209713 L/Cpl. Albert Frederick Sheehan MM.British Army 16th Btn Rifle Brigade from:Hoxton My Great-Grandfather, Lance Corporal Albert Sheehan, won his Military Medal on the 20th September, 1917, the same day that Sergeant William Burman, also of the 16th Rifle Brigade, won his Victoria Cross.
I never had the honour to meet Albert Sheehan, he died many years before I was born. However I am fortunate and proud to have his Military Medal and a handwritten note from Major-General Edward Feetham, which reads:
“15848 Pte (A/Cpl) A. F. Sheehan, 16th Btn. The Rifle Brigade.
The Major-General Commanding the 39th Division wishes to place on record his appreciation of your gallant conduct on Sept 20th 1917 S.E. of Ypres when, after a Lewis Gun Team had been killed, you took the gun and moved round to the flank of a strong point and opened fire on the door, causing the garrison to surrender.†The note is signed, E. Feetham (Major-General Commanding 39th Division), and dated 10-10-17.
I recently had the opportunity to run across a field, carrying a deactivated Lewis gun. It was heavy, and I can only imagine what it must have been like to pick one up in the heat of battle, fully loaded, the barrel red hot, and run with it across unfamiliar terrain whilst being shot at and ducking mortars. I was already proud of my Great Grandfather and his part in the Great War, and this simple experience only augmented my feelings. Like so many others who fought in that conflict - and every conflict since - he was an ordinary man who did extraordinary things.
Albert Sheehan survived the war and returned to Hoxton to raise his family.
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