Wigan Album

Thomas McCarty DCM.
Thomas was born in 1883 in Ryehope, County Durham, to Irish parents who had emigrated to Scotland. The family name was Carty, with the Mc added following settlement in Scotland.
His parents had been show people in Ireland and with fairground and circus culture in his blood Thomas became a strong man in the circus.
First job - started training as a Priest aged 13, left after 2 years.
Second job - a strong man in the circus.
Third job - joined the navy (briefly) aged 16.
Fourth job - carpenter - carving bespoke shop frontages, not yet 20.
Fifth job - Ghost in the circus, dramas created by light illusion.
Sixth job - Operator of the first cinema reel in Wigan hand-reeled and propped up on an apple barrel in a tent.
Seventh job - a wrestler almost a “natural progression” for someone involved with circus life.
His matches mostly took place in the fields around the towns of southern Lancashire, wrestling for side-stakes and wagers. Before the first world war Thomas was the 9st 7lb Catch as Catch Can Wrestling Champion of England.
War experience.
Sergeant Major Thomas McCarty was enrolled in the 5th Batallion Manchester Regiment. Sir Charles Asheton-Smith arranged a match between Thomas and Pritchard, champion of Wales, with a silver cup worth £15 for the winner. The match took place on 13th June, 1914, and Thomas beat Pritchard, who was dubbed the Welsh Hackenschmidt. Pritchard was more than two stones heavier than Thomas, but that didn't prevent the Wigan man comfortably overcoming the Welsh man by two falls to nil in little more than seven minutes, and thereby winning the Lord Carnarvon Cup. The trophy, re-named the McCarty Rose Bowl, was placed on display in the Officers Mess of the 5th Battalion Manchester Regiment in Wigan.
Thomas was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his bravery saving a number of his comrades at Gallipoli the inscription of his medal reading 'For consistent gallantry and good work under heavy fire.' (21.06.1916). The DCM was an extremely high level award for bravery.
Thomas’s batallion, The Manchesters, saw action on the Gallipoli peninsula fighting the Turks in the 3rd and 4th battles of Krithia Vineyard in June and August 1915 respectively. The 1/5 Manchesters made more progress than any other allied unit.
For four or five days during the conflict Thomas was presumed dead, all the time submerged in mud in no mans land with barrage fire continuously going on around him. Understandably Thomas was traumatised by this experience and suffered "shell shock."
Following the war Thomas returned to Wigan where he continued to wrestle at a high level in Lancashire Catch wrestling
Thomas's brother-in-law, Tom O'Donald, taught him the finer aspects of rugby and in 1919 he was appointed trainer of the Wigan Rugby League team. When interviewed for the post Thomas was fortunate in being asked to describe the circulation of blood around the body and as yet another of his jobs had been as a physiotherapist he was able to satisfy the interview panel.
Thomas was there when Wigan won the Rugby League Challenge Cup in 1929 (I think he may have joined them c. 1919). This was the first Rugby League Final held at Wembley Stadium, with Wigan beating Dewsbury 13-2. Thomas was the fitness trainer at Wigan until 1939.
In 1930 Thomas was elected Chairman of the Wigan Wrestling Committee and organised a number of Wrestling events in Lancashire with matches involving Billy Riley and his son, Thomas Junior. The wrestlers followed rules set by the now defunct Manchester Sporting Chronicle.
Just imagine sitting down to write a book about this man’s life, who would believe it? An astounding existence, full of life experiences and incredible achievements. My father knew him, as did his playing colleagues as “Carty”. My father who with a number of other Wigan players “worked on the ground” (a means of supplementing their wages), but would gather clandestinely from time to time to play cards. It was no doubt one of “Carty’s” duties to root them out and put them back to useful employment. “Carty’s coming” was, I understand a common call if the lookout had spotted him.

Cracking photo and story Keith.

Thank you Pw. Shell shock , a term that originated during World War I to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that many soldiers experienced during the war. It was poorly defined but today we are much more aware of its consequences. So apart from Thomas McCarty’s considerable achievements, he had to cope with this poorly understood condition after the war. What an incredible life Thomas had.

keith
manchester regiment famous for being awarded six victoria crosses at gallilpoi ww1. had a uncle who fought the turks went onto france served on several fronts till war ended came home a broken man used to say
iam not brave just did my duty

Tom, it bogles the mind to think of just how many brave and gallant men of that generation endured and suffered silently. It must have been impossible to express effectively and make anyone understand the horrid conditions and experiences to people back home, who had no idea of what they had gone through.

keith its true what you say a lot came home but life for them was never the same , four from my family included my grand father sadly only one survived , thats when the familys found out the horrors of war and they try to carry on with their lives

Not only coming back from Gallipoli and the Somme to ‘a land fit for hero’s’ they had to put up with the Strike of 1926. My grandfather ended up going to Yorkshire for work and never really came back to Wigan until he retired. Then only lived 3 years. What a sad life after all he had been through. Like many more. Always worked and ended up in a Pauper’s grave.