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I was sent this story by a coworker. Interesting.
By Sidney Allinson, Times-Colonist, Victoria.
St. Patrick's Day is an apt time to recall that the only Victoria Cross
medal to be awarded for bravery on Canadian soil was won by an Irishman.
Timothy O'Hea was born in the scenic village of Schull, County Cork,
Ireland, in 1843, but left home as soon as he became 18, old enough to
join the British Army. Six feet tall and blue-eyed, he made a
fine-looking soldier in a crack regiment, The Prince Consort's Own Rifle
Brigade.
Two years later, in 1866, O'Hea found himself on duty in Quebec,
helping guard Canada from possible attack from south of the border. At
that time, the Canadian provinces were lightly defended by small units
of the British Army, as the bulk of Imperial forces had been withdrawn a
decade earlier, sent to fight Russia during the Crimean War. Their
departure drew attention to the colonies' vulnerability and stirred
action to form volunteer Canadian militia regiments for their own
defence. The end of the U.S. Civil War in 1865 increased fears that the
powerful Union Army might then march north to conquest.
As it turned out, though, the real threat of invasion that did
develop was by an unofficial army calling itself the Fenian Brotherhood,
composed of about 1,000 Irish-American war veterans. Their optimistic,
if farfetched, goal was to capture and occupy the Canadian colonies so
as to force Britain to abandon its government of Ireland.
After an abortive raid on Campobello Island, N.B., the Fenians began
to menace Quebec and Ontario. At dawn on June 1, 1866, a force of about
800 well-armed Irishmen and sympathizers, led by a self-styled "General"
John O'Neill, stormed ashore at Fort Erie, Ont. Their invasion brought
hurried response from local militia, who were poorly equipped with
muzzle-loading muskets and had virtually no military experience compared
to the battle-hardened Irish ex-soldiers.
A short sharp battle near the village of Ridgeway ended in a rout
for the Canadians, who lost 10 men dead, then fled the field when
falsely told of a pending attack by cavalry. A couple of other
skirmishes took place along the frontier, more successfully when British
regulars became involved, and the Fenians retreated to Buffalo, N.Y.
Would-be General O'Neill and his followers were arrested by American
authorities for violating U.S. neutrality laws, but were soon released
when Britain made no move to demand their extradition.
However, the atmosphere was still tense along the entire border
three weeks later when Private O'Hea was detailed to form part of an
armed escort of a Grand Trunk Railway train moving ammunition from
Montreal to Fort Erie. On June 19, 1866, he and three other privates
under orders of a Sergeant Hill took charge of a munitions van loaded
with 95 barrels of gunpowder and almost a tonne of ammunition. To
disguise the cargo, it was hitched at the rear of several passenger-cars
carrying 800 German immigrants. This somewhat dangerous arrangement was
compounded by locking the civilians in their carriages to prevent any
infiltration by Fenian agents.
When the train stopped at Danville station, Quebec, smoke was seen
billowing from the ammunition car. Railroad workers and the soldiers
quickly disconnected it, but were unable to move it away to a safe
distance.
When the flames gained strength and word spread about the dangerous
cargo, it was realized an explosion could obliterate most of the
village, and panic set in among the bystanders who stampeded away.
Soldiers made a hurried attempt to open the passenger doors and release
the German men, women, and children locked inside and still unaware of
their hazardous plight.
But a frantic demand by Sgt. Hall revealed that the railwayman who
carried the passenger door keys had already scampered away and could not
be found.
For reasons unknown, Sgt. Hall apparently stood frozen with
indecision, ammo key in hand. Realizing that the gunpowder could blow up
at any moment, Private O'Hea snatched the key, found a ladder, and
climbed inside the smoking box-car. Seeing the flames were mainly on
tarpaulins over the powder-barrels, he threw the burning covers outside,
then he leaped down, grabbed a bucket, and raced to fill it from a
nearby creek.
Without any assistance from others, Timothy ran back and forth 19
times to throw water on the burning woodwork, while the locked-in
immigrants cheered happily, not realizing their lives depended on him.
Finally, after almost an hour of hot work in the face of almost certain
death and without regard for his own safety, he single-handedly quenched
the flames and the trapped civilians were out of danger at last.
The doused box-car was re-coupled to the immigrant train, and
proceeded on its way to Ontario. After his superiors received reports of
O'Hea's outstanding courage, they recommended the young soldier be
awarded a Victoria Cross, Britain's highest military medal.
When originally introduced by Queen Victoria in 1856, the VC was
intended as recognition "For conspicuous bravery in the face of the
enemy." However, this definition was soon amended to also include
"bravery under circumstances of great danger," and it was this clause
that allowed Pte. O'Hea to be presented with a much-honoured VC in
January, 1867.
Though he could have continued military service with considerable
prestige, O'Hea for his own reasons left the army the year after
receiving his medal. Restless for new challenges, he sailed to New
Zealand in 1872, and joined a mounted constabulary unit fighting in the
last Maori War.
Two years later, he sailed to Sydney, Australia, where he met Andrew
Hume and an English ex-soldier, Lewis Thompson. The pair were about to
set out to solve the mysterious fate of Prussian explorer Ludwig
Leichardt who had disappeared in the Simpson Desert of northern
Australia 25 years before. Their intended quest intrigued O'Hea, who
maybe was also struck by another German connection with his own search
for excitement.
So, in December 1874, he set out with them into the trackless
Outback, hoping to locate a lone survivor of the Leichardt party,
rumoured to be living with an Aboriginal tribe in western Queensland.
Before long, though, the three companions became hopelessly lost in the
blazing hot desert, out of food and desperately short of water. Tough as
he was, O'Hea finally collapsed, and Hume was also exhausted. Promising
to return, Thompson left them and set off to find water. But when he
came back with filled canteens three days later, he found Hume and O'Hea
lying dead.
The Irish VC's adventurous short life had ended at the age of just
28, and he was buried in an unmarked grave at Noccundria Station,
Queensland.
Feeding the modern hunger for conspiracies, O'Hea's saga has
recently been clouded with complicated theories of mistaken identity and
dotty speculation it was his brother instead who died.
The real mystery of the disappearance of his medal itself was solved
in 1950, when it was found forgotten in a drawer of an art gallery in
New South Wales. He had left it as security for a loan by a financial
backer, who later presented it to the gallery.
Today, Timothy O'Hea's Victoria Cross is proudly displayed by his
old regiment in the Royal Green Jackets Museum, Winchester, England.
Sidney Allinson is a military historian who lives in Victoria.
By Sidney Allinson, Times-Colonist, Victoria.
St. Patrick's Day is an apt time to recall that the only Victoria Cross
medal to be awarded for bravery on Canadian soil was won by an Irishman.
Timothy O'Hea was born in the scenic village of Schull, County Cork,
Ireland, in 1843, but left home as soon as he became 18, old enough to
join the British Army. Six feet tall and blue-eyed, he made a
fine-looking soldier in a crack regiment, The Prince Consort's Own Rifle
Brigade.
Two years later, in 1866, O'Hea found himself on duty in Quebec,
helping guard Canada from possible attack from south of the border. At
that time, the Canadian provinces were lightly defended by small units
of the British Army, as the bulk of Imperial forces had been withdrawn a
decade earlier, sent to fight Russia during the Crimean War. Their
departure drew attention to the colonies' vulnerability and stirred
action to form volunteer Canadian militia regiments for their own
defence. The end of the U.S. Civil War in 1865 increased fears that the
powerful Union Army might then march north to conquest.
As it turned out, though, the real threat of invasion that did
develop was by an unofficial army calling itself the Fenian Brotherhood,
composed of about 1,000 Irish-American war veterans. Their optimistic,
if farfetched, goal was to capture and occupy the Canadian colonies so
as to force Britain to abandon its government of Ireland.
After an abortive raid on Campobello Island, N.B., the Fenians began
to menace Quebec and Ontario. At dawn on June 1, 1866, a force of about
800 well-armed Irishmen and sympathizers, led by a self-styled "General"
John O'Neill, stormed ashore at Fort Erie, Ont. Their invasion brought
hurried response from local militia, who were poorly equipped with
muzzle-loading muskets and had virtually no military experience compared
to the battle-hardened Irish ex-soldiers.
A short sharp battle near the village of Ridgeway ended in a rout
for the Canadians, who lost 10 men dead, then fled the field when
falsely told of a pending attack by cavalry. A couple of other
skirmishes took place along the frontier, more successfully when British
regulars became involved, and the Fenians retreated to Buffalo, N.Y.
Would-be General O'Neill and his followers were arrested by American
authorities for violating U.S. neutrality laws, but were soon released
when Britain made no move to demand their extradition.
However, the atmosphere was still tense along the entire border
three weeks later when Private O'Hea was detailed to form part of an
armed escort of a Grand Trunk Railway train moving ammunition from
Montreal to Fort Erie. On June 19, 1866, he and three other privates
under orders of a Sergeant Hill took charge of a munitions van loaded
with 95 barrels of gunpowder and almost a tonne of ammunition. To
disguise the cargo, it was hitched at the rear of several passenger-cars
carrying 800 German immigrants. This somewhat dangerous arrangement was
compounded by locking the civilians in their carriages to prevent any
infiltration by Fenian agents.
When the train stopped at Danville station, Quebec, smoke was seen
billowing from the ammunition car. Railroad workers and the soldiers
quickly disconnected it, but were unable to move it away to a safe
distance.
When the flames gained strength and word spread about the dangerous
cargo, it was realized an explosion could obliterate most of the
village, and panic set in among the bystanders who stampeded away.
Soldiers made a hurried attempt to open the passenger doors and release
the German men, women, and children locked inside and still unaware of
their hazardous plight.
But a frantic demand by Sgt. Hall revealed that the railwayman who
carried the passenger door keys had already scampered away and could not
be found.
For reasons unknown, Sgt. Hall apparently stood frozen with
indecision, ammo key in hand. Realizing that the gunpowder could blow up
at any moment, Private O'Hea snatched the key, found a ladder, and
climbed inside the smoking box-car. Seeing the flames were mainly on
tarpaulins over the powder-barrels, he threw the burning covers outside,
then he leaped down, grabbed a bucket, and raced to fill it from a
nearby creek.
Without any assistance from others, Timothy ran back and forth 19
times to throw water on the burning woodwork, while the locked-in
immigrants cheered happily, not realizing their lives depended on him.
Finally, after almost an hour of hot work in the face of almost certain
death and without regard for his own safety, he single-handedly quenched
the flames and the trapped civilians were out of danger at last.
The doused box-car was re-coupled to the immigrant train, and
proceeded on its way to Ontario. After his superiors received reports of
O'Hea's outstanding courage, they recommended the young soldier be
awarded a Victoria Cross, Britain's highest military medal.
When originally introduced by Queen Victoria in 1856, the VC was
intended as recognition "For conspicuous bravery in the face of the
enemy." However, this definition was soon amended to also include
"bravery under circumstances of great danger," and it was this clause
that allowed Pte. O'Hea to be presented with a much-honoured VC in
January, 1867.
Though he could have continued military service with considerable
prestige, O'Hea for his own reasons left the army the year after
receiving his medal. Restless for new challenges, he sailed to New
Zealand in 1872, and joined a mounted constabulary unit fighting in the
last Maori War.
Two years later, he sailed to Sydney, Australia, where he met Andrew
Hume and an English ex-soldier, Lewis Thompson. The pair were about to
set out to solve the mysterious fate of Prussian explorer Ludwig
Leichardt who had disappeared in the Simpson Desert of northern
Australia 25 years before. Their intended quest intrigued O'Hea, who
maybe was also struck by another German connection with his own search
for excitement.
So, in December 1874, he set out with them into the trackless
Outback, hoping to locate a lone survivor of the Leichardt party,
rumoured to be living with an Aboriginal tribe in western Queensland.
Before long, though, the three companions became hopelessly lost in the
blazing hot desert, out of food and desperately short of water. Tough as
he was, O'Hea finally collapsed, and Hume was also exhausted. Promising
to return, Thompson left them and set off to find water. But when he
came back with filled canteens three days later, he found Hume and O'Hea
lying dead.
The Irish VC's adventurous short life had ended at the age of just
28, and he was buried in an unmarked grave at Noccundria Station,
Queensland.
Feeding the modern hunger for conspiracies, O'Hea's saga has
recently been clouded with complicated theories of mistaken identity and
dotty speculation it was his brother instead who died.
The real mystery of the disappearance of his medal itself was solved
in 1950, when it was found forgotten in a drawer of an art gallery in
New South Wales. He had left it as security for a loan by a financial
backer, who later presented it to the gallery.
Today, Timothy O'Hea's Victoria Cross is proudly displayed by his
old regiment in the Royal Green Jackets Museum, Winchester, England.
Sidney Allinson is a military historian who lives in Victoria.
