WOMAN DIES BEFORE LAUNCH OF BOOK ON HER WAR-HERO FATHER
Woman dies before launch of book on her war-hero father
RuthMcKee
newsdesk@irishnews.com
A CO TYRONE woman was buried yesterday, on the day she had been due to launch a book revealing her father's secret life as a war hero.
Kate McGeehan (55) had championed telling the story of her father's British army past which he hid from friends and family for more than half a century.
But on Monday she lost her seven-year battle with cancer, days before she was due to launch a book telling of her father's wartime past.
Her sister Geraldine Breslin died in the Omagh bombing in August 1998 at the age of 43.
It was only after her death that Kate and her family discovered that their father Patrick McCrystal had served with distinction during the Second World War.
A nationalist from Beragh, Mr McCrystal, who died in January this year, he had kept his military service a secret from his relatives.
Speaking ahead of yesterday's launch at the Ulster History Park in Omagh, Mrs McGeehan's niece Mary McCartan, who penned the biography A Long Road to Freedom, said: "She was due to host the launch and had really wanted it to go ahead.
"She just felt the story needed to be told."
Like many nationalists Mr McCrystal joined the British army in 1937 at a time when jobs were hard to come by.
However, little did he know that within a few years he would be caught up in the most devastating land war of the 20th century.
The book reveals how Mr McCrystal was injured during the Siege of Malta and then captured and made a prisoner of war.
It tells how his family only learned the truth of his past at the wake of his daughter, Geraldine, who was killed in the Omagh bombing.
"The day of the wake, this man came in and passed on his sympathies to my great-uncle's children, saying 'isn't it terrible Patrick survived all that in the war, all those horrors, only to be left with this'. They had no idea, none of us did", Ms McCartan revealed.
The mystery caller was Walter Pancock, one of McCrystal's comrades from the Royal Irish Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion.
"Nobody knew about his war record," Ms McCartan said.
"He had an armload of medals but as soon as he came home they were hidden away. He just kept quiet."
Once the truth was out, Mr McCrystal was happy to have his story told.
Kate also had her father's medals re-issued and encouraged him to take part in Remembrance Day commemorations.
But his biographer reveals that it was her great-uncle's passion about gaining recognition for his fallen Irish comrades that prompted full disclosure.
"'Why can't we wear our poppies?' he used to say, 'why can't we remember those men who died?'. "He used to be so upset that there were so many of his comrades and friends lying in sometimes unmarked graves on Malta and hadn't been properly recognised, remembered or prayed for the way other soldiers were."
RuthMcKee
newsdesk@irishnews.com
A CO TYRONE woman was buried yesterday, on the day she had been due to launch a book revealing her father's secret life as a war hero.
Kate McGeehan (55) had championed telling the story of her father's British army past which he hid from friends and family for more than half a century.
But on Monday she lost her seven-year battle with cancer, days before she was due to launch a book telling of her father's wartime past.
Her sister Geraldine Breslin died in the Omagh bombing in August 1998 at the age of 43.
It was only after her death that Kate and her family discovered that their father Patrick McCrystal had served with distinction during the Second World War.
A nationalist from Beragh, Mr McCrystal, who died in January this year, he had kept his military service a secret from his relatives.
Speaking ahead of yesterday's launch at the Ulster History Park in Omagh, Mrs McGeehan's niece Mary McCartan, who penned the biography A Long Road to Freedom, said: "She was due to host the launch and had really wanted it to go ahead.
"She just felt the story needed to be told."
Like many nationalists Mr McCrystal joined the British army in 1937 at a time when jobs were hard to come by.
However, little did he know that within a few years he would be caught up in the most devastating land war of the 20th century.
The book reveals how Mr McCrystal was injured during the Siege of Malta and then captured and made a prisoner of war.
It tells how his family only learned the truth of his past at the wake of his daughter, Geraldine, who was killed in the Omagh bombing.
"The day of the wake, this man came in and passed on his sympathies to my great-uncle's children, saying 'isn't it terrible Patrick survived all that in the war, all those horrors, only to be left with this'. They had no idea, none of us did", Ms McCartan revealed.
The mystery caller was Walter Pancock, one of McCrystal's comrades from the Royal Irish Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion.
"Nobody knew about his war record," Ms McCartan said.
"He had an armload of medals but as soon as he came home they were hidden away. He just kept quiet."
Once the truth was out, Mr McCrystal was happy to have his story told.
Kate also had her father's medals re-issued and encouraged him to take part in Remembrance Day commemorations.
But his biographer reveals that it was her great-uncle's passion about gaining recognition for his fallen Irish comrades that prompted full disclosure.
"'Why can't we wear our poppies?' he used to say, 'why can't we remember those men who died?'. "He used to be so upset that there were so many of his comrades and friends lying in sometimes unmarked graves on Malta and hadn't been properly recognised, remembered or prayed for the way other soldiers were."
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/1055
Published Date: 26-Aug-11
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