Cpl. P. Brennan's Squad Irish Guards, March 1943
Guards Depot Caterham

Gdsn. R. Waring,   R. Watts,   J. Atkinson,   G. Lilley,   T. Carey,   W. McLaughlin
Gdsn. R. Robinson,  H. Moore,  E. Allen,  Td.S. J. Hosey,  Gdsn. M. Traynor,  H. Trimble,  J. Mounsey
Gdsn. S. Davie,   L. Craig,   CPL. P. BRENNAN,   Sgt. J. Tymon,   Gdsn. T. Gallagher,   D. Foynes
(Squad Instructor)            (Supt. Sgt.)      

Mr.Gerry Brennan sent me these photos with the following notes:

" My father was Corporal Patrick Gerald Brennan No 2722896, who served with the 
Guards Armoured Brigade  and was wounded near St Charles de Percy in Normandy .
For his actions, he was presented with the Military Medal by King George VI. "
The photograph also shows the Queen mother, the present Queen and the King's equerry, Peter Townsend.

The investiture was held on July 18th, 1945 in the Commons Chamber at Stormont, and the Royal Party were accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of Abercorn. Dad was the only Irish Guard invested at the ceremony, and I think the reason it was held so long after the event was due to the severity of my Dad's wounds.

I  have the original hand-written letter from Colonel JSN FitzGerald informing Dad he had been awarded the medal.    Also, a letter of congratulation, sent with the medal ribbon, signed by Major RC Alexander.

His citation reads: 

"On 4th August, 1944, Lance-Corporal Brennan was a member of a Bren Gun carrier force supporting self propelled guns which were being considerably harrassed by an enemy machine gun nest in the area near Beaulieu. Lance-Corporal Brennan went forward alone with a Bren gun to eliminate this nest.  He succeeded in silencing the enemy machine gun but was himself wounded in the leg in the process.

In spite of his wound, however, he crawled under constant fire from other enemy weapons to a slit trench and lay there for 45 minutes. He then succeeded in crawling the remaining distance to his own lines though still under fire from the enemy.
Lance-Corporal Brennan's gallant action undoubtedly prevented other casualties amongst his comrades and at the same time enabled the self propelled guns to carry out their task.

His single handed success was remarkable; even more remarkable was his long crawl back through the fields to his platoon."

My father's last memory of Normandy was of Joe Vandeleur visiting him on his stretcher. He was shipped back to England and ended up in a military hospital in Sedgefield, Co Durham. Here, he was nursed by the woman who was later to become his wife and my mother. Due to his injuries, he had great difficulty getting a job after the war, but he eventually worked his way to have his own steel exporting company on Teesside.

I also have attached two photos I took of the military cemetery at St Charles de Percy.

           
Several years ago I visited St Charles de Percy and met with the local mayor who had studied the fighting that had taken part in his area. He was able to take me to the very spot where my father was injured. My most abiding memory, however, is of the military cemetry at St Charles de Percy, which has row upon row of Irish Guards buried there. My father would not talk much about his time in action, but after I'd visited St Charles de Percy, I showed him some photographs of the gravestones of Irish Guards  who were killed on the same day he himself was injured. One inscription particularly upset him; apparently he'd been wrestling with this very Guardsman on the night before the action and they'd been great friends. He found it difficult to believe that his friend was buried there and had been dead all those years, and yet he'd had no idea.

Just a few private anecdotes of a man I loved and admired greatly:

I am Pat's only child , and my son is his only grandson, so it was amazing to see how upset he was when my son told him he'd joined the REME to work on Challenger tanks. It brought my father back vivid memories of the horrors of the battle of Caen and was one of the few times he spoke of combat. He rarely wore his Military Medal, but was persuaded to do so for my son's passing out parade at Pirbright. When asked later by my son's officer where he got the medal, my father, who was quite embarrassed by it, replied that he'd bought it at the gate for half a crown!  
    
Sadly his wounds meant that he could never walk far, and his last two years were passed suffering from Alzheimer's, My father would rarely speak of his action, but was immensely proud of the Irish Guards. I know he would have loved to have seen your site Ivor, but sadly he died last year at the age of 81.

I'm glad you found my dad's story interesting. He was certainly a larger than life character.
His story is told on page 434 of the History of the Irish Guards, a book given to me by my grandmother, and which I have treasured since childhood. I am not sure what he was known as in the army; it may have been Pat or Gerry, both of which he was known as in later life   My own son's name is Charles Edward, but he is known as ' Don' Brennan in the army - after the character in Coronation Street.

Regards
Gerry Brennan  
 

If you knew Patrick, the family would love to hear from you: