In 2020, our Association refurbished the O’Brien Family War Memorial grotto on the SFOA church grounds. The grotto was commissioned by Margaret O’Brien and built in the early 1950s refurbished in 2020. Once finished, we began to work on Phase II of the project, the erection of a storyboard about the family who lost four sons in the space of two years during WWII. In the fall of 2020, we contracted Grand Concourse Authority to graphically design the storyboard using the documentation already compiled from family members and our Town’s Museum. However, the project completion has been delayed because much of the information was incomplete. Dale Russell Fitzpatrick of Heritage Interpretive Services was contracted to investigate the war service and family records to fill in the gaps, especially to uncover the mystery of what happened to James Joseph O’Brien. We are proud to include a brief excerpt from Dale’s draft on James. Also included is a very preliminary photo of what a draft of the storyboard would look like.
Maurice and Margaret (née Hickey) O'Brien were married in December 1900. Maurice fished and farmed on the Rocky Hills in Outer Cove to provide for the couple's family. Between November 1901 and October 1921 three daughters and nine sons were born to the O'Brien’s in Outer Cove. In 1928, the family moved to Signal Hill Road in St. John's where some members of Margaret's family were already living.
All but one of the six O'Brien brothers who answered the call served overseas. Tragically, four died in service. Maurice, David, and Denis served in the Royal Navy: Maurice’s ship was torpedoed in the northeast Atlantic on December 2, 1940; David accidentally drowned on September 28, 1942, in St. John’s harbour when his ship was in port; only Denis returned home safely. Michael joined the Royal Merchant Navy and lost his life when his vessel was torpedoed on March 30, 1941. Almost no information was known about the death of James O’Brien except that the family was notified he was lost at sea on July 22, 1942 - it was thought that he may have also been in the merchant navy. After the war, Margaret became known as Newfoundland's Most Bereaved Mother.
James Joseph O’Brien was born in Outer Cove on February 14, 1909. In June 1930, he moved to Boston to be with his oldest brother William, and to seek work as a fisherman. He applied for US Citizenship on November 19th, 1941, and the following spring went to sea aboard the merchant ship SS Ballot. The vessel joined Convoy PQ13 in Iceland enroute to Murmansk, Russia. The vessel was bombed on March 28th. James and 15 crew went into lifeboats and were picked up and transferred to the SS Induna (see pic) the next day. The Ballot hobbled to safety. The Induna was torpedoed and sunk by U-376 on March 30th. Again, James and 40 crew took to lifeboats and were picked up in the frigid Arctic waters by a Russian minesweeper on April 2nd. Sadly, James died April 12th in a Murmansk hospital from exposure and injuries suffered when abandoning the Induna. News of his death arrived home in July and his family understood he was lost at sea. James is buried and remembered with honour in Murmansk, Russia with his Commonwealth War Graves headstone (photos below). Sadly, Margaret and her siblings never knew the true fate of James.
Family members have been already notified about this news. Additional information is still being sought on the 6 brothers for the storyboard. Once completed, the extensive information gathered will be shared with the family and, archived at our Town’s Museum, and possibly the Rooms. You can help us with this project by Sending Your Gift today.
