ABLE
SEAMAN JOHN O'CONNOR RN
ABLE SEAMAN JOHN
O’CONNOR RN:
In 2015, seventy-five years after he served with the Royal
Navy during the Second World War, John O’Connor of The
Derries, Cross in County Mayo, received his coveted Arctic
Star Medal. The Arctic Star, a military campaign medal
commissioned by the British Ministry of Defence and
approved by the monarchy in 2012, is awarded for any
length of operational service north of the Arctic Circle
by members of the British Armed Forces or the Merchant
Navy. When he spoke to the Mayo News, John (96) recalled,
“I went to a recruiting base in Cornwall, and I told them
I was only interested in the Navy because, growing up here
in Cross so near to Lough Corrib, and because of my
interest in fishing, I suppose I had a fondness for
boats”. “We only got seven weeks training (HMS Raleigh)
because so many British vessels were getting hit by German
U-boats. There was even an air-raid in Cornwall and we all
had to flee to the shelters”. On the 28 April 1941, 44
sailors and 21 Royal Engineers were killed when a German
bomb hit the air-raid shelter in Raleigh.
Africa:
HMS Vindictive (Fleet Repair Ship) was the first naval
vessel John served on as an able seaman on her maiden
voyage (August 1941) to Sierra Leone and from there to
South Africa. “Africa was my favourite and I loved Cape
Town when we docked there, said John”. In October 1942,
following the success of the allied landings in North
Africa (Operation Torch), HMS Vindictive was nominated for
transfer to Oran (Algeria) as part of a convoy: John
recalled that on the night of the 12 November 1942: “West
of Gibraltar, where I saw the famous rock, we were joined
by the destroyer tender
HMS Hecla and escorted by
HMS
Venomous, and HMS Marne. We narrowly escaped torpedoes
fired by the German U-boat U515, but the Hecla was hit and
its crew suffered a heavy loss of life”. “We could only
look on, helpless, as hundreds of our comrades died before
our eyes in the Mediterranean Sea. I suppose I was always
fairly religious and, as the attack was happening, a
comrade on our ship looked at me and said: ‘John, where is
your God now?” HMS Vindictive remained with the
Mediterranean Fleet until March 1944, when she was
nominated to support the ships participating in
Operation
Neptune, the code name for the naval phase of the Allied
Invasion of Normandy during World War II.
Normandy:
Able Seaman John O’Connor RN continued his service as a
crew member onboard
HMS Essington (K353) a Captain-class
frigate of the Royal Navy. Originally constructed as a
United States Navy Buckley-class destroyer escort,
Essington was serving in the Royal Navy when she was sent
to the English Channel in June 1944 as part of the 3rd
Escort Group assigned to protect the Allied beach-head at
Normandy from interference by German submarines. On the 07
June 1944, the day after the initial landings, HMS
Essington and the rest of the escort group deployed in the
English Channel for these duties. On the 29 June 1944, HMS
Essington joined HMS Cooke, Domett, Duckworth and a Royal
Air Force Liberator aircraft of No. 244 Squadron on
anti-submarine patrols in the English Channel West of
Guernsey in a depth-charge attack that sank the German
submarine U-988. During the English Channel deployment,
HMS Blackwood was torpedoed and sunk by a German
submarine, Essington and the rest of the group returned to
Belfast on the 06 July 1944. On the 11 July 1944, the 3rd
Escort Group departed Belfast for another deployment in
defence of the Normandy beachhead and resumed
anti-submarine patrols in the English Channel on the 12
July 1944. Initially based at Plymouth, the group was
re-based at Devonport in August 1944. On the 14 August
1944,
HMS Essington and
Duckworth responded to the
sighting of a German submarine by a Liberator aircraft of
the Royal Air Force's No. 53 Squadron in the Bay of Biscay
West of St. Nazaire, France, and the two frigates
depth-charged a bottomed target. They and the Liberator
were credited with the sinking of the
German submarine
U-618, which was lost with all hands. The 3rd Escort Group
returned to Belfast on the 22 August 1944.
AWARDS:
For outstanding skill, courage and determination in
anti-U-boat operations, several crew members of HMS
Essington were honoured by the King:
29/30 June 1944: Awards to 2 officers and men of HMS
Essington for sinking U-988 west of Guernsey with HM Ships
Duckworth, Domett, Cooke and Aircraft of 224 Squadron RAF:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4850932
15 August 1944: Awards to 3 officers and men of HMS
Essington for sinking U-618 in the Bay of Biscay in
company with HMS Duckworth and Aircraft G of 53 Squadron:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4851240
Arctic Convoys:
In October 1944, the 3rd Escort Group was assigned to
detached service with the Home Fleet in defence of Arctic
convoys bound for the Soviet Union. On the 18 October
1944, HMS Essington steamed from Belfast to Loch Ewe,
Scotland, for this assignment, and from 19 to 27 October
1944 operated in defence of Convoys JW 61 and JW 61A in
the North Atlantic Ocean and Barents Sea before arriving
at Polyarny in the Soviet Union on the 28 October 1944. On
the 30 October 1944, Essington steamed out of Polyarny in
advance of Convoy RA 61's departure from the Kola Inlet to
attack German submarines gathering to oppose Convoy RA
61's passage, and in early November 1944 defended Convoy
RA 61 itself before returning to Murmansk on the 03
November 1944 along with other ships of the 3rd Escort
Group. On the 09 November 1944, the escort group departed
Murmansk and returned to Belfast on the 16 November 1944.
John humorously tells how it was another matter entirely
that forced him ashore for a week-long spell. “I had a
ferocious toothache and the captain sent me to a hospital
in Murmansk. That was nearly as hazardous as being at sea
because the place was full of Russian soldiers. But after
I got sorted I returned to port where another British
Naval vessel docked there was looking for an Able Seaman
and I sailed with them.”
The Last Sailing:
In May 1945, the Royal Navy decided to deploy HMS
Essington for duty with the British Pacific Fleet, which
required the ship to receive new communications equipment
for her anticipated duties. Her refit to install the
equipment began in June 1945 and was still in progress as
the surrender of Japan was announced on the 15 August 1945
which brought World War II to a close, and prompted the
termination of her refit and cancellation of her transfer
to the Pacific. On the 19 October 1945, the Royal Navy
returned
HMS Essington along with her sister ship
HMS
Calder to the United States and in to U.S. Navy custody.
The crew of HMS Essington already in New York believed
they might have to spend time in the Pacific, but when
word reached John of the Japanese surrender, he celebrated
the ending of the war with his brother in New York. His
brother James had fought with the US Army. In
October/November 1945 the wartime crew of HMS Essington
departed New York on the
Queen Mary bound for the UK, and
as the ship was leaving the port, John spotted his brother
James in the crowd and they waved to each other. This was
the last time they would ever see each other.
Jenny Biggins:
Granddaughter of John O’Connor:
After the war, John returned home to Ireland and became a
plasterer. He lived a long and healthy life and in his
latter years enjoyed reading about different ships in the
Royal Navy during World War II. Piqued by her interest in
history, and her granddad’s war stories, his granddaughter
Jenny Biggins from Dringeen, County Mayo made contact in
2015 on his behalf with the British Ministry of Defence to
inquire about the Arctic Star medal. “We often said we’d
do something about it so I searched the internet on Google
and found a contact,” Jenny explained. “I knew Granddad’s
service number ‘CJX238655' off by heart so I emailed. They
replied saying they were compiling a list of service men
that were entitled to the Arctic Star decoration and
Granddad was one of them. “They sent on the forms and
there was a lot of bureaucracy and red tape but, once we
sent everything back, they expedited the process in order
that older veterans would get their medals first”. A few
weeks later a registered letter from the British Ministry
of Defence and the prestigious medal inside arrived to
John O’Connor in his home in The Derries, County Mayo.
Grandad enjoyed telling some of his war stories to his
family and was very proud the day he received his Arctic
Star Medal in April 2015. The Arctic Star now commands
pride of place on a plaque on John’s sideboard alongside
the 1939-45 Star, the Africa Star, the Atlantic Star and
the War Medal issued to all full-time personnel of the
British Armed Forces who served at sea in the Second World
War. For John O’Connor and his family the medals are a
proud reminder of a time when a young Irishman from a
lakeside village between Cross and Cong in the County of
Mayo sailed the high seas when the world was at war: John
O'Connor passed away in February 2016, three months shy of
his 98th birthday.
(John O’Connor deceased 18th February 2016, and his wife, Iza, also known as Elizabeth, O’Connor (nee Hornibrook),
deceased 12th May 2019: Both are buried in Cross East
Cemetery, County Mayo):
Medals:
1. Arctic Star
2. 1939-45 Star
3. Atlantic Star
4. Africa Star
5. War Medal 1939-45
Credits:
Jenny Biggins, granddaughter of Able Seaman John O’Connor RN
(RIP),
The MAYO NEWS (“South
Mayo War Veteran Honoured” by Willie McHugh) published 12 May
2015:
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