Orders, Decorations & Medals - Australian Groups

Lot 3986    Session 13 (2.30pm Thursday)    Orders, Decorations & Medals - Australian Groups

Estimate $40,000
Bid at live.noble.com.au
SOLD $45,000

GROUP OF FOUR: Distinguished Service Order (GVR); Military Cross (GRI) with Bar (KC); British War Medal 1914-18; Victory Medal 1914-19 with MID. First medal unnamed, Captain P.J.F.O'Shea, A.M.M.C Polygon Wood, 20.9.17 on reverse of second medal, Captain P.J.F.O'Shea. A.I.F. on third and fourth medals. Second medal engraved, note A.M.M.C. instead of A.A.M.C., third and fourth medals impressed. Nice original condition group, swing mounted, good very fine.

Together with: matching set of miniature medals swing mounted; two riband bars both with MC rosettes and MID emblems; dog tag made from concave sterling silver hallmarked disc, obverse, 'Capt. P.J.F.O'Shea / A.A.M.C. / R.C.', reverse, 'N of K / Father / Granville / N.S.W.'; RSL badge (KC) two figure type, reverse impressed 12254; Certificate of Congratulations dated 11th December 1918 for award of DSO signed by General Rawlinson, Commanding Fourth Army; parchment for bestowal of DSO dated First day of February, 1919; Certificate for MID from Sir Gouglas Haig dated 16th March 1919; Army Orders by General Sir H.S.Rawlinson, Bart, in colour for Immediate Awards for gallantry and devotion to duty in action; extract of letters from General Birdwood to Capt O'Shea firstly for the award of the Military Cross and again for the Bar to the Military Cross; Proof for 1927 Edition of Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage including New Honours conferred with listing for Capt O'Shea (submitted for approval by Capt O'Shea); head and chest photo of Capt O'Shea in uniform; three photos in civilian life, one on Remembrance Day wearing miniature medals; Notice of Alteration of War Pension; Death Certificate. DSO: LG 1/2/19, p1616, pos 3; CAG 3/6/19, p943, pos 11. Recommendation: During the attack on Herleville Wood near Chuignes on August 23rd, 1918, Capt. O'Shea, Regimental Medical Officer of the Battalion, displayed sublime courage, initiative and devotion to duty throughout the operation. Keeping up with the advance he was always in the hottest portions of the line, dressing wounded and organizing stretcher parties to clear same. Realising that it was practically impossible to cope with the casualties by establishing an R.A.P. Captain O'Shea made no attempt to do so but moved about the line wherever the casualties were heaviest, dressing the wounded and using German prisoners as bearers. Hardly any German prisoner escaped this gallant officer and it was solely owing to his magnificent efforts that such a splendid feat of clearing wounded was achieved. Time and again when the Advance was held up and the leading troops shot down Captain O'Shea went forward and dressed them under furious machine gun and artillery fire, carrying numbers of them back to the line single-handed. As the advance continued he immediately took charge of all prisoners almost as soon as their hands went up, organized them into squads and cleared his cases. Later, when the objective was reached and our line subjected to a heavy gas shell bombardment he did heroic work moving through the gas drenched area, dressing and collecting wounded and blinded men and leading them back to comparative safety. Through other medical officers in the Sector becoming casualties, his task was made extremely heavy and the fact that he cleared all the wounded of two Battalions, handled all the enemy wounded and worked without the slightest rest for three days and nights in the open, is only a slight indication of the magnificent courage and devotion to duty of this officer. MC: LG 19/11/17, p11953, pos 37, Supplement 30389; CAG 7/3/18, p398, pos 51. Recommendation: During the 1st Australian Division offensive 19th to 23rd September, 1917 - Menin Road and Glencourse Wood, this young officer displayed really remarkable courage and energy while in charge of stretcher bearers of the 2nd Aust. Field Ambulance. His post near Clapham Junction, whence he cleared the wounded back to Hooge Tunnel and from the Regimental Aid Posts, was one of great responsibility which he faced with staunch courage, resource, and unremitting care. His personal relations with his bearers; his care for their comfort and feeding; his personal attention to the wounded and his rapid and complete grasp of the necessities and possibilities of the position surprised me on my visits, and were instrumental in relieving me in a considerable degree of anxiety as to his link in the chain of evacuation. I have numerous testimonies as to his courage and unremitting attention to the requirements of the forward area. Bar to MC: LG 26/11/17, p12317, pos 5, Supplement 30399; CAG 7/3/18, p400, pos 20. Recommendation: During the attack on Broodseinde Ridge east of Ypres on Oct. 4th, 1917, Capt. O'Shea did splendid and courageous work dressing wounded and organizing stretcher parties under heavy fire. The pill-box where Capt. O'Shea and another Medical Officer had established their dressing station rapidly became congested with wounded waiting to be cleared. Capt. O'Shea then went forward in the open along the track where the wounded were returning from the firing line, and in the thick of the barrage dressed them in the open and organized stretcher parties of prisoners and others. His resource and courage saved much congestion at the R.A.P. and saved many lives of men who were unable to reach same. He then organized a party of bearers and went round the shell holes that the attack had passed over dressing and collecting wounded with a fine disregard of personal danger. MID: LG 11/7/19, p8835, pos 3; CAG 30/10/19, p1655, pos 111. Citation: 16.3.1919 for gallant and distinguished services in the Field. Patrick Joseph Francis O'Shea (1892-1952), soldier and medical practitioner, was born on 14 March 1892 at Ultimo, Sydney, fourth child of Daniel O'Shea, publican, and his wife Margaret, nee O'Leary, both Irish born. He was educated at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill and then the University of Sydney (M.B., 1916; Ch.M., 1921) and in 1916 became a resident medical officer at Sydney Hospital. On 6 September 1916 O'Shea was commissioned as a captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps, AIF, and in November embarked for England. After attachment to medical camps at Parkhouse, Larkhill and Durrington, he served in France from 4 April 1917 with the 2nd Australian General Hospital (2nd AGH), the 2nd Australian Field Ambulance, the 56th Casualty Clearing Station and the 8th Battalion before being gassed on 28 October near Passchendaele, Belgium. He was awarded the Military Cross for organizing stretcher bearers under heavy shell fire on 19-23 September 1917 near Ypres. A week later he again showed conspicuous gallantry in organizing stretcher bearers and attending the wounded in shell holes while under heavy fire and received a Bar to his MC. On 18 March 1918 O'Shea was gassed again near Ypres and was evacuated to England. He resumed duty on 12 June with the 2nd AGH at Wimereux, France, and on 21 June was appointed regimental medical officer to the 8th Battalion. On 23 August, near Chuignes, he dressed the wounded on the spot at the 'hottest' part of the frontline and carried many men back to the casualty clearing stations under heavy fire. He worked continuously for three days, attending to the wounded, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and mentioned in dispatches. He embarked for Australia in April 1919 and his AIF appointment ended in July 1919. On demobilization O'Shea became senior resident surgeon at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, however, his war injuries prevented him from continuing in this position. He resigned in 1920 to go into private practice at Burwood but spent most of the next eight years convalescing in a turberculosis sanitorium at Leura. He married Shirley Sybil Robinson, a nurse, at St Canice's Catholic Church, Darlinghurst, on 2 March 1921; they had two children. O'Shea's experiences while convalescing led to an interest in psychiatric problems. In addition to the physical problems due to the effects of gas he developed a common form of war neurosis resulting in speech loss for six months. By 1928 he had regained his health sufficiently to apply for a position in the Department of Mental Hospitals of New South Wales and on 13 June he was appointed as a medical officer at Bloomfield Hospital, Orange; in 1932 he became senior medical officer there. The climate at Orange and his wife's careful nursing improved his health and on 30 October 1936 he was appointed as Deputy Medical Superintendent at Gladesville Mental Hospital, Sydney. In June 1944 O'Shea's wife died and the next year he resigned his post at Gladesville to go into private psychiatric practice in Macquarie Street, Sydney. He was often called to provide expert testimony in criminal trials. On 24 October 1946 he married Cora Naylor Sheridan at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney; they had no children. Patrick O'Shea was a short, stocky man with thick grey hair, a round, cheery face and wore glasses. His favourite interests were golf, cricket and rugby league. His war experiences, however, were never far from his thoughts. At his sixtieth birthday party he stated how fortunate he was as most of his AIF friends had failed to reach that age. Six months later he contracted tubercular meningitis and died on 8 November 1952 in Concord Repatriation Hospital. He was buried in Northern Suburbs Cemetery with Catholic rites. He was survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.