Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of John and Eliza McCARTHY

Distinguished Conduct Medal

'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty under heavy machine gun fire. He moved forward with a comrade, and succeeded in bombing and silencing a hostile machine gun which was firing from a strong concrete emplacement upon his company.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 219
Date: 20 December 1917

Patrick McCARTHY

Distinguished Conduct Medal Recommendation  

‘On the 7th June 1917, south of MESSINES for conspicuous gallantry in action. During the consolidation of the GREEN LINE his company was suffering heavy casualties from a hostile machine gun in advance of the objective and firing from a concrete emplacement. This man moved forward in Company with a scout, having worked his way around to the back of the emplacement threw bombs through the loophole from which the gun was firing, and thereby succeeded in silencing the gun’.

Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 20 December 1917 on page 3386 at position 2

Patrick McCathy embarked from Melbourne on July 28, disembarking at Plymouth, England on September 11, 1916. Training for the newly arrived 3rd Division would commence at Perham Downs and Patrick would be ‘taken on Strength’ into the 7th Training Battalion.

Winter would be hard in England over 1916 and they would not proceed overseas to France, until February 4, 1917. He would be transferred to the 37th Battalion (Ballarat Battalion) and marched out to the front on February 7, 1917.

Patrick would undertake his brave deeds on June 7 at Messines and be recommended for the Distinguished Conduct Medal by the 37th Commanding Officer. He also would be promoted to Corporal the following day on June 8, 1917. In addition, he was granted 2 weeks leave to England in mid June 1917.

Patrick would struggle again with influenza in mid September and be admitted to a local hospital behind the front line. He was discharged to duty on September 24, 1917 however; he would be wounded in action and declared missing on October 12. 1917

A Court of Enquiry, held in the field, 2 May 1918, pronounced fate as 'killed in action, 12 October 1917'.

In the ‘History of the 37th Battalion by N.G McNicol provided the following account:-

‘Shortly afterwards mixed groups of the 40th and 38th Battalions came up to join in the attack on Waterfields. Then out dashed Corporal P. McCarthy, D.C.M., the Eaglehawk miner, who had attacked a pill-box at Messines. With his revolver extended, he went straight at the machine-gun. At the same time another man, from the more advanced line to the right, also made for it. Then other men also dashed forward. Up went the hands of the Germans, but it was then too late to surrender. In a few moments the enraged Australians wiped out the gun-team and its guard.’[1]

Later after the main battle – McNicol goes on: -

‘Just after the main part of the 37th arrived at the objective, they noticed the thin line of their protective barrage about 250 yards ahead. So unimportant did it seem that a solitary member of the 10th Brigade could be seen penetrating the area quite unconcernedly. Who he was and to what unit he belonged remained a mystery. Some afterwards thought it might have been Corporal McCarthy, as he was missing after the battle ended. He proceeded alone up the rise towards Passchendaele, and, at a point several hundred yards from the village, paused at a ruined building (Crest Farm) underneath which, apparently lay a dugout. Presently out filed 8 or 10 Germans with their hands up and these came running down towards the 37th's line. What became of the intrepid Australian the 37th observer who reported this piece of daring, had no knowledge.[2]

Reports of this battle on October 12 indicate possibly thousands of wounded troops were left behind in ‘No Man’s land’ in the mud and blood in front of the deadly German machine gun boxes. This attack cost 7000 casualties, The Australian 3rd Division lost 3199 lives in the 24 hours of this attack.

SERVICE DETAILS:  

Regimental No. 6049

Place of birth: Birchip, Victoria

Religion: Roman Catholic

Occupation: Miner

Address: Hodgson Street, Sailors Gully, Eaglehawk, Victoria

Marital status: Single

Age at enlistment: 22

Next of kin: Father, Mr J McCarthy, Sailors Gully, Eaglehawk

Enlistment date: 17 April 1916

Place of enlistment: Melbourne, Victoria

Unit name: 7th Battalion, 19th Reinforcement, 37th Battalion

Embarked: HMAT A32 Themistocles on 28 July 1916

Final Rank: Corporal

Fate: Killed in Action 12 October 1917

Age at death: 24 No known grave

Commemoration - Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial Belgium

The battle at Messines, Belgium, 7th -14th June 1917.

"Gentlemen, we may not write history tomorrow, but we are certainly going to change the geography".  With those prophetic words, General Sir Herbert "Daddy" Plumer's Orders for his Second Army's attack on Messines Ridge began.

After the Canadians at Vimy Ridge in April 1917, Messines was the second large-scale victory wrought by British and Commonwealth forces on the Western Front.  It was the 3rd Australian Division's first major operation and marked the successful application of underground mine warfare and General Sir Herbert Plumer's "Bite and Hold" tactics.

Messines heralded the start of what has become known as  the Third Ypres Campaign.  It was also to be a key turning point for the Allies complementing the Canadian victory at Vimy Ridge in April 1917.  After months of meticulous preparation, the battle commenced with the detonation of 19 underground mines, dug beneath the German lines along the Wytschaete-Messines Ridge, the high ground south of Ypres.   They literally blew the top off the ridge-line, ensuring that General Plumer and his men did 'write history' and 'changed the geography' as well.  The detonations were allegedly heard across the English Channel. More than 10,000 German soldiers are thought to have become casualties as a result.[3]

[1] N.G. McNicol, The Thirty-Seventh: History of the 37th Battalion A.I.F., (Melbourne: Modern Printing Company, 1936). P. 145
[2] N.G. McNicol, The Thirty-Seventh: History of the 37th Battalion A.I.F., (Melbourne: Modern Printing Company, 1936). P. 148         [3] Virtual War Memorial Australia Website https://vwma.org.au/explore/campaigns/7