Remembered for his bravery and courage
A CELEBRATED WWII sergeant and former policeman who dedicated his life to service has been remembered for his bravery and courage.
Tribute has been paid to devoted serviceman John Tumelty following his death on September 9 at the age of 98.
Mr Tumelty received the Military Medal, an award given to recognise exceptional bravery, for his role as a sergeant in the Third Battalion of Welsh Guards during the Second World War.
Mr Tumelty was awarded the medal for his brave actions during a battle in Italy in June 1944. The citation commended his “personal courage, skill, and unwavering resolution” as an inspiration to his section.
Mr Tumelty served in the Welsh Guards from the age of 19, joining in 1940 and finishing his service in 1948.
Born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, on February 5, 1921 to Irish Catholic parents who fled their Northern Ireland home Warrenpoint following trouble with the IRA, Mr Tumelty was the oldest of five siblings who grew up together in Splott, Cardiff.
He attended St Alban’s Catholic Primary School until the age of 14, before going on to work in a printers in Dowlais, as well as the local steelworks, before joining the army.
Throughout his celebrated military career which shaped his life, Mr Tumelty fought in various places across Africa and Italy, and was wounded on three separate occasions from shrapnel.
By the end of the war, Mr Tumelty had risen to Company Quarter Master Sergeant of the Third Battalion of Welsh Guards.
Two years after his return, Mr Tumelty married Isabella Maria at St Alban’s Catholic Church and they had more than 50 years together.
The couple regularly attended the church with their two sons, one of them also called John, and Antony, who went on to become a monk at Belmont Abbey in Hereford and a priest. Father Antony died in 2017.
Mr Tumelty’s military service led him to a career in Cardiff’s police force, where he moved up the ranks to become a detective sergeant.
In 1976, after spending almost 30 years in the force at both the central investigation department and the regional crime squad, Mr Tumelty was awarded the Long Service Medal.
He went on to work for Littlewoods as a pools investigator until his formal retirement a decade later.
A dedicated husband, Mr Tumelty cared for his wife, who he described as the light of his life, until her death in 2002.
Mr Tumelty will be dearly missed by his son John, who is committed to keeping his memory alive.
A funeral service will be held at St Alban’s at 10am on Thursday.