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JUNE 9
remembrance ni
The Normandy Memorial at Ver-Sur-Mer
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The Normandy Memorial at Ver-Sur-Mer officially inaugurated by PM Theresa May in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron on D Day anniversary 2019. It overlooks Gold beach and the remains of the Mulberry harbour at Arromanches.
NI at D-Day + Michael John McGee,DCM, Para from Aughnacloy.
Private Michael John McGee, from Mill Street, Aughnacloy, served with 7th Parachute Battalion which was part of 5 Airborne Brigade in 6th Airborne Division.
On the night of 5/6 June 1944, Private McGee jumped with his Battalion behind the German lines in Normandy.
The task of 5 Airborne Brigade was to capture bridges over the Orne river in preparation for the arrival of the seaborne invasion on 6 June – D-Day.
At Benouville the bridge over the Orne canal was captured by soldiers of 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, who landed in gliders, and the men of 7th Parachute Battalion.
The bridge was intact as the airborne soldiers had arrived so quickly that the German engineers had not had time to set off the explosives that would have demolished it.
Michael McGee’s Company, about 100 men of 7th Parachute Battalion, was in action without a break for almost 24 hours. For much of that time it was cut off from the remainder of the battalion and was under determined
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attack from stronger German forces. These included tanks and self-propelled artillery as well as infantry.
When a German Panther tank approached the position held by Michael McGee and some of his comrades, it seemed as if that position would be overrun. However, Private McGee jumped from his trench and charged towards the tank, firing a Bren gun from the hip!
This must have seemed suicidal to his comrades but it shocked the Germans so much that the tank commander ordered his driver to stop.
With the vehicle at a halt, other members of McGee’s company were able to run towards it and ‘put it out of action with a hand bomb’. - This was probably a No. 75 Hawkins grenade, which was a hand-thrown or surface-laid anti-tank mine.
Although the Hawkins grenade was effective against light armoured vehicles it would usually have had little effect on a medium tank such as the Panther. However, with the tank stopped the paras were able to blow a track off with the weapon and this put the Panther out of action.
Michael McGee’s courage had saved his company from possible disaster one of whom was Richard Todd, who returned home to become a British actor in leading roles such as "The Dambusters" and "The Longest Day" of which Todd acknowledges in his autobiography!
McGee was subsequently commended for the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The commendation noted
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that ‘his complete disregard for his personal safety was largely responsible for the successful and gallant action fought by his company’.
Michael McGee did not survive that day. He had been wounded by machine-gun fire from the German tank and died from his wounds later that day.
With about twenty other soldiers, mostly from 6th Airborne Division, he is buried in Benouville churchyard.
The Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) was the highest gallantry award, other than the Victoria Cross, that could be awarded to a British or Commonwealth soldier.
Interestingly, it could not be awarded to someone who had died but several senior officers turned a blind eye to this rule – which was not rescinded until the 1970s – so that Michael McGee’s courage would be recognised officially.
Michael McGee, 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion joined the Army after September 1943, as his service number indicates. His CO, Lt Col Richard Pine-Coffin, didn't report his death from wounds until he had submitted the citation for the DCM.
That citation, which was handwritten and not on the appropriate form (AF W3121, was received at 5 A/b Brigade HQ on 10 June, at divisional HQ on the 11th where it received immediate approval and was forwarded to corps HQ next day. From there it went to Second Army HQ on 16 June and was approved formally on 12 July. The
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announcement of the award of the DCM appeared in the London Gazette on 22 March 1945 where it was noted that he had 'since died of wounds'.
Richard Doherty in his book 'Irish Volunteers in the Second World War', published in 2002, commented that Michael McGee's courage was of an order that deserved recognition and might even have earned him a posthumous VC. However, those who recommended him probably felt that the DCM was more likely to be awarded and hence the decision to delay the announcement of his death.
It was 1979 before the rules on posthumous awards were changed. Until then only the VC and the MiD could be awarded posthumously and hence the willingness of some COs to pretend that a man was still alive.
Another local example was L/Sjt Shaw Harper of 1st (Motor) Bn Grenadier Guards whose commanding officer, Lt Col Goulburn, ensured that Shaw Harper was awarded the MM for his gallantry at le Val, Normandy, on 11 August even though he had been killed in action two days later. In fact Col Goulburn wrote the citation on the day that Shaw Harper, from Castlewellan, was killed, making his recommendation for an 'immediate' award. The award was announced in the London Gazette in March 1945.
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On this Day - June 9
1940
German forces advancing South from the Somme capture Rouen on the Seine.
The British 51st Highland Division and part of the French 10th Army withdraw towards St-Valery-en-Caux, hoping to be evacuated to England.
The French government evacuates from Paris to Tours.
Norway officially surrenders to Germany.
1941
Fire Service Council established in Britain, with 1,400 local brigades being merged in to 32 regional ones.
British advance 40 miles into southern Syria and the Lebanon capturing Tyre in the process.
Italian casualties for May announced as 1,948 killed, 5,204 wounded and 27,292 missing.
Two thousand soldiers put an end to the strike at North American Aviation in Inglewood, CA that threatened crucial aircraft production.
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1942
Heydrich lies in state in Berlin. Himmler calls him, ‘a noble, honest and decent human being’.
The Japanese high command announces that “The Midway Occupation operations have been temporarily postponed.”
1943
Tito is wounded during a German air attack.
1944
Allied forces continue to land a considerable number of men and equipment in Normandy. Facing them, in the British area of responsibility, the Germans positioned three divisions northwest of Caen: the 21st Panzer Division, the 12th Panzer Division and the Panzer-Lehr.
D-Day+3 - Allied Air Forces bomb the ancient city of Caen killing 2000 French civilians. In all, 50,000 Normandie lives will be the price of the liberation.
Remember Them.Souvenez-vous d'euxe.
U.S. forces advancing from Utah Beach capture St. Mere-Eglise and cut the crucial road and rail links on the Cherbourg peninsula. Rommel puts all German forces in Normandy onto the defensive.
The RAF fly from French airfields for first time since 1940.
The U.S. Fifth Army is now 50 miles Northwest of Rome.Page 7
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The Russians launch a heavy assault on the Finnish forces in the Karelian Isthmus to the North of Leningrad, in an attempt to force them out of war.
1945
Japanese Premier Kantaro Suzuki announces Japan will fight to the very end rather than accept unconditional surrender.
On Luzon, US Sixth Army takes Bagabag, sealing off Japanese in Cagayan Valley.
The Japanese on Okinawa’s Oroku peninsula are reported as trapped.
Tokyo radio says that 4.93m Japanese have been displaced by the bombing in the last three months.
Yugoslav partisans agree to withdraw from Austria and Trieste.
Los Angeles holds a parade for Generals George Patton and Jimmy Doolittle.
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Roll of Honour - June 9 Representing their comrades who died on this day
1917
+ANDERSON, Jospeh
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 11th Btn. Lance Corporal.14015. Died 09/06/1917. Age 51. Son of Joseph and Matilda Anderson, of Ballinamallard. Hazebrouck Commnal Cemetery, France
+CAIRNS, IRoyal Irish Royal Irish Rifles. Rifleman. 14181. Died 09/06/1917. Dundonald cemetery
+CRAIG, William Captain. HMT Harbury. Died 09/06/1917. Sunnyside, Antrim Road, Belfast. Fortwilliam Park - PCI RH. Family memorial, Balmoral Cemetery, Belfast
+KANE, John
Royal Irish Rifles, 15th Btn. Corporal. 209. Died 09/06/1917. Age 26. Son of Joseph and Annie Kane, of 95, Main St., Portrush. Longuenesse (St Omer) Souvenir Cemetery, France
+SMYTH, William Smyth12th Bn. Royal Irish Rifles. Rifleman. 1782. Died as a
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Prisoner of War at Ruckhiem, Germany, 09/06/1917. Aged 26. Born Ballycastle. Married. Lived at 20 Church Street, Port Glasgow, Niederzwehren German
+WAINWRIGHT, Alfred
Royal Irish Fusiliers. 9th Btn. "C" Coy. Private. 20029. Died 09/06/1917. Age 19. Son of Alfred and M. E. Wainwright, of Crewcatt, Richill. Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium
1918
+CAIRNS, Isaac
Royal Irish Rifles, 10th Btn. Rifleman.14181. Died 09/06/1918. Age 25. Son of James and Agnes Cairns, of 53, Jerusalem St., Belfast. Dundonald Cemetery, Belfast.
+SMYTH William
Royal Irish Rifles,12th Btn. Rifleman. 1782. Died 09/06/1918. Niederzwehren Cemetery, Kassel, Germany
+TYRELL, Walter Alexander RNAS. Petty Officer. 32nd Squadron RAF. MC. Died 09/06/1918. He was educated at RBAI (Inst) and the Belfast Municipal Technical Institution He was a member of the QUB OTC and was working as an apprentice motor engineer when he commissioned into the Royal Flying Corps in July 1917. He served in the RNAS (Armoured Car Section) as a Petty Officer from 26/12/1914 to 24/11/1915. During this time, he spent 8 months in France and suffered an injury, when an armoured car crushed his foot. Subsequently he used a specially made boot.
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Alexander was Ireland's fourth ranked air ace, with 17 victories. The first was on 30/10/1917 over Passchendaele, the last two being at 1845 hrs and 1850 hrs on 06/06/1918. He was awarded the Military Cross, the citation for which read: "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. On one day this officer attacked two enemy triplanes, destroying one and driving down the other out of control. After this he was attacked by two other machines, one of which he forced to land, taking the occupants prisoners. On various other occasions, he has destroyed or driven down out of control enemy machines."
One particular victory, his second, on 11/11/1917 is described here: "Three 32 Sqn DH5s flown by 2nd Lts Howson, W A Tyrrell and Claydon, were engaged on an OP. At 1000 over Westroosbeke, Clayton & Tyrrell first intercepted an Albatros with a yellow and green fuselage and yellow nose. Clayton was forced to pull out of the fight with a gun jam, but Tyrrell carried on the attack. The German began a staggering flutter in a downward direction. As the pilot attempted to pull the stricken Albatros out of the dive, Tyrrell fired again, his bullets striking the pilot's head and the instrument panel in front of him. The Albatros reared upwards before spinning down again. Tyrrell lost sight of his quarry at 300 feet as it fell through and below other circling German aircraft - it was too dangerous to follow. There no German pilot fatalities on this day. Nevertheless, Tyrrell added this ‘out of control’ to his score."
Alexander was killed, at the age of 19, while flying his Fouquerolles SE5a biplane. He was brought down by enemy machine gun fire from the trenches. Born 23/08/1898. Son of John Tyrrell and Jeanie Tyrrell (nee Todd) of Fairview Buildings, Crumlin Road, Belfast, and later
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Ballyholme. Beauvais Communal Cemetery, Oise, France. First Bangor PCI RH. Bangor WM. RBAI WM
1940
+CARROTHERS, TRoyal Artillery. Gunner. 458599. Died 09/06/1940. Dundonald cemetery
+JAMESON, John
Royal Artillery. Gunner. 1474572. Died 09/06/1940. Aged 30. 8 HAA Regiment. 23 Bty. Son of Samuel and Alice Jameson, of Belfast, Northern Ireland; husband to Sarah Jameson, of Belfast. Pont-de-L’Arche Communal Cemetery, Eure, France. Regimental WM and RH, St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast
+REA, William
Royal Artillery. Gunner.1476657. Died 09/06/1940. Aged 22. 8 HAA Regiment. 23 Bty. Son of Patrick Rea, and of Ellen Rea, of Belfast. Pont-de-L’Arche Communal Cemetery, Eure, France. Regimental WM and RH, St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast
1942
+McCAGHEY, Harold AbrahamRCAF. Flight Lieutenant. C/2076. Died 09/06/1942. Aged 38. Son of William J. McCaghey and Jean McCaghey, Belfast; Husband to Elva M. Mccaghey, Ancaster. Ancaster (Bethesda United Church) Cemetery, Shaver Family Plot, Canada
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+O'NEILL, Charles
RAF. Sergeant (Air Gunner). 613758. Died 09/06/1942. Aged 22. 83 Sqdn. Son of Edward and Mary Ann O'Neill, Armagh. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
1943
+ROBINSON, William Arthur
RAFVR. Sergeant. 1504635. Died 09/06/1943. Aged 22. 619 Sqdn. Son of Joseph and Barbara E. Robinson, of Belfast. Runnymede Memorial, Panel 163. QUB WM
1944
+BURNS, Gerald JosephRAFVR. Sergeant (Air Gunner). 1796555. Died 09/06/1944. Aged 24. 44 Sqdn. Son of Hugh and Agnes Burns of Belfast. Moringny-Champigny Communal Cemetery, Essongy, France
+HALFPENNY, John James
Royal Ulster Rifles, 2nd Btn. Rifleman. 7015482. Died 09/06/1944. Aged 27. Son of Frank and Annie Halfpenny, of Ligoniel, Co. Antrim. La Deliverande War Cemetery, Douvres, Calvados, France
+KELVILLE, Patrick
Suffolk Regiment, 1st Btn. Lieutenant. 207709. Dued 09/06/1944. Age 26. BA, QUB. Son of Timothy P. and Charlotte Helena Keville, of Lurgan. La Deliverance War Cemetery, Douvres, France. QUB WM, Lurgan WM
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+MEARN, Herbert
Royal Ulster Rifles, 1st Btn. Corporal.14412609. Died 09/06/1944. Aged 19. He was killed in action during enemy attacks on the Battalion on 09/06/1944 at Longueval.He had originally served in the General Service Corps. From Coleraine, County Londonderry. He was the son of Margaret Mearns. Ranville Cemetery, Calvados, France
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+McCULLOUGH, Clarence JohnRoyal Engineers, , 249 (Airborne) Field Coy. Sapper. 1878171, Died 09/06/1944. Age 19. Son of John and Elsie McCullough, of Belfast. Ranville War Cemetery, Calvados, France
*MclLROY, James
Royal Ulster Rifles, 1st Btn. Rifleman. 7012990.Died 09/06/1944. Aged 30. Mortally wounded while serving in D Company at Longueval on 09/06/1944. From Belfast, he joined the Battalion in May 1943. Son of Henry and Sarah Mcllroy and husband to Nancy Mcllroy of Belfast. Ranville Cemetery, Calvados, France
+PATTERSON, John
Royal Ulster Rifles, 2nd Btn. C Coy. Rifleman. 7020205. Died 09/06/1944 during fierce fighting at Cambes-en-Plaine. Aged 32. Brother served in RAF. Son of John and Elizabeth Patterson, husband to Florence Paterson Summerhill St., Belfast. Cambes-en-Plaine War Cemetery, Calvados, France
+PATTON, Richard George
Royal Ulster Rifles, 2nd Btn. A Coy. Rifleman. 6979411. Died 09/06/1944 in Cambes. He suffered fatal wounds from shrapnel during the battle to take the woods near the village. Born in Co. Armagh. On enlisting he joined the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Later, he joined the RUR. Cambes-en-Pleine Cemetery, Cambes, Normandy, France.
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+PROSSER, Reginald Henry JamesRoyal Ulster Rifles. 1st Btn. 21 Platoon, D Coy. Rifleman. 7020918. Died 09/06/1944. Aged 21. Son of Henry and Florence Prosser, of Southall, Middlesex. Bayeux War Memorial, Calvados, France
+RICE, William John
Royal Ulster Rifles, 2nd Btn. A Coy. Rifleman. 7011646. Died 09/06/1944 during fighting at Cambes Wood. Aged 46. 13 years served. He landed on Sword Beach on D-Day. Brother served in Royal Navy. Son of Thomas Rice and Elizabeth Rice (née Bingham); husband to Mrs J. Rice, Arkwright St., Belfast. Cambes-en-Plaine War Cemetery, Cambes, Normandy, France
+SCOTT, William JohnRoyal Ulster Rifles, 2nd Btn. 7011203. Died 09/06/1944. Cambes-en-Plaine War Cemetery, France.
+WILLIS, Norman1st Btn. Royal Ulster Rifles. 21 Platoon, D Coy. Rifleman, No. 7017941. Died 09/06/1944 at Longueval. Aged 23. Joined the Battalion in May 1943. From Belfast, he was the son of James and Elizabeth Willis. Ranville War Cemetery, Calvados, France
Every day is a Remembrance Day
We will remember themPage 16
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