942 Death of Coventry George Medallist Hero of two great wars.

Captain Kelly has died at his home. We cannot speak to highly of his services as an ARP controller a fire officer said today. He did marvellous work in every raid and was a man completely without nerves......He received his croix De Guerre in for serving with the French Fifth Army.

14th February 1942.

Buried at Coventry Cemetery with full military honours, his medals were carried on a cushion behind him by the Home Guard. Coffin covered by the Union Jack and on it his helmet, belt and axe. The Home Guard fired three volleys. Those present included represeantatives of the fire department and factories.

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Thanks you again for the addition. I have updated his page on my web site to reflect that.

It is turning into a really fascinating story. The family of His first wife, Eileen Eschle, whom he married in 1917, seem to have suspected the bigamy, but that was where it stopped. Len Eschle said in an email

I believe Campbell was married for a second time in Coventry in 1939, to Elfrida Holmes, although Eileen did not die until 1980, in Hillingdon, and still bore the name Kelly. Campbell and Eileen had five children, who were aged between 10 and 17 at the time of his second marriage. It's probable that Campbell and Eileen divorced, but also possible that his second marriage was bigamous.

It is one of those cases where I am never too sure if the family now really want to know the full story or not!

I will get his death cert now, as he may have committed suicide, although a death cert may not reflect that. He appears to have abandoned his first wife and 5 children. It would be interesting to know what punishment he got for the bigamy, and if his war service mitigated the punishment.

[edit]I cannot get either his bigamy trial nor his death in Times [/edit]

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no record of trial in local papers i doubt their was one, i wonder when it was scheduled to start??

Who sold his medals in 1989 ?

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Dick Flory's post 10 says it was Christies who sold the medals in 1989.

Often in Ireland in War of Independence, trials like this were silenced by the military censorship, but in Britain in 1941 I have no idea how wartime censorship may have moved to silence the reporting of such a trial of a man who have just won George Medal

It looks as if the reporting of his GM probably led to his first wife finding out where he was.

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Kelly's Medals were sold at Christie's 21 November 1989 auction for £1100 plus a 10% buyer's premium (his George Medal is listed as 'a renamed replacement). I was later offered this group by a well-known UK dealer but did not purchase it due to the questionable provenance of the George Medal, which was missing from the group when it was sold by Sotheby's in 1973 and Lusted in 1980 (the GM in the Christie's sale was a Type II, but should have been a Type I). Kelly's medals were later sold at auction by Floyd, Johnson and Paine in one of their auctions prior to an OMSA Convention. If I remember correctly the GM was listed as 'officially renamed' and the lot went for somewhere around $4400. Regards, Dick Flory

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Well that certainly explains the absence of records in J 77!

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Three of his brothers died young -clifford the eldest in 1909(18) and edward and john in 1915 who were boarders in celbridge.They are thought to have caught" typhus from belgian refugees" They were aged 12 and 7.There grandad who was the local coroner in east mayo died also in 1915.their uncle edmund w joined army june 1915.M ay explain fathers attempts to join army? Campbells daughter monica trained as s.a.s. parachutist and may be still alive.

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Thanks for that, I wondered why I could not find Clifford

Let me also cross link to the thread you have on Lt Edmund W Kelly so readers can see the whole story Clink link to Edmund W Kelly

As I understand it Edmund W Kelly and Charles Luke Kelly are brothers, and that Edmund W Kelly is your grandfather. So that I am clear in my own mind, am I right in saying as well that we have corresponded on Campbell Kelly by email?

Do you know why Charles Luke Kelly joined as a Private soldier, when he had the education and contacts to become an officer as your grandfather.

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yes we have, i thought it was you. I have contacted a local historian to find out any reason for family break up / scandal. There is a reluctance in mayo to divulge this information if members of family are in locality. HOPEFULLY he can come up with some information.I know that campbells mother, margaret Fair,came back to mayo from clare and lived for sometime in manulla near castlebar and died in 1944.

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