Christopher O'Dowd (6 September 1920 – 6 October 1943), was an Irish founding member of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

Background

O'Dowd was born in Cahernabruck,

Shrule Shrule (, also anglicised to ''Shruel'', usage deprecated) is a village in County Mayo in Ireland.Shrule
Placenames Databa ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

, the ninth of twelve children of James O'Dowd (died 1960) and Sarah O'Sullivan (died 1972). He was educated locally and worked as a teenager in a general merchant's store in

Ballinrobe Ballinrobe () is a town in County Mayo in Ireland. It is located on the River Robe, which empties into Lough Mask two kilometres to the west. As of the 2022 census, the population was 3,148. The town is in a civil parish of the same name. Hist ...

. Aged 18, he ran away to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to join the

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG) is one of the Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment (1992), Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infant ...

. O'Dowd had no relations who had previously served in the military, but was well aware of world events and was determined to fight against

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. He participated in the Norwegian Campaign in 1940, before volunteering for the newly formed

Commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

unit. He served in

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

alongside

Randolph Churchill Major (rank), Major Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer Churchill (28 May 1911 – 6 June 1968) was an English journalist, writer and politician. The only son of future List of British Prime Ministers, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill a ...

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

, and

David Stirling Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Archibald David Stirling, (15 November 1915 – 4 November 1990) was a Scottish officer in the British Army and the founder and creator of the Special Air Service (SAS). Under his leadership, the SAS carried out hit-and ...

. O'Dowd was one of the first members of a new unit founded by Stirling and

Blair Mayne Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair Mayne, (11 January 1915 – 14 December 1955), best known as Paddy Mayne or familiarly as Blair, was a British Army officer from Newtownards. He was an amateur boxing champion, qualified as a solicitor and was ...

, the SAS. He participated in many of the unit's early missions, which won him the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the British Armed Forces, armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned o ...

. He later served in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. O'Dowd was one of eighteen members of the SAS who were killed by a shell in

Termoli Termoli ( Molisano: ''Térmëlë'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) on the south Adriatic coast of Italy, in the province of Campobasso, region of Molise. It has a population of around 32,000, having expanded quickly after World War II, and it is a ...

, on 6 October 1943. He had been awarded the

some weeks before. In 2011, his nephew, Gearóid O'Dowd, published an account of his life and the early years of the SAS.

Citation for Military Medal

* ''Unit: Irish Guards (attached to 1st Special Sir Service Regiment).'' * ''Regt. No.: 2719054'' * ''Rank and Name: Corporal Christopher O'Dowd'' * ''Action for which commended: Cp. O'Dowd has taken part in five successful operations, he has shown consistent bravery and steadiness.'' * ''At FUKA aerodrome on the 8th May 1942 he assisted to destroy 30 enemy aircraft.'' * ''While engaged on a raid on Benghasi on 14th September 1942 he was in the last vehicle to leave covering the withdrawal by accurate and sustained machine gun fire which drew the defenders fire from the main withdrawing party.'' * ''On 23rd October he was the senior N.C.O. of the raiding party which attacked an enemy convoy driving from Siwa to Mersa Matruh, assisting in destroying four

Lancia Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe, which is the European subsidiary of Stellantis. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganise ...

s.'' * ''On 26th October, 1942, he assisted in blowing up the railway line west of Mersa Matruh.'' * ''On 1st November, 1942, he was the senior N.C.O. in a party of six which strafed traffic at Sidi Barrani nd then attacked a railway siding capturing eighteen prisoners, four machine guns, blowing up the railway line and destroying wireless equipment.''

References

Bibliography

* ''He Who Dared and Died: The Life and Death of an SAS Original Sergeant Chris O'Dowd, MM'', Gearóid O'Dowd, 2011. .

External links

Pen-and-sword.co.uk

Amazon.com

Advertiser.ie

Mayobooks.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:ODowd, Christopher 1920 births 1943 deaths British Army personnel killed in World War II Irish Guards soldiers Irish anti-fascists Military personnel from County Mayo Recipients of the Military Medal Special Air Service soldiers People from Shrule