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Private Henry O'Hanlon
Unit : No.15 Platoon, "C" Company, 1st Battalion The Border Regiment
Army No. : 3783776
Awards : British Empire Medal
The glider in which Private O'Hanlon flew to Sicily ditched in the sea five miles from land. For his actions during the following hours he was awarded the British Empire Medal:
During the airborne operation on Sicily on 9th July, 1943, the glider in which this man was flying came down in the sea at night some five miles off the coast of Sicily. Seeing two non-swimmers washed off the glider he went to their rescue in a very heavy swell and managed, although almost exhausted, to bring one man back to the glider which had drifted about two hundred yards away, thus saving the man's life. Thereafter he kept up the spirits of the exhausted men on the glider until rescue craft arrived some seven hours later. He showed great courage and a complete disregard for his own personal safety.
The arrival of the rescue craft was due to the efforts of Private O'Hanlon and Lieutenant Alan Green, who decided to swim to the shore where they met some naval officers who arranged to have the remainder collected. The following article was published in the Evening Express on the 25th February 1944:
Private Henry O'Hanlon, Border Regiment, Goldsmith-street, Fairfield, has been awarded the B.E.M. for the part he played in the landings in Sicily.
The citation said that on July 9, 1943, the glider in which he was flying was forced down into the sea at night some five miles from the coast in a very heavy swell. Although exhausted, he managed to bring one man back to the glider, which had drifted about 200 yards away, thus saving the man's life. He kept up the spirits of the exhausted men on the glider until rescue craft arrived seven hours later.
Private O'Hanlon, now back in England, is an old boy of Sheil-road School.
O'Hanlon took part in the Battle of Arnhem, where he was wounded and taken prisoner on the 20th September 1944. He was put aboard a train bound for Germany, but managed to cut his way out and escape, and was subsequently sheltered by the Dutch Resistance until eventually reaching the Allied lines. The following article was published in the Liverpool Echo on the 19th January 1945:
News has been received by Mr. and Mrs. O'Hanlon, 13 Goldsmith Street, Fairfield, Liverpool 6, that their son, Private Henry O'Hanlon (B.E.M.) missing in September last year at Arnhem, is a prisoner in German hands. Aged 23, he is an old scholar of Sheil Road School, and was awarded the B.E.M. for his courage in saving men in the airborne operation on Sicily in July, 1943.