The Wartime Memories Project - The Second War

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.     Site Home     WW2 Home     Add Stories     WW2 Search     Library     Help & FAQs  WW2 Features     Airfields     Allied Army     Allied Air Forces     Allied Navy     Axis Forces     Home Front     Battles     Prisoners of War     Allied Ships     Women at War     Those Who Served     Day-by-Day     Library     The Great War  Submissions     Add Stories     Time Capsule     TWMP on Facebook     Childrens Bookshop  FAQ's     Help & FAQs     Glossary     Volunteering     Contact us     News     Bookshop     About Advertisements World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

244669 John Brendon "Ginge" OHare South African Air Force 31 Squadron from:Armagh John O'Hare joined the SAAF I think because he was born in the Irish Free State and therefore not eligible for UK forces at the time although I am not sure about this. He was 21 at the start of the war but I think joined later. He had many memories of his time training in Palestine and time spent in Lebanon as well as Egypt. He was a navigator on Liberator bombers flying missions over Greece as well as the Middle East and North Africa. He would occasionally talk to us about this, but not often. He was shot down over Tobruk causing an injury which left him partially sighted. He was briefly captured and held in a holding camp but with others escaped into the desert, surviving on rations gleaned from the packs of fallen men. He was able to rejoin his squadron and later spent time in Italy with the USAF, his memories of that time were mostly of how well fed the Americans were compared to the sparse rations he was used to. Post war he came to England and joined the British Army and was a member of REME for 30 years, he retired to Bournemouth and passed away in February 2011 aged 93. I have photos from his time in the Middle East and North Africa. Evelyne O'Hare Add to this record.  Related Content: No. 31 Squadron Royal Air Force Can you help us to add to our records? Add a record to our website. The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them Did you or your relatives live through the Second World War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial? Were you or your relative evacuated? Did an air raid affect your area? If so please let us know. Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice. Contact us. Celebrate your own Family History Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Secomd World War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc. Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.

The free section of the Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers. We have been helping people find out more about their relatives wartime experiences since 1999 by recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items. The website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions. If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running. Hosted by: The Wartime Memories Project Website is archived for preservation by the British Library Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV - All Rights Reserved We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.