Martin O'Meara
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Martin O'Meara
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| File:Martin O'Meara VC.jpg
Private Martin O'Meara c.1915–16
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| Born | 6 November 1885 Terryglass, Lorrha, County Tipperary |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Perth, Western Australia |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  Australia |
| Service/ |
Australian Imperial Force |
| Years of service | 1915–1919 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Unit | 16th Battalion |
| Battles/wars | First World War |
| Awards | Victoria Cross |
Martin O'Meara VC (6 November 1885 – 20 December 1935)[1] was an Irish-born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Early life
O'Meara was born at Terryglass, Lorrha, County Tipperary. He had been working as a labourer in Pinjarra, Western Australia,[2] when on 19 August 1915 he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force.
Military career
Assigned to 16th Battalion[3] as a private, O'Meara embarked for France on 22 December 1915.
Between 9 and 12 August 1916 at Mouquet Farm, Pozières, during four days of very heavy fighting, Private O'Meara repeatedly went out and brought in wounded officers and men from "no man's land" under intense artillery and machine-gun fire. He also volunteered and carried up ammunition and bombs through a heavy barrage to a portion of the trenches which was being heavily shelled at the time. O'Meara was wounded three times during the war and returned to Australia on 15 September 1918, having reached the rank of sergeant.[4]
Later life
O'Meara was diagnosed by the OC, 24th Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Stromness on 19 December 1918 as:
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suffering from Delusional Insanity, with hallucinations of hearing and sight, is extremely homicidal and suicidal, and requires to be kept in restraint. He is not hopeful of his recovery in the near future. Admitted to Claremont Mental Hospital (insane patient), 3 January 1919.[5]
O'Meara died at the age of 50 and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth, Western Australia.
The Medal
His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Army Museum of Western Australia, Fremantle, Western Australia.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. chapter 12, p. 156
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 29740. p. 8871. 9 September 1916. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
- ↑ The AIF Project: Martin O'Meara profile
Listed in order of publication year
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (1981, 1988 and 1997)
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- VCs of the First World War - The Somme (Gerald Gliddon, 1994)
- Ireland's VCs ISBN 1-899243-00-3 (Dept of Economic Development 1995)
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale; Four Courts, 2000 ISBN 185182491X)
External Links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
- Pages with broken file links
- Commons category link from Wikidata
- Irish emigrants to Australia
- Australian World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross
- Australian Battle of the Somme recipients of the Victoria Cross
- Irish Battle of the Somme recipients of the Victoria Cross
- Australian Army soldiers
- People from County Tipperary
- 1885 births
- 1935 deaths
- Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery
