Frank O’Connell

19 April 1919 – 19 May 2014

The outbreak of WWII found Frank O’Connell already registered for military training. He joined the King’s Regiment in October 1939 and, having been made Corporal, looked after the training of new recruits and carried out various garrison duties. His battalion was disbanded in February 1942 and Frank was transferred to the Royal Artillery. August saw him posted to North Africa in 1^st Field Regiment, where he formed part of the Desert Rats.

Frank’s war ended in March 1943 at Wadi Akarit, when a German shell exploded in his gun pit, costing him his left leg above the knee – he remembered seeing his limb flying through the air. Luckily a comrade used his own belt to apply a tourniquet and slow the bleeding. Frank kept the belt as a souvenir.

Discharged from the Army, Frank worked for the Co-op, where he became grocery buyer. After working there for 16 years, his career changed direction. He took a clerkship in the Supreme Court, serving with the Clerk of Assize Northern Circuit, based in his home city of Liverpool, where he married fellow clerk Gladys. He retired in 1984.

Frank was active in Blesma, having joined the Liverpool branch in 1944. Over the years he was a committee member, the Minute Secretary, carried out welfare work and was ultimately Chairman of the Merseyside Branch. Frank was also Chairman of the Merseyside Branch of the Royal Artillery Association and a member of the British Legion and the Eighth Army Veterans’ Association. His hard work resulted in him being awarded the Blesma Gold Badge and the prestigious Ernie Law award.

In more recent times, Frank moved into the Blesma Home in Blackpool, where, on 19 May 2014, aged 95, he passed away. A true Blesma man, he contributed his experience and wisdom to the Association right up to the very end of his life.