HISTORICAL CONTEXT

He was a crew member on board the merchant ship MV Derrycunihy. She set sail from West India Docks, London on 18 June 1944, carrying 600 men of 43rd (Wessex) Reconnaissance Regiment and their equipment. Their destination was Sword Beach.

They arrived on 20 June 1944 but bad weather and heavy shelling by the German defenders prevented them unloading for three days. A decision was made to move so they could unload on Juno Beach instead.

They got ready to sail at 07:40 on 24 June 1944 but the sound of her engines triggered an acoustic mine which had been dropped during one of the German Luftwaffe's nightly raids.

The ship broke in two and the stern sank within seconds of the explosion, drowning many of those in that part of the ship. He has no known grave so he is commemorated on the Tower Hill Merchant Navy Memorial to the Missing, London.