Cpl. Daniel O'Leary . British Army South Wales Borderers My granddad - Cpl Daniel O'Leary, South Wales Borderers - was held at Stalag 4b. He was originally captured at Tobruk. He was sent there after escaping from an Italian camp and being recaptured by the Germans. He had his uniform taken from him by the Italians. On his escape and recapture (with his best friend), they had to tell the Germans they were RAF aircrew in order to save their lives. They were taken to Stalag 4b where the RAF officers vouched for them and looked after them. He spent his 21st birthday at Stalag 4b. He also became a boxing champ there. My granddad made two further escapes, and was finally successful. The Germans used the camp - in 1943 - for propaganda to show that they treated the British prisoners with due respect and care - this was, of course, not true.
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Danny O'Leary . British Army 6th Btn. Queen's Own Royal West Kent I am trying to find information about Danny O'Leary, 6th Btn Queen's Own Royal West Kents.
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Francis O'Leary . British Army Intelligence Corps My father, Frank O'Leary was stationed in Lienz, Austria in 1946 as part of the intelligence corps. I am in the process of trying to research his story. Any information would be gratefully received. He remembers Ron O'Hare from Northern Ireland who was stationed there with him. They both married Austrian girls.
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Flight Lieutentant John "Jack" O'Leary D.F.C. A.F.C.. RAF 106 Squadron from 9, Glendower Rd Liverpool My late father John O'Leary flew with 106 squadron from Oct 1943 till June 1944. I am still in posession of his log books covering all the missions he flew. There are names in the logs that I heard mentioned when I was very young. Names like F/O Harvey, P/O Perry, P/O Starkey and P/O Miffin. Sadley my father died from a heart attack when I was only 15 years old (now 63). and I never got to find out what part these people played in my parents life. I say parents because my Mother Winifred Boddy and her sister Mary Boddy, as they were then know were attached to 106 Sqd.
Why do we always leave it till late in life to wonder about our parents or is it just me.
I would be interested if anyone knew my father and can shed some light on his wartime activities
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Pte. Micheal John O'Leary . British Army Micheal O'Leary was my mum's step father. He landed on 6th June and, in his own words, lasted until 26th of September when he was hit by mortar shrapnel in Holland. Some 15 years ago he spoke to me for hours telling me all about his part in the invasion, something I will never forget. I saw a letter his captain sent to my nan explaining that he had been wounded and that he bore the pain well.
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W. K. O'Leary . Royal Air Force 49 Sqdn. Hampden P4404 of 49 Squadron had been brought down about 50 miles south of Paris and all the crew became POWs.
Two of them were subsequently shot:
Sgt John Cecil Shaw was shot dead attempting to escape from Stalag Luft 1 on or about 4th January 1942.
Another shooting of a member of the crew occurred after the "Great Escape" from Stalag Luft 3. F/Lt Brian Herbert Evans was one of the many escapees, but was recaptured. The Gestapo executed him on 31st March 1944. He is buried in Poznam Old Garrison Cemetery.
The full crew were:
Sgt J.C. Shaw (pilot)
F/Lt B.H. Evans (navigator)
Sgt D. Young (wop/airgunner)
W.K. O'Leary (wop/airgunner)
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Herbert O'Looney . from London Bert O'Looney was conscripted with four friends. Only two came home.
He was captured on the island of Singapore by the Japanese and brutalized building the railway of death for 3 and half years before coming home a shadow of the man he was and hating the Japanese with a devil's vengeance
He recounted everything to me they had done to him and countless others in great graphic detail and I have to say I struggle to fathom how a man can be so cruel to another. These men were abandoned by the British government and he hated them just a bit less than the Japs.
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RG O'mahoney . British Army RG O'mahoney served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch with Dan, his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Pte. Christopher Donolan O'Mahony . British Army 1st Btn. Hertfordshire Regiment from Cork City, Ireland My great uncle Christopher O'Mahony travelled up to Belfast from Cork to enlist at the start of March 1941. He joined up with three of his brothers. All four brothers survived the war. Christopher settled in London after the war.
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Pte. James O'Mahony . British Army Hertfordshire Regiment from Cork City, Ireland My great uncle James O'Mahony (spelled O'Mahoney on his records) was originally from Cork City Ireland. He was living in London before the war and joined the Hertfordshire Regiment during WW2. He joined up with three of his brothers. All four brothers survived the war.
James was posted to Singapore and was captured by the Japanese. We do not know the full extent of his ordeal but we believe he was one of the many put to work on the Burmese railway. Afterwards he was moved to Northern Japan where he was a slave labourer in a Mitsubishi lead and tin mine at a POW camp called Sendai Number 3. He was rescued by the US Navy towards the end of 1945 after the Japanese surrendered.
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Pte. Martin Henry O'Mahony . British Army 1st Btn. Hertfordshire Regiment from Cork City, Ireland My grandfather Martin O'Mahony travelled up to Belfast from Cork to enlist at the start of March 1941. He joined up with three of his brothers. All four brothers survived the war.
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Pte. Michael John O'Mahony . British Army from Cork City, Ireland My great uncle Michael O'Mahony was originally from Cork City Ireland. He may have joined the Hertfordshire Regiment but at the moment we have no evidence except that he joined up with three of his brothers who all joined the Hertfordshires. All four brothers survived the war.
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Pte. Patrick O'Malley . British Army Durham Light Infantry (d.12th Dec 1946) Patrick O'Malley died aged 34, he was the son of Patrick and Bridget O'Malley
amd husband of Catherine O'Malley of Jarrow.
He is buried in Jarrow Cemetery and is commemorated on the WW2 Roll of Honour Plaque in the entrance of Jarrow Town Hall.
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PFC. William Benjamin O'Neal . US Army Coy.I, 168th Infantry Regt. 34th Infantry Division from Greenville, North Carolina, USA William O'Neal, Jr. was my great-uncle. He was taken prisoner in Italy while on a recon patrol with 6 other soldiers. He stated that the Germans immediately took away their American uniforms and gave them British clothing. He said he worked on a potato farm nearby and would often trade cigarettes for food with German civilians. He was there approximately 15 months, and as the American forces began closing in they started moving them on foot for many miles until they were finally put on a train. He said he had to eat dandelions for energy during the march. After getting on the train, it was shot up by Allied aircraft. He said that after arriving at the last camp, the guards became "nice". Finally after a short while, they woke up to find the guards had left during the night.
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Bernard Whitney O'Neil . My uncle, Bernard Whitney O'Neil, was reported missing in action in Belgium on 21st December 1944 and ended up at Stalag IVB. I'm searching for details about his escape in March 1945, which led to his death.
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Pte. Alec Charles Trevor O'Neill . British Army Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment Alec O'Neill joined up in 1941 aged 18 and served with Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment stationed in Beckenham. He transfered to the 1/4th Battalion, Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in 1944 and deployed to North Western Europe. He fought through Holland liberating Arnham and on to Germany before transferring to the Kings Shopshire Light Infantry at the end of the war and was deployed to Palestine. After the war he was an Army Reservist until 1951.
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Pte. Edward Joseph O'Neill . British Army Somerset Light Infantry
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George Edward O'Neill . British Army 6th Btn. Royal Scots Fusiliers from Tilbury, Essex (d.16th July 1944)
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CSM. Gilroy O'Neill . British Army 1st Btn. Black Watch from Dundee Gilroy O'Neill is great grandfather but I do not have a lot of information to share.
All I can provide is his rank and name.
He served for 18 years to reach the rank of CSM.
He was a part of the Bren Gun carrier unit in India.
Also had taken part in the fighting in Italy.
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James O'Neill . Bevin Boys My father James O'Neill, who is still alive, served as a Bevin boy from start to finish. Although he was an air cadet and wanted to join the RAF as a rear gunner, he was dismissed and sent down the mines. He did his initial training at Humber Hill and Victory mines in County Durham where he lived and then went onto Bettshanger Collery in Kent for the remainder of the war. He was one of the last to be demobbed in 1948. If anyone has any records that I can pass on to him of people, places and names that would help him to remember I would be eternally grateful.
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RSM James O'Neill DCM. British Army Cameron Highlanders My grandad, James O'Neill, was awarded the DCM in WWII in Burma. A truly great man, humble, hard working and honest. He was an RSM in the Cameron Highlanders. He never spoke of his bravery. My hero.
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Able Sea. James O'Neill . Royal Navy HMS Athene My late father, James O’Neill, joined HMS Athene in October 1941. He was an AB and was usually referred to as “Peggy” or “Darkie”. From conversations with my father I drew the impression that the “Athene” was fortunate to have, generally, a friendly and happy crew and I am certain he enjoyed his time aboard her. Some of his oppos were, Jack Cresdy (a 12-year man from the Fareham or Gosport area), Rattler Morgan (he was, I think, a T124X rating - transferred from the merchant service), Bing [?] and Taffy Davis. His Divisional Officer was Lt. Pollyblanc (I do not know the correct spelling, but phonetically it sounded like Pollyblank). He came from Richmond in Surrey.
I have a few photographs of various members of the crew but unfortunately not the photograph of the whole ship's company. Some of the photographs I do have are of Arty Shaw playing the Athene into port, a few of the burial of the Captain in Simonstown. One is of the burial party, a number of the officers, part of the ship’s company and lowering the coffin. There is also one of Sunday morning divisions taking place on the hatch top and one or two of members of the crew. Should anyone wish to have copies of any of these, I’ll be quite happy to arrange for them to be emailed on.
Although I know some of the ports visited, not too long after he arrived home, I was away at sea myself and he didn’t manage to live to a ripe old age, so I never did get the full itinerary.
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LAC. John O'Neill . Royal Air Force from Dublin I recently purchased 3 RAF notebooks and other books relating to J O'Neill who served at RAF Halton.
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Maj. John Alfred O'Neill . British Army 8th Btn. Royal Tank Regiment from Dartford, Kent (d.29th Nov 1941) He was killed in action whilst commanding a Valentine tank near Sidi Rezegh during Operation Crusader.
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JR O'neill . British Army JR O'neill served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: Unfortunately The Wartime Memories Project has lost touch with Dan, his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Peter Paul O'Neill . British Army from Dublin, Ireland My grandad, Peter O'Neill was in the British Army and survived the war. He was only nineteen when he joined the Army and fought in Dunkirk. My auntie lived in England and was watching the television and saw her father coming off the boat.
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AB. Richard O'Neill DSM & Bar.. Royal Navy HMS Whitshed Richard O'Neill was awarded the DSM in 1940 whilst serving on HMS Whitshed. It was reported in the London Gazette dated 27th of August 1940 therefore the act of bravery occurred approx two to three months prior to the reporting. Still trying to find out more.
He was awarded a 2nd DSM (Bar) whilst serving on HMS Cairo in 1942, again reported in the London Gazette dated 22nd of September 1942.
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S/Sgt Victor O'Neill . British Army Royal Armoured Corps from Manchester, Lancs My Dad, Victor O'Neill had served in the 1st World War in the 2/6th Dragoon Guards. He was demobbed in 1921 and then joined the RAC for the 2nd World War. He was captured in Crete in 1941 and was taken to Stalag 8b in Ciezyn, Poland. His POW number was 22148.
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Pte. W. O'Neill . British Army Pioneer Corps (d.17th Jun 1940) Pte. W O'Neill of the Pioneer Corps lost his life in the sinking of the Lancastria.
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