Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1917-05-24
CONSUMPTION BEGINS JUNE 5tf1
TEN BROTHERS DIED IN WAR

Montreal, Que, May 19.-The
youngest of eleven brothers, the
other ten of whom have lost
their lives in the great war, and
a veteran of nine naval battles
such is the record of Henry Jo-
seph O'Brien, first class petty
officer of the British navy, and
now honorably discharged. Pet
ty Officer O'Brien was himself
well nigh shot to pieces. He has
seven shrapnel and rifle bullet
wounds in the back and arms,
and his right leg almost shatter-
ed by shrapnel. Two of his
brothers were shot to pieces at
his side, on the superdread-
nought Triumph.
He is still convalescing from
his wound and, were it not for
the fact that he has obtained a
little job with the harbor COM
missioners, doing sweeping, he
would be in a sorry plight de-
pending for subsistence upon
the twenty-five cents a day al
lowance made him by the admir-
atty. Crippled by wounds,
swathed in bandages from hand
to foot, and able to work only
little, he has no complaint to
make.
"I'll get my shilling a day
from the Government" he said.
"In the navy we can't expect
any more, and / can work a bit
on land"
TaUo Lost at HIS Side.
Two of his brothers were lost
in the engagement in which he
was wounded, three went down
in another naval engagement,
three have fallen in the Cana
dian army, and two have lost
their lives in British regiments.
ION August 3, 1914, our ship
arrived in Davenport, England,
from Hongkong," he said. II
was to have twelve days leave.
| hadn't seen my father or moth
er for five years, and you can
imagine how | wanted to get
home. But / never saw them.
On the 4th war was declared
and l was ordered to rejoin the
Triumph. My father and moth
er died since. My father was a
veteran of the Crimea; he was
in the charge of the Light Bri-
gade at Balaclava.
"I went through nine battles
on the Triumph. was very
lucky, for in the first eight l
didn't get a scratch.
81 thought the Germans
weren't going to get me at all,
but they got me at the Darda-
nelles. I am a first-class gun
layer and my work was always
with the guns. Those battles
are all confused in my mind, and
I don't think any one who went
through remembers anything
distinctive about each. I remem-
Der the battle of the Falkland
Islands, because three of my
brothers were lost there and |
saw their ships go down. One
was on the Cape of Good Hope,
one on the Thistle and one on
the Monmouth. 1t was a dark
November day when they met
the German ships off the Chill
can coast. We came to their
help, but we came too late. Two
other brothers were on the Tri-
umph with me and we worked
at the same gun. We went thru
all the naval engagements Of the
war together.
In the Water Thirty Hours.
In the autumn of 1915 the
Triumph was at the Darda-
nelles. On September FL, ter
rible day, we went to the relief
of the Bevenge. My brothers
and / were at our gun when our
ship was blown up. 1t is hard
to tell about it, for | don't re-
member much. | was hurt in
the back by the explosion, and
as the ship went down part of
the gun fell on me and broke
both my arms. l don't know
what became of my brothers.
They were drowned, | suppose.
For thirty hours l was in the
water, and / was conscious most
of the time.
81 felt a shot strike me and |
knew the Turks were firing on
me. They fired on all the float
A.,14lOx, oh Of