Lieutenant Denis O’Flaherty, Royal Artillery, of 6 Troop, No. 3 Commando is helped by his fellow commandos during the raid on Vaagso, Norway, in December 1941. During the previous hours the commandos had been engaged in fierce fighting on the narrow snow-covered streets.
The German occupying forces had the advantage of using the buildings and houses to provide cover for their heavy-machine guns and snipers. With the raiders taking casualties, the men of 6 Troop, led by Captain Peter Young and Lt O’Flaherty, were called up to the action.
The reinforcements soon cleared their way from house to house dispatching the enemy in the process. O’Flaherty led assault after assault and the enemy soon took refuge in a large wooden warehouse. While Peter Young made plans to torch the building and smoke them out, O’Flaherty, frustrated by the halt in the action, charged at the warehouse door, with a commando called Sherington following hot on his heels.
Shots rang out, but from the cries heard outside, it was clear that the assault had not gone entirely to plan. When they staggered from the warehouse Sherington had been shot in the leg, and O’Flaherty, covered in blood, had been shot in the face. His right eye was gone, jaw smashed, and the atlas bone in his neck shattered.
Despite his wounds, multiple operations, and nearly two years in hospital, Denis O’Flaherty made it back to the frontline in time for the invasion of Europe. He survived the rest of the war, and in recognition of his gallant and distinguished service against the enemy at Vaagso, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.
However, O’Flaherty’s story doesn’t end there. He remained in the Army after the war, and complete with his distinctive black eye patch, served in Korean War with the Royal Artillery. His unit was attached to the US Army, and in recognition of his gallant and distinguished service during operations, he was awarded America’s Bronze Star Medal conferred by the President of the United States.
Photo credit: IWM N495
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