3 Feathers, 3 Crowns & 59 Beads.
Sergeant William John O'Gorman Welsh Regiment & Special Constabulary
The Man William John O’Gorman was born on 21st July 1896 at Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, son of John, a Coal Miner, and former diver who had worked on the construction of Fishguard harbour, and Catherine (Kate) nee Coleman, both of whom had emigrated from Ireland. He was one of 9 children, John born in 1897, Mark Vincent 1899, Patrick 1900, James 1902, Anastasia Mary 1907, Kathleen 1910, and two other siblings who sadly died whilst very young. The census of April 1901 shows the family living at 87 Goodwick Way, Haverfordwest. During 1905 they moved to 12 High Street, Maesteg, Bridgend, Wales; John seeking work at the mines and the family becoming part of a large and flourishing Irish population in the Valley. In 1910, William now aged 14 followed his father and began work as a Colliers Boy at Coegnant Colliery in the Lynfi Valley. World War I Began in August 1914, a year later in 1915 aged 19, William married Rachel C Howells and enlisted into the 13th Welch Rhondda Battalion of the Welsh Regiment service number 30895. He was stationed at Rhyl for two years becoming a musketry and physical training instructor and promoted to Sergeant. He was also very friendly with a priest who was working with the Army, and gave William his personal set of rosary beads to bring him luck throughout the war. In 1917 William was posted to the Middle East with his regiment as an instructor. They travelled by boat from Southampton to Le Havre and travelled across France by train to Marseille where they embarked upon the ill fated troopship SS Transylvania.
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There were 3000 people on board including 62 nurses, and the ship sailed for Alexandria on the evening of 3rd May escorted by the Japanese Destroyers Matsu and Sakaki. The next day 4th May 1917, William was appointed the ship’s orderly Sergeant and one of his duties was to make a round of the ship. Whilst doing this he noticed a small sailing boat with its sails up, as enemy submarines were often disguised like this William became uneasy, especially when he realised the Japanese escorts were almost out of sight.
A little later life belt inspections and boat drill were held and William went back to his cabin to change into khaki drill uniform, transferring a photograph of his wife and the rosary beads into his clean uniform. He was half way up the companionway at about 1000h when he felt a bump and heard an explosion. The Transylvania had in fact been torpedoed by German U Boat U63 under the command of Otto Schultze. William then witnessed what he described as “terrible scenes” as men rushed to get into the 10 lifeboats which only held 60 people. He saw hundreds of people trying to get into each one, some tipping over and throwing the occupants into the sea. The Sakaki circled Transylvania to force the U boat to remain submerged, whilst Matsu began rescuing survivors including William who reached the safety of her deck and noted that at that time the Transylvania was not at risk of sinking. Suddenly however, he was pushed aside by a gunner who began firing at the periscope of a German U boat he had seen. William then saw a second torpedo heading straight for the Matsu, and prepared himself to go overboard, but the ship saved herself by going astern at full speed and the torpedo missed them by about 6 yards and struck the bow of the Transylvania. He then witnessed more horrendous scenes as the ship exploded, blowing men 50 feet into the air killing them and many others, the ship eventually nose dived and sank taking yet more lives with her including the Master. A total of 412 lives were lost, 10 crew members, 29 army officers and 373 soldiers. William eventually arrived in Cairo where one of his jobs as an instructor was training a battalion of Jewish volunteers.
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He was then posted to the First Fourth Welch Regiment in Palestine fighting the Turks, Germans and Austrians. It was here after the fall of Beersheba that he came into contact with the legendary Lawrence of Arabia when he escorted him through a gap in the Allied front line to enable him to reach enemy lines, whilst disguised as an Arab. William fought right through Palestine, serving in some of the most famous places in the Hoy Land and was de-mobbed unscathed at the end of the war. He was awarded the 1914-18 British War and Victory Medals and William put his good fortune down to the rosary beads he had kept with him at all times firmly believing they had protected him. William returned to the mines working at Cwmdu Colliery and lived for many years at Cwmdu Cottages near the colliery.
He also joined the local Division of St John Ambulance Brigade serving with them for 45 years and from 1923 dealing with serious accidents at St John’s Colliery. William and Rachell had five children but during early 1930 tragedy struck when Rachell died 24 hours after giving birth to twins who were also sadly dead. This left a devastated William to bring up his five young children single handed for the next 17 years. During World War II William was a Police Sergeant serving in the War Department Constabulary at the arsenal in Bridgend, he was awarded the Defence and War Medal 1939-45 and later the Special Constabulary Faithful Service Medal.
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Following the war he worked at the local paper mills before returning to Coegnant Colliery. On 22nd November 1947 aged 51 William re-married, Catherine Anne Kiteley nee Thomas at Bridgened, and had a further five children. They lived at 28 Barnardo Street and were staunch Roman Catholics in the town. He retired from the pit in 1961 aged 65 and subsequently worked for another 12 years as a lollipop man at Nantyffyllon School. William celebrated his 90th birthday on 21st July 1986 with a family party attended by all 10 of his children and the 10 youngest of his 24 grandchildren. He also had 35 great grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. He continued practicing his first aid and was often called upon for help by neighbours and always kept his first aid box stocked and handy. Kathleen died in 1988, and William died three years later during the third quarter of 1991 aged 95. Thus ended a long and eventful life with a touch of protection from ‘on high’.
The Story The set of medals awarded to William J O’Gorman were acquired on E-Bay in October 2013 and were of interest because of the span of four Monarchs. Initially little detail could be found about William until contact was made via this web site from his Granddaughter. This in turn led to a conversation with William’s son Terry and then much useful detail was forthcoming including the much sought after photograph of William and newspaper articles allowing a detailed biography to be pieced together. With the extra information Ancestry.com was trawled allowing many missing pieces of detail to be added. Another example of an interesting and full life behind the set of medals.
SS Transylvania was a passenger liner of the Cunard subsidiary Anchor Line, and a sister ship to SS Tuscania. She was torpedoed and sunk on May 4, 1917 by the German U-boat U-63 at 44°15′N 8°30′E44.250°N 8.500°E while carrying Allied troops to Egypt and sank with a loss of 412 lives. Completed just before the outbreak of World War I, the Transylvania was taken over for service as a troopship upon completion. She was designed to accommodate 1,379 passengers but the Admiralty fixed her capacity at 200 officers and 2,860 men, besides crew, when she was commissioned in May 1915. On May 3 1917, the Transylvania sailed from Marseille to Alexandria with a full complement of troops, escorted by the Japanese destroyers Matsu and Sakaki.
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At 10 am on May 4 the Transylvania was struck in the port engine room by a torpedo fired by the German U-boat U-63 under the command of Otto Schultze. At the time the ship was about 2.5 miles (2.2 nmi; 4.0 km) south of Cape Vado near Savona, in the Gulf of Genoa. The Matsu came alongside the Transylvania and began to take on board troops while the Sakaki circled to force the submarine to remain submerged. Twenty minutes later a second torpedo was seen coming straight for the Matsu, which saved herself by going astern at full speed. The torpedo hit the Transylvania instead, which sank immediately. Ten crew members, 29 army officers and 373 soldiers lost their lives. Many bodies of victims were recovered at Savona and buried two days later, in a special plot in the town cemetery. Others are buried elsewhere in Italy, France, Monaco and Spain. Savona Town Cemetery contains 85 Commonwealth burials from the First World War, all but two of them casualties from the Transylvania. Within the cemetery is the Savona Memorial which commemorates a further 275 casualties who died when the Transylvania sank, but whose graves are unknown. Transylvania was discovered on 8 October 2011 near the Ligurian coast off the island of Bergeggi at a depth of 630 metres. For years, the Carabinieri had been examining eye witness reports, trying to determine the location of the disaster. Diver units within the Carabinieri of Genoa finally discovered the shipwreck with the help of a special robot; it was not far from the Island of Bergeggi. This discovery would not have been possible without the use of the 'Pluto Palla' scanning device, manufactured by engineer Guido Gay. It was able to reveal that the ship had dramatically split into two parts, now laying 150 metres apart on the seabed. The discovery also resurfaced the legend of the Transylvania. And now, where once raged death and destruction, is a place of new life. The relic has become home to rare, white coral reefs.
Korvettenkapitän Otto Schultze, Captain of U-63
Born: 11 May 1884 Died: 22 Jan 1966 Successes 53 ships sunk with a total of 132,567 GRT 1 warship sunk with a total of 5,250 tons 7 ships damaged with a total of 28,753 GRT 2 w Korvettenkapitän arships damaged with a total of 2,540 tons Ranks 27 Sep 1903 Leutnant zur See 21 Mar 1905 Oberleutnant zur See 22 Mar 1910 Kapitänleutnant 28 Apr 1918 Korvettenkapitän |
Decorations
Empire Silver Medal Imtiaz with Scimitars, Military Merit Cross, Iron Half Moon, Prussian Cross Twenty-fifth year of Service, Friedrich-August Cross (Oldenburg), Iron Cross 1st class, Iron Cross 2nd class, 23 Jun 1917 Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, U-Boat War Badge 18 Mar 1918 Pour le Mérite
U-boat Commands
U 63 11 Mar 1916 - 27 Aug 1917
U 63 15 Oct 1917 - 24 Dec 1917
Notes
Awarded the Pour le Mérite for outstanding leadership and distinguished naval planning and successful submarine operations. He sank a total of 175.000 BRT of enemy shipping, among these the British cruiser HMS Falmouth and the troop transport SS Transylvania and two other transports.
Empire Silver Medal Imtiaz with Scimitars, Military Merit Cross, Iron Half Moon, Prussian Cross Twenty-fifth year of Service, Friedrich-August Cross (Oldenburg), Iron Cross 1st class, Iron Cross 2nd class, 23 Jun 1917 Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, U-Boat War Badge 18 Mar 1918 Pour le Mérite
U-boat Commands
U 63 11 Mar 1916 - 27 Aug 1917
U 63 15 Oct 1917 - 24 Dec 1917
Notes
Awarded the Pour le Mérite for outstanding leadership and distinguished naval planning and successful submarine operations. He sank a total of 175.000 BRT of enemy shipping, among these the British cruiser HMS Falmouth and the troop transport SS Transylvania and two other transports.
Coegnant Colliery is situated
near Maesteg in the Llynfi Valley. The first shaft was sunk in
1882 by the Llynfi Coal and Iron Co. Ltd. In 1888, Colonel North bought the
Llynfi company and transformed it into North's Navigation Collieries Ltd. This
company was in turn purchased in 1916 by Lord Rhondda (David Alfred Thomas). By 1929, the colliery had
become part of the newly formed Welsh Associated Collieries Ltd. In 1935, this
association merged with the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal Company to form the
Powell Duffryn Associated Collieries Ltd. After the coal industry was
nationalised in 1947, Coegnant Colliery was placed in the N.C.B's South Western
Divisions No. 2 (Maesteg) Area. The Colliery provided good quality steam coal
and a coking house but was closed by the N.C.B in 1982.
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Medal Details:
- 1914-18 British War Medal: 30895. SJT. W.J.O'GORMAN. WELSH.R.
- Victory Medal: 30895. SJT. W.J.O'GORMAN. WELSH.R.
- Defence Medal: Unnamed as issued
- War Medal 1939-45: Unnamed as issued
- Special Constabulary Faithful Service Medal: WILLIAM J O'GORMAN
This page last updated 14 Aug 14