Brothers Andrew and
Anthony Toland visit the monument to their cousin James Magennis
near the City Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Andy lives in
Lurgan, county Armagh Northern Ireland and Tony lives in
Blackpool, England. Below is a brief description of their
cousins heroic actions and seberal website links for additional
information about him
.
James
Joseph Magennis
(surname originally McGinnes) (27 October
1919 – 12 February 1986) was a Belfast-born
recipient
of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most
prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the
enemy that can be awarded
to British and
Commonwealth forces. He was raised in the
Catholic section of Belfast and the only native of
Northern Ireland to receive the Victoria Cross for
Second World War service. Magennis was part of
several operations involving
X-Craft
midget submarines in attacks on Axis ships. In
July 1945 Magennis was serving on
HMS
XE3 during Operation Struggle.
During an attack on the Japanese cruiser Takao
in Singapore, Magennis showed extraordinary valour
and bravery by leaving the submarine for a second
time in order to free some explosive charges that
had got caught. He was awarded the Victoria Cross
for his actions on 31 July 1945 during the
Operation. For
more information about James Magennis see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/5267208.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joseph_Magennis
Andy and Tony Toland are the grandsons of
Mary Tinneny
of
Goladuff, Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
Note: Their cousin, James Magennis, was not a Tinneny
descendent.
