| Birth: | 1843 | | Death: | Dec., 1874 | 
Peacetime Victoria Cross Medal Recipient. Born in Bantry, County Cork in 1843 or 1846 (the date is in dispute), his unique among all the tales of bravery that have been recognized with the VC; it was the only time a VC was awarded for action on Canadian soil, and it was the first VC award made in peacetime. As a Private in the 1st Battalion, The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own), British Army, serving in Canada, on June 9, 1866, he was at the railway station in Danville, Quebec, as part of a squad detailed to guard a boxcar filled with ammunition. Another part of the train had been several converted boxcars being used to transport 800 German immigrants west to the Plains - but the immigrants were locked in. Late in the afternoon O'Hea discovered the ammunition car was on fire. He raised an alarm only to discover that the train crew and the other soldiers in his detail had fled to safety. He grabbed the keys to the ammunition car from his Sergeant, who seemed paralyzed, and entered the burning car. He ripped burning material off the covers of the ammunition cases and threw them out the car door, then served as a one-man bucket brigade, making 19 trips to a nearby creek in the space of an hour. All the while the German immigrants cheered him on, unaware of their own danger. By evening the fire had been put out, the ammunition off-loaded to another car, and the 800 immigrants were safely on their way. A military board recommended O'Hea for the Victoria Cross, which is normally awarded in wartime for "acts of valour in the face of the enemy." In this case the citation was amended to read "for conspicuous courage under circumstances of great danger" (more than one commentator has noted this as a classic understatement). The Medal was awarded on New Year's Day, 1867. What happened to Private O'Hea afterwards is a mystery. It was originally thought that he left the Army, traveled to New Zealand and joined the mounted constabulary, then moved to Sydney, Australia in 1874. It was supposed that he died while on an expedition into Sturt's Desert in the outback to find an alleged survivor of another disastrous expedition dating back to 1848. Recent research has revealed the possibility that the man who died in Sturt's Desert near Noccundra Station in 1874 might actually have been O'Hea's younger brother John, who had apparently taken over Timothy's identity after Timothy had been hospitalized in London suffering from tuberculosis and then returned to his home in Ireland where he later died. However Timothy O'Hea may have died and wherever his remains lay, his VC medal is on display at the Royal Green Jackets Museum, Winchester. (bio by: Paul F. Wilson)
Search Amazon for Timothy O'Hea | | | Burial:
Timothy O'Hea Gravesite
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Noccundria Station
Queensland, Australia
*Alleged or in dispute |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Aug 16, 2003
Find A Grave Memorial# 7768252 |
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Added by:
Paul F. Wilson
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