Draft:Patrick Cleary (soldier)

Warrant Officer Patrick Cleary MM was a professional soldier decorated for his leadership and heroism on D-Day and in subsequent fighting in Normandy during World War II.

Early Life
Patrick Cleary was born in Liverpool, England in January 1913, the second child of Thomas Cleary and Selina Cleary (nee Newton). His elder brother Thomas had died as an infant. After leaving school he gained work as a newspaper vendor. On 12 July 1930, aged 16 ½, he enlisted in the South Lancashire Regiment (SLR), also known as the Prince of Wales' Volunteers. Cleary had used the birth certificate of Thomas to enlist. Posted to India as a private with SLR in September 1931, he was promoted through the ranks and served there until returning to the UK in April 1940 as a Sergeant. Just prior to leaving India he married Ailsa Carroll and the two had a son, Patrick, the following year.

North Africa service
On 1 August 1940, Cleary was posted to No. 7 Commando unit and embarked for Egypt on 28 January 1941. 7 Commando was a battalion-size unit that was part of LayForce, a group of commando units consisting of about 2,000 men that raided Axis lines of communication in North Africa. He was hospitalised in March 1941, the cause unknown, and returned to the UK in October 1941.

D-Day landing
Cleary returned to the SLR's 1st Batallion (1SLR) in late 1941 and, as an experienced soldier, he played a prominent role in preparing young recruits for the Normandy landings. In March 1943 he was promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer, Company Sergeant Major, a pivotal role in the British army that in battle has command and responsibility for the ordinary ranks. The 1SLR was one of three Batallions in the 8th Brigade to lead the attack on Sword beach. The 8th Brigade in turn was one the key elements in the 3rd Division under the command of Major-General Bernard Montgomery which landed at Sword Beach on D-Day with a plan to capture the city of Caen.

On D-Day, 6 June 1944, Cleary was assigned to 1SLR's C Company which, together with A Company, were designated as "assault companies" tasked with capturing the 'Queen Red' section of Sword Beach. Landing at 7.20am, the two companies faced "heavy machine fire and mortaring" from an entrenched enemy and snipers located in 2-3 storey buildings looking down on the narrow beach. 1SLR lost 20 men on D-Day including the commanding officer Lt-Colonel Richard Burbury, Major Robert Harrison, Major John Harward, three lieutenants and a CSM, according to the War Diary. A further 90 SLR men were wounded on D-Day, giving a casualty rate of 15 per cent.

Cleary was awarded the Military Medal for his actions on D-Day which included leading an attack on a German pillbox. This attack killed five Germans and paved the way for a further advance. He was praised by his commanding officer for moving around the beach to coordinate the advance and keep the CO informed.

The citation for the Military Medal reads in part:

"This Warrant officer landed with an assault company of his Battalion at Lion, France, on 6 June 1944. Throughout the assault on the beaches he moved about completely regardless of danger assisting his Company Commander. At one point when the attack was held up by MG [machine gun] fire he personally led the attack against a pill box killing five of the enemy and making the way for a further advance."

The next day at Hermanville, Cleary captured two German officers and a motorcycle sidecar which he then used to check on the forward positions of his Company, and as a result his men nicknamed him Rommel, a reference to the German field marshal's use of a similar motorcycle. A newspaper report on the immediate aftermath of the D-Day landing wrote that "eight days after the battle he was still riding the captured German motor-cycle in the forward areas, not far from the enemy lines, in wooded country round Le Landel area". The report added: "C.S.M. Cleary was extremely energetic and he was a great inspiration to all of the officers and men of the battalion, I was told." It was around this time that Cleary was filmed demonstrating to a group of men the use of a captured German MP40 machine gun. A still frame from this film was used on the cover of a history of 1SLR.

Assault on La Londe
Two weeks after the landing, the Allied forces that had landed at Sword beach were still pinned down in an area just 10km from the beach, with the Germans entrenched around a chateau at La Londe. This strategic position stood between the Allied forces and the city of Caen, 6km to the west. On the evening of 22 June, Cleary's C Company, along with A Company, moved on the chateau just before midnight that day in what the War Diary describes as a "frontal attack". The two companies successfully captured the strategic position in what military historian Norman Scarfe described as a "silent" attack without any artillery support. Nor did the companies have the support of anti-tank weapons to deal with the likely counter-attack. Scarfe writes that "something seems to have gone wrong with their anti-tank defence".

German commanders severely reprimanded 5 Company of 192 Panzer Grenadiers for their "disgraceful" loss of the chateau. The next morning at 4.40am, the Germans counterattacked with 30-40 tanks, a platoon of sappers and the HQ Company of 22 Panzer regiment. It was in this attack that Cleary was mortally wounded. His army record reports him having "died of wounds" on 23 June.

A history of 1st South Lancashire Regiment acknowledges Cleary's contribution to the success of the Regiment on D-Day and the following days, and the gravity of his loss. Cleary had "acted with great bravery and dignity in the actions after D-Day", wrote Dominic Butler. Cleary and two sergeants lost in this action, Horan and Brown, were men who "inspired others, who got things done and got men moving". Cleary is buried in the military cemetery at La Délivrande.South Lancashire Regiment. 1SLR suffered more casualties than any other unit in the 3rd division, highlighting its role in spearheading the British army's drive towards Berlin over the next 11 months.