A HERO OF THE TRENCHES.
Known in his brigade as Dan Derry, chairman of the Suicide Club, Sergeant Dan Gillen, a well-known Irish ventroliquist, tricked the Germans with his ventriloquial doll. On entering the trenches he raised the puppet just above the parapet and began working the figure. Immediately the enemy’s snipers were particularly busy potting at the doll’s head. This enabled the British machine gunners to- put in some effective execution. The puppet’s head was badly shattered. The sergeant christened his doll Larry O’Hooligan, and Larry was afterwards buried with military honours, a tombstone erected by Gillen’s comrades bearing the inscription, “Here lies Larry O’Hooligan. He gave his head to save others.”
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TAIDT19160426.2.26
Bibliographic details
Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 98, 26 April 1916, Page 6
Word Count
113A HERO OF THE TRENCHES. Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 98, 26 April 1916, Page 6
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