Pat Gillen, who has died aged 89, was one of the last surviving Irish D-Day veterans. Just a fortnight before his death he received the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur from the French government.
A Royal Marine commando with the British army, Gillen was among the first wave of troops to invade Sword beach in Normandy when the allied forces landed there on June 6th, 1944.
Surrounded by his family in an emotional ceremony at the Mercy Hospital in Cork, he was presented with the medal by the French ambassador to Ireland, Jean-Pierre Thébault, in recognition of his courage and gallantry in the liberation of France. It is the highest French honour.
A witty, unassuming man, his abiding interests were gardening, his 12 grandchildren, the FCA, and letter-writing to wartime comrades, a practice he kept up until weeks before his death.
Modesty
Like many a former soldier, he seldom talked about the horrors of war and his exploits only came to light when he was honoured by France.
With characteristic generosity, he dedicated the medal to fellow countrymen, including two cousins who fought in but did not survive the second World War.
“This award is as much theirs as mine,” he said. “By the grace of God, I survived to be here today while many of my friends sleep in the fields of France.”
A rifleman in the 6 Commando unit charged with securing the strategically important Pegasus Bridge near Caen, he was never injured despite making a six-mile trek through marshland from the beach to Caen and spending weeks in the trenches at Saulnier. More than half his brigade fell in the face of vicious fire from German forces.
Army tradition
Born in Market Street, Galway, he was educated by the Patrician Brothers, left school at 15 and joined the British army when he was 18, adding a year to make himself 19 so he could sign up. Joining the army was a straightforward matter for him: his father and two uncles had fought in the first World War.
On his return to Ireland, he applied for a job as a male stenographer with Henry Ford in Cork, where the company's first plant outside America employed thousands of workers in the 1930s. Having studied Pitman shorthand, typing and book-keeping at school, he was called for an interview that included a shorthand test in which the only word "I could just not get right was carburettor".
Not alone did he land the job with the US car and tractor firm, he also met Rita, the daughter of his B&B landlady, whom he would marry two years later. Blessed with a lively sense of humour, he had a natural flair for getting on with people and was assigned to Ford’s public relations division.
His ease when dealing with journalists was an attribute that served him well during an 11-year spell as Ford’s press officer, especially in the turbulent times leading up to its decision to close the Cork manufacturing plant in 1984, when he also retired after 38 years with the company.
Predeceased by Rita, he is survived by their four children, Robin, Mary, Patricia, and Gerard, his sister, Mary, and brothers Michael (“Chick”), Liam and Bobby. His sister Angela Scully also predeceased him.