WW1 Military Medal named 6044 LCPL A COUSINS 1/IR GDS, 1914/15 Star named 6044 PTE A COUSINS I GDS, British War & Victory Medals named 2 LIEUT A COUSINS.
Andrew Cousins born on 6th Feb 1886 in Mountrice, Dublin and was a railway clerk in civilian life before joining the Irish Guards numbered 6044 on 17th Nov 1914. After training he landed in France with A Coy 1st Battalion on 25th May 1915. He rose through the ranks to become a Lance Sgt on in Sep 1916 and admitted to hospital suffering from trench foot in Mar 1917. He was awarded the MM LG 16th Nov 1916 for actions on 15th Sept 1916 north west of Ginchy. At 6.20am they attacked the German lines at Vat Alley with the Coldstream Guards. The advance was a success but during this time they were under constant artillery barrage from the enemy. The German lines that were captured and were held for more advances on the 16th. Over the course of this action 5 officers were killed and 8 wounded with 334 other ranks casualties.
On 26th Mar 1918 he was recommended for a commission in the Royal Engineers Railway Operating Division and on 30th Apr 1918 he gained a commission with the 17th Liverpool Regiment as a 2nd Lt with A Coy. After training he was sent to North Russia with the battalion on 10th Oct 1918 reaching Archangel on 24th Oct 1918. On 6th Dec 1918 Lt Cousins was wounded in action by a rifle bullet in his left lower hip. They were at Tarrassova to attack the enemy from behind by walking through the forest. They captured a block house, killing seven Red Bolsheviks and four captured. 18 limbers, 3 cookers, 22 horses and 2 machine guns captured and more prisoners later on. During these actions 2nd Lt A Cousins MM was wounded, 6 other ranks killed, 4 wounded and 1 missing.
He was sent back to Seletskoe for hospital treatment and then put on staff duty at the Obozerskaya base. He rejoined A Coy on 22nd Feb 1919 and left in Sep 1919. He caught typhoid fever on way back and transferred to Britain on SS Kalyan, a hospital ship. He left service on 10th Apr 1920 and went to live in Argentina. He came back to Ireland in 1937 and served in the Howth-Sutton Divison during the Emergency. He died on 13th Jul 1941.
Comes with service papers and research.
