b. ?. d. 07/01/1919 36 Casualty Clearing Station, Germany.
DATE OF AM ACTION: 06/01/1919 Wermels-Kirchen, Germany.
Little is known about Edward McCarthy, though it is believed he hailed from Dublin. He enlisted in the Prince of Wales’ Leinster Regiment and went to France on 20th September 1914. He was awarded the Military Medal (LG 23rd February 1918), prior to the incident which led to his posthumous Albert Medal.
AM CITATION:
On the 6th January, 1919, two horses harnessed to a limber, having been left unattended at Wermels-Kirchen, took fright and ran away. While they were going at great speed down the village street Private McCarthy rushed forward and seized the reins. He would doubtless have succeeded in stopping the horses had the reins held, but they broke, and he was thrown under the limber, which passed over his body, inflicting injuries from which he subsequently died. He succeeded, however, in diverting the limber from two children, who would otherwise undoubtedly have been killed.
BURIAL LOCATION: COLOGNE SOUTHERN CEMETERY, COLOGNE, GERMANY.
PLOT I, ROW B, GRAVE 5.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
