British War Medal 1914-20 : Private J S Egan, 45 Battalion, AIF

British War Medal 1914-20. Impressed around edge with recipient's details. The suspender has been snapped off and is missing.

Awarded to 3138 Private Joseph Stanislaus Egan, a 24 year old barman from Bathurst, NSW. Egan enlisted in the AIF on 5 February 1916, he had previously been rejected for service because of his low height. After training near Kiama, with C Company Depot Battalion, Egan was hospitalised in Sydney for a considerable time. He was assigned to the 4th reinforcements of 45 Battalion, and sailed for overseas service on 25 November 1916, aboard HMAT Beltana. Egan arrived in England at the end of January 1917. He joined 12 Training Battalion at Codford, and finally joined 45 Battalion in France on 7 May 1917. The stress of warfare proved too much for him. During the Battle of Messines in Belgium, on 6 June, Egan was seen to shoot himself in the left hand. He was evacuated to England, where three of his fingers were amputated. After he recovered he was arrested on 28 December 1917 and charged with deliberately maiming himself to avoid service. A divisional Court Martial, held on 19 February 1918, found him guilty of the charge and he was sentenced to 18 months hard labour and imprisoned at Wandsworth Prison in England. Egan's sentence was remitted in October 1918 and he was repatriated to Australian shortly before the end of the war. He was discharged in June 1919.