O'HARA, Myles Osborne (1892-1955)
Myles Osborne O'Hara was born on 4 January 1892, the son of Dr Henry Michael O'Hara and Nina nee Osborne. He became boarder at Geelong College in 1905 with an address at the time of Collins St, Melbourne. He had previously attended Melbourne Grammar School. After leaving Geelong College he attended Hawkesbury Agricultural College.
During World War I, he enlisted (No. 544) on 21 September 1914 with the 4th Light Horse (C Squadron), and embarked for Egypt on HMAT Wiltshire on 19 October 1914. He served on Gallipoli from May until the Evacuation, having been commissioned as a 2nd lieutenanton 28 October, He also served in Egypt, France and Belgium, where Neil Smith wrote in Men of Beersheba of his arrival with B and D Squadrons in France:
'On 6th June 1916 D Squadron followed leaving behind the remainder of the Regiment who watched the departures with a general feeling of envy. ... At (the northern French village of) Sercus the men of the 4th Light Horse Regiment with their New Zealand mates (who had joined with a squadron of the 13th Light Horse Regiment and a squadron of the Otago Mounted Rifles to form the 1st ANZAC Mounted Regiment) were billeted in large comfortable barns while the officers, including newcomers Lieutenants Williams¹, Duffy², Burnie³, Lucas4, Jones and O’Hara had the greater comfort of rest and friendship with the locals in nearby farmhouses. Good pastures were found for the horses. Sercus, like many French villages, was located in a hollow and completely hidden by large green trees, a truly refreshing and picturesque spot after the rigours of life in the Middle East.'
Pegasus of May 1917 reported his injury:
'Lt Myles O’Hara, of the 4th Light Horse, was injured in France, and was expected home before Easter, but we have not heard of his arrival.'
He was invalided to Australia, having suffered an injury to his thigh while taking over duty as Orderly Officer late in August 1916. He embarked 13 February 1917 on HMT Ulysses. He re-enlisted from the Reserve of Officers on 26 January 1918, and re-embarked with the 32nd Reinforcement Group on HMAT A18 Wiltshire on 2 February 1918 for Egypt.
On 4 April 1918 at St Joseph’s Church, Cairo, he married Hilda Florence Wellmans. She had worked as a Sister in 4th Sea Transport, AIF. He returned to Australia, embarking on HMT Essex on 15 June 1919. He died on 4 January 1955.
His older brother, Osborne O’Hara, was killed in action at St Elois, near Ypres, on 13 February 1915, while serving as a Captain with the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers. He has no known grave, his name is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Ypres.
A brief note in Pegasus in 1955 reported that: 'Myles Osborne O'Hara died on January 4, his sixty-third birthday, after long illness traceable to service in the first World War. He was at Geelong Collee in 1905-6.'
¹Thomas Waitsen Williams, of Bendigo.
²Lieutenant John Duffy, of Albert Park, embarked with 4th Light Horse, served as Quarter Master and Hon. Major, awarded the DSO during the period from September to November 1918 with XXII Corps. In spite of adverse and trying conditions he kept his troops supplied with rations and ammunition.
³Captain Bertram Kenelen Burnie, the son of Reginald Burnie, of Nirranda, served on Gallipoli where he was wounded on 8 August, and evacuated to Heliopolis. Transferred to 13th Light Horse, and awarded the Military Cross in July 1918 in the Bligny actions south-west of Reims.
4 Lieutenant Charles Garnet Lucas, born 1891, son of C T Lucas, of Pomborneit, he arrived on Anzac with A Squadron on 21 May, and was wounded at Leane’s Post on 6 August, evacuated to Australia. He then went to France with Regimental Headquarters in January 1918.
Sources: Pegasus June 1955 p48; Geelong Collegians at the Great War compiled by James Affleck. p 277 (citing Neil Smith, Men of Beersheba: A History of the 4th Light Horse Regiment 1914-1918; Pegasus; National Archives; JB Kiddle (Ed), War Services Old Melburnians 1914-1918).