142344 Pte. Thomas James "Paddy" Harragan British Army Middlesex Regiment from:Dublin, Ireland My Grandfather, Paddy Harragan joined up in 1914 with his best friend Charlie Brown, a brother so to speak, they were Cads, wide boys, but duty bound. My Grandad married Charlies' sister, my granny, love was all. The rest of this occurrence is highly speculative as I only have his written words and the verbal words of his sons and daughters.
My Granddad, Charlie, and others were sent on a recce/snatch party, with an officer. Granddad and the officer got back to the lines, leaving Charlie and other mates screaming on the wire. Pte T.J Harragan disobeyed his officer, defied enemy fire went back into No Man's Land, dis-entangled several, including Charlie and led the rest to safety. For this action the officer received the V.C. My granddad cuddled Charlie till he was cold. He got leave and my Nan had To wash her brother's blood from his uniform and send him back.
My Granddad survived the war, he never returned to Ireland,h ad three sons who served in WW2 and a fascinating postscript, stayed in his bed during the Blitz saying, they didn't get me then! He lived until 1963
I served 5yrs in the Royal Engineers I saw a bit, but nothing I could possibly imagine compared to what my Granda went through
We would love to find the citation for the officer's VC, can anyone help?
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