Michael John O'Leary

Michael John O'Leary VC (29 September 1890 – 1 August 1961) was an Irish soldier and police officer who served in both world wars and received the Victoria Cross for single-handedly charging and destroying two Imperial German Army barricades defended by machine guns near Cuinchy on the Western Front. Born at Kilbarry Lodge, Inchigeelagh, near Macroom, County Cork, he was one of four children born to Daniel O'Leary, a farmer and competitive weightlifter and Margaret Lucey O'Leary. He received his primary education at Kilbarry National School. Unwilling to work as an agricultural laborer on his family's farm, O'Leary enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1906, serving as a bluejacket at the shore establishment HMS Vivid in Devonport until he was discharged medically in April 1910 due to severe rheumatism in his knees.

Following his naval discharge, O'Leary enlisted in the British Army on 2 July 1910, joining the Irish Guards under regimental service number 3556. He completed three years of active service on home stations before transferring to the Army Reserve on 2 July 1913. Seeking wider employment opportunities in North America, he emigrated to Canada and joined the Royal North-West Mounted Police on 2 August 1913, serving as Constable number 5685. Stationed in Battleford, Saskatchewan, he gained local prominence during a prolonged armed engagement with two fleeing criminals, successfully capturing both individuals after an exchange of gunfire. Transferring to Regina in May 1914, O'Leary requested and received a free discharge from the police force on 22 September 1914 to rejoin the British Armed Forces following the outbreak of hostilities in Europe.

O'Leary returned to the United Kingdom, was mobilised on 22 October 1914 and deployed to France on 23 November 1914 with the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, joining the British Expeditionary Force entrenched in Flanders. He participated in heavy trench warfare throughout the winter of 1914–1915, earning a Mention in Despatches and receiving promotion to Lance-Corporal on 5 January 1915. On 30 January 1915, German forces launched a localized assault along the La Bassée Canal near Cuinchy, seizing a section of railway embankment from the Coldstream Guards. On 1 February 1915, the Irish Guards participated in a counter-attack to recapture the position. During the assault, O'Leary spearheaded the storming party, advancing ahead of his unit and attacking two successive barricades manned by machine-gun crews.

The official citation for his Victoria Cross was promulgated in the Supplement to The London Gazette on 16 February 1915:

"No. 3556 Lance-Corporal Michael O'Leary, 1st Battalion, Irish Guards. For conspicuous bravery at Cuinchy on the 1st February, 1915. When forming one of the storming party which advanced against the enemy's barricades he rushed to the front and himself killed five Germans who were holding the first barricade, after which he attacked a second barricade about 60 yards further on, which he captured, after killing three of the enemy and making prisoners of two more. Lance-Corporal O'Leary thus practically captured the enemy's position by himself, and prevented the rest of the attacking party from being fired upon."

Promoted to Sergeant for distinguished conduct in the field on 4 February 1915, O'Leary was invested with the Victoria Cross by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 22 June 1915. He became an immediate public figure, greeted by massive crowds at Hyde Park and receiving widespread acclaim from contemporary figures, including author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In August 1915, he was awarded the Russian Cross of St. George (3rd Class) and received a direct commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Connaught Rangers on 23 October 1915. Deployed to the Balkan theater with the 5th Battalion, Connaught Rangers, he served throughout the Macedonian Campaign, receiving another Mention in Despatches. While serving in Salonika, he contracted severe malaria, a recurring ailment that permanently compromised his physical health.

O'Leary retired from the army in 1921 with the rank of Lieutenant and returned to Canada, where he worked for the Ontario Provincial Police enforcing liquor regulations during Prohibition, later serving as a railway police sergeant. He returned to Great Britain in 1925 due to worsening health and eventually secured employment in 1932 as a commissionaire at The May Fair Hotel in London, assisting with veteran charitable endeavors. Following the mobilization of the British Army in September 1939, O'Leary returned to active service as a Captain in the Middlesex Regiment. He deployed to France with the British Expeditionary Force, but a severe malarial recurrence forced his medical evacuation prior to the Battle of France. Unfitted for mobile field operations, he transferred to the Royal Pioneer Corps and assumed command of Prisoner of War Camp No. 11 in southern England, attaining the rank of Major. He was discharged on medical grounds in 1945. In civilian life, he worked as a building contractor until his retirement in 1954. O'Leary died on 1 August 1961 at Archway, Islington, London, aged seventy, and was buried at Mill Hill Cemetery.