With Anzac Day soon upon us and commemoration services cancelled it is an opportune time to reflect on the life of one of Western Australia's finest adopted sons, Sergeant Martin O'Meara VC.
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Martin O'Meara was born on November 6, 1885 in the town of Lorrha, County Tipperary, Ireland.
As a young man, Martin emigrated from Ireland to Western Australia where he lived in and worked near Collie as a railway sleeper hewer (cutter).
Photos of Martin show him as a well-built young man as one would expect given his occupation.
On enlistment he was 5ft 7 inches, 140 lbs and had a chest measurement of 40.5 inches, well above the set requirements for enlistment.
Martin enlisted at Blackboy Hill on August 19, 1915.
On his Attestation Form he indicated that his parents were deceased and nominated his sister Alice, who was still living in Ireland, as his next of kin and the person to whom an allotment from his pay was to be paid.
He was allocated to the 12th reinforcements of the 16th Battalion AIF, a composite Battalion consisting of recruits from Western Australia and South Australia.
Martin departed Australia in December 1915 for Egypt where the Battalion was re-formed after the Gallipoli debacle and training for France commenced.
By March 1916 the Battalion was stationed in France.
From August 9 to 12, 1916 the Battalion was in action during the Battle of Pozieres and it is in this battle Martin was awarded his Victoria Cross.
The citation for the VC reads as follows:
"For most conspicuous bravery. During four days of very heavy fighting he repeatedly went out and brought in wounded officers and men from 'no man's land' under intense artillery and machine gun fire. He also volunteered and carried up ammunition and bombs through a heavy barrage to a portion of the trenches, which was being heavily shelled at the time. He showed an utter contempt for danger, and undoubtedly saved many lives."
In total, six Officers of the 16th Battalion ranging in rank from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Colonel submitted recommendations for the award of the VC.
Perhaps the most notable of the recommendations was from Major Percy Black DSO DCM Croix de guerre plus two Mentions in Dispatches who stated:
"On the morning of the 11th of August O'Meara was on scouting duty in No Man's Land. At this time some three machine guns were firing over the section of ground he was examining, and it was also being very heavily shelled by HE shells. About 10 minutes after I saw him go over the parapet into No Man's Land, I saw his return carrying a wounded man whom he had found lying in a shell hole in No Man's Land. Having dressed the wounds of this man he returned to No Man's Land in pursuance of his duties as Scout. My notice was again drawn to this morning on the 12th when the section of trench occupied by my Coy was being heavily bombarded by HE and Shrapnel. I withdrew the garrison to either flank from one portion that was in the process of being completely obliterated [and] which subsequently happened; one man failed to get out in time and was buried. O'Meara despite the overwhelming fire at once rushed to the spot, extricated the man concerned and thereby undoubtedly saved his life. During the advance of the Battalion on the night of the 9th-10th a number of men were wounded and left lying on the ground over which the advance had been made and subsequently on the 11th-12th runners and carriers who had occasion to cross this area were wounded there. I saw O'Meara on many occasions on the 10-11-12th of August searching the ground for wounded to whom he rendered first aid and whom he subsequently brought in or assisted to bring in."
On August 12 Martin suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen resulting in his evacuation to England.
He returned to his unit on December 23, 1916 but was admitted back into hospital on January 6,1917 with a sprained ankle.
During the Battle of Bullecourt in April 1917, Martin was wounded again suffering shrapnel wounds to his face.
He was wounded a third time at Messines in August 1917 with gunshot wounds to the buttocks, back and thigh.
On July 21, 1917, Martin was presented with his Victoria Cross medal by King George V at Buckingham Palace.
Martin returned to his Battalion in January 1918. Martin was not the type to seek promotion, a friend of his said of him (as reported in the Collie Mail of 20 October 1917):
"I expect you know he won't be an NCO or Officer. He said a spare part in the Battalion will always do him and I don't doubt it because he is so honest and genuine. One of Collie's dinkums alright."
Notwithstanding this, he was promoted to Corporal on March 16, 1918 and Sergeant on August 31, 1918.
Even though he may not have sought promotion, his experience and the high rate of casualties would have necessitated it.
Martin was sent home from England to Australia on September 19, 1918 as one of a group of Australian VC recipients selected to help with recruiting in Australia.
Unfortunately, Martin's homecoming was not a happy one.
He suffered a mental breakdown at Woodman's Point Quarantine Station shortly after arriving home.
He was transported to the 24th Australian Auxiliary Hospital where he was diagnosed on December 19, 1918 as:
"Suffering from delusional insanity, with hallucinations of hearing and sight, is extremely homicidal and suicidal, and requires to be kept in restraint. He is not hopeful of his recovery in the near future."
Martin was admitted to Claremont Mental Hospital (now Aegis Montgomery House Claremont) as an insane patient on January 3, 1919.
On September 20, 1926, Martin was transferred to the newly constructed Lemnos Soldier's Hospital in Shenton Park where he remained until 1935.
He was transferred back to Claremont Mental Hospital shortly before his death, aged 50, on December 20, 1935.
A newspaper article at the time of his death stated that he was unmarried and had no living relatives in the State and that we was survived by two sisters in Ireland and a brother in New York.
On December 21, 1935 Martin was given a full military funeral with a firing party from the Royal Australian Artillery and gun carriage manned by members of the Guildford Remount Depot.
Martin was buried at Karrakatta Cemetery (Gravesite HA-0093) in the Roman Catholic section of the cemetery.
Given the intensity of the action that Martin was involved in within a short period of time (nine months) and suffering three separate counts of wounding, two of them severe, it is unsurprising that his mental state was so deeply affected.
Many soldiers suffered as Martin did - evidenced by the need to build the Lemnos Hospital to care for them.
While recovering in Hospital in Bath, England in November 1917, Martin drafted a will, superseding a previous will made in July 1917, that included detailed directions for the custody of his VC.
In his will, Martin left an estate valued at 2,700 pounds.
His original will decreed that his estate be left to his Sister Alice, however, his November 1917 will stated that the funds raised on his behalf by public subscription from his home town of Lorrha and surrounding areas after winning the VC should be expended to the restoration of an Abbey in the Tipperary area.
His will further stated that any moneys due to him for service in the Australian Forces should be invested for the children of his brother, John O'Meara.
Alice contested the will, citing Martin's insanity, however a court found that Martin was sane at the time he made the second will and that it was valid.
Martin's directions for the custody of his VC were complex and caused his executors some trouble in trying to act per his wishes.
In his will Martin directed that his VC should remain in the possession of Miss Mary Murphy of Dangan, Kilmacow Ireland during her life, on condition, firstly that she brought it to WA within 12 months after peace being restored, and, secondly that she resided for 12 months thereafter in that State.
If these conditions were not fulfilled, or in the event of her death he directed that the medal be forwarded to the Public Trustee of the City of Perth, WA, to be placed with the trophies won by the 16th Battalion of the Australian Forces until such time Martin O'Meara, the eldest son of John O'Meara (Martin Senior's brother), arrived in Australia, when the medal was to be presented to him to keep and leave to whatever institution or collection he saw fit.
In the event that Martin O'Meara were to die or not come to Australia after attaining the age of 25, the medal was to be presented to his next eldest nephew in Australia, but only on the condition that it not be removed from WA.
The conditions imposed on Martin's friend and relatives appear not to have been met, therefore the VC was presented to the 16th Battalion Association in 1940.
In 1980 the VC was transferred to the Army Museum of Western Australia in Fremantle where it could be appropriately secured and displayed.
In 2019 Martin' VC was loaned to the National Museum of Ireland for inclusion in a display of Irish recipients of the Victoria Cross.
This loan necessitated a change to the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986 which restricts the export of Australian VCs.
Martin's medal was the first to leave Australia for 60 years.
The medal is due to return to the Army Museum of WA in July 2020.
- Brendan Cook is treasurer of the Claremont Sub-branch RSLWA