Victory Medal with MID : Lieutenant Colonel C W D Daly, 6 Battalion, AIF

Places
Accession Number REL/09147.004
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Medal
Physical description Bronze
Maker Unknown
Place made United Kingdom
Date made c 1920
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

Victory Medal with Mention In Despatches oakleaf. Impressed around edge with recipient's details.

History / Summary

Clarence Wells Didier Daly was born on 5 May 1890 in Hobart, Tasmania and studied at Melbourne University. From about 1910 he served as a captain with the 64th (Melbourne) Infantry Regiment, a unit of the Commonwealth Military Forces. On the outbreak of the First World War he transferred to the AIF, enlisting on 19 August 1914. Daly was appointed as the captain of D Company, 6 Battalion and sailed with that unit from Melbourne aboard HMAT Hororata on 19 October.

On 25 April 1915, Daly led his men during the initial landings at Gallipoli, but received a gunshot wound to his calf. He was admitted to the 1st General Hospital five days later. He recovered and rejoined his unit on the peninsula on 26 May. Daly was promoted to major that same month and remained at Gallipoli for the rest of the campaign. Daly embarked for the Western Front on 25 March 1916 aboard the troopship Briton, disembarking at Marseilles on 30 March. He was appointed temporary commanding officer of 6 Battalion on 22 August. On 6 October he was recommended for the Distinguished Service Order, which was gazetted on 1 January 1917. He was twice mentioned in despatches in 1917 and again mentioned in despatches in 1918.

Daly was promoted to lieutenant colonel and commanding officer, 6 Battalion on 25 February 1917. He was detached to 2 Infantry Brigade as temporary commander on 16 July, rejoining his own unit on 24 July. Daly was killed in the early hours of 13 April 1918, just north of La Motte. After seeing his battalion posted in their positions on the night of 12-13 April, he rode further forward to reconnoitre the immediate area, accompanied by one of his officers, Lieutenant Reginald Thomas Pollard. At 5 am, Daly received a shell wound to the abdomen and according to eyewitness accounts, dismounted from his horse before collapsing. He was immediately carried to the Regimental Aid Post and attended to by 6 Battalion's regimental medical officer, Captain Archie Sheridan Cockburn MC. However, Daly never regained consciousness and died soon after. He was buried in the Military Section of the Hazebrouk Communal Cemetery.