If one man can represent the fighting prowess of a people then the Irishman Michael John O'Leary fits the bill for his Catholic kin. Already an ex-RN seaman and decorated ex-member of the Royal North West Mounted Police (Canada) during December 1914, Private O'Leary saw heavy fighting with the Irish Guards. He was was Mentioned in Despatches and subsequently because of his actions was promoted to Lance Corporal on 5 January 1915. Three weeks later on 30 January, his unit was ordered to prepare for an attack on German positions near Cuinchy on the La Bassée Canal in response to a successful German operation in the area five days before. The Germans attacked first however and on the morning of 1 February seized a stretch of canal embankment on the western end of the line from a company of Coldstream Guards. This section of the line, known as the Hollow, was tactically important as it defended a culvert that passed underneath a railway embankment. Number 4 Company of Irish Guards, originally in reserve, were tasked with joining the Coldstream Guards in retaking the position at 04:00, but the attack was met with heavy machine gun fire and most of the assault party, including all of the Irish Guards officers, were killed or wounded. To replace these officers, Second Lieutenant Innes of Number 1 Company was ordered forward to gather the survivors and withdraw, forming up at a barricade on the edge of the Hollow. Innes regrouped the survivors and, following a heavy bombardment from supporting artillery and with his own company providing covering fire, assisted the Coldstream Guards in a second attack at 10:15. Weighed down with entrenching equipment, the attacking Coldstream Guardsmen faltered and began to suffer heavy casualties. Innes too came under heavy fire from a German barricade to their front equipped with a machine gun. Michael O'Leary had been serving as Innes's orderly, and had joined him in the operations earlier in the morning and again in the second attack. Charging past the rest of the assault party, O'Leary closed with the first German barricade at the top of the railway embankment and fired five shots, killing the gun's crew. Continuing forward, O'Leary confronted a second barricade, also armed with a machine gun 60 yards (55 m) further on and again mounted the railway embankment, to avoid the marshy ground on either side. The Germans spotted his approach, but could not bring their gun to bear on him before he opened fire, killing three soldiers and capturing two others after he ran out of ammunition. Reportedly, O'Leary had made his advance on the second barricade intent upon killing another German to whom he had taken a dislike. Having disabled both guns and enabled the recapture of the British position, O'Leary then returned to his unit with his prisoners, apparently as cool as if he had been for a walk in the park. For his actions, O'Leary received a battlefield promotion to Sergeant on 4 February and was recommended for the Victoria Cross, which was gazetted on the 18 February. The attached account of his actions was written by James Price Lloyd of the Welsh Regiment, who served with Military Intelligence. After the war, the government to destroyed all the archives relating to this propaganda (section MI 7b (1)). They were regarded as being too sensitive to risk being made public. Remarkably these documents have survived in the personal records of Captain Lloyd. Many of these papers are officially stamped, and one can trace the development of many individual articles from the notes based on an idea, to the pencil draft which is then followed by the hand-written submission and the typescript. The archive Tales of the VC comprises 94 individual accounts of the heroism that earned the highest award for valour, the Victoria Cross. These are recounted deferentially and economically, yet they still manage to move the reader. Date stamp: 25 April 1918. || Article with annotations.

Photograph of Michael Murphy of the Royal Garrison Artillery

Article with annotations. || Michael James O'Rourke VC, MM (March 19, 1878 – December 6, 1957) was a Private in the 7th (1st British Columbia) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force During the period 15/17 August 1917 at Hill 70 near Lens, France, Private O'Rourke, who was a stretcher bearer, worked unceasingly for three days and nights bringing in the wounded, dressing their wounds and getting them food and water. During the whole of this period the area in which he worked was swept by heavy machine-gun and rifle fire and on several occasions he was knocked down and partially buried by enemy shells. His courage and devotion in carrying out his rescue work in spite of exhaustion and incessant heavy fire seemed to inspired all ranks and undoubtedly saved many lives. The attached account of his actions saving wounded from No Man's Land and collapsed trenches and dugouts was written by James Price Lloyd of the Welsh Regiment, who served with Military Intelligence. After the war, the government to destroyed all the archives relating to this propaganda (section MI 7b (1)). They were regarded as being too sensitive to risk being made public. Remarkably these documents have survived in the personal records of Captain Lloyd. Many of these papers are officially stamped, and one can trace the development of many individual articles from the notes based on an idea, to the pencil draft which is then followed by the hand-written submission and the typescript. The archive Tales of the VC comprises 94 individual accounts of the heroism that earned the highest award for valour, the Victoria Cross. These are recounted deferentially and economically, yet they still manage to move the reader.