Gnr. Gerard Michael O'Sullivan
British Army 3/2 Maritime Regiment Royal Artillery
from:Rotherhithe, London
(d.28th June 1941)
My father, and his brother Gerard O'Sullivan, came from Southern Ireland as children to live in England. When WWII broke out they decided to enlist together to get the choice of which force to fight with. My father, Patrick O'Sullivan, decided to join the Royal Navy, but his brother Gerard didn't like the idea of all that sea and joined the British Army. My father went off to sea and his brother, as it so happens, was posted to be a gunner on merchant ships.
His ship, the Shell oil tanker Auris was lost west of Gibraltar on the 28th of June 1941. My Father was by this time on a minesweeper in the same area and they knew there were submarines in the area. They were firing depth charges over the side of their minesweeper all through the battle. It wasn't until 60 years or so later that my Father found out the name of the submarine that sank his brothers ship and that he was involved with the battle to sink that same submarine, the RM Leonardo da Vinci.
