Remembered

On This Day, 6 February 1917

Leon Alfred O’Meara was killed in action on this day in 1917

Leon was born 10 June 1897 in Camberley, Surrey. He was the only son of Major Walter O’Meara and Annie O'Meara of 11 Talgarth Road, West Kensington. His father was a former Barrister.

Educated at St. Edward’s Oxford for four years, he was a member of the Officers Training Corps and intended entering Pembroke College, Oxford in the autumn of 1916 to study engineering.

Pembroke College, Oxford (1) — Pembroke College, Oxford, during the First World War

He enlisted in the Artists’ Rifles on 9 January 1916, obtaining a commission in the 3rd Battalion East Lancashire Regiment in August.

Leon served with the Indian Expeditionary Force in Mesopotamia from October 1916 with the 6th Battalion of his regiment.

British Troops In Mesopotamia In 1917 — British troops in Mesopotamia in 1917

He was killed in action during a night advance west of Kut on 6 Feb 1917, he was 19 years of age. Leon was buried on the banks of the River Tigris and is remembered on the Basra Memorial. The memorial was moved in 1992 into the desert from the banks of the Shat Al-Arab River by Saddam Hussein.

2nd Lieut. Leon Alfred O’Meara, 3rd (Reserve) att'd. 6th (Service) Battalion, The East Lancashire Regiment

Also remembered in February

1 February 1915

Harold Clifton died of wounds on this day in 1915

Philip Arthur Blanshard died of wounds on this day in 1915

Oriel William Erskine Bannerman died of wounds on this day in 1915

Read more about Oriel William Erskine Bannerman

4 February 1915

Richard Apjohn Fitz Gibbon died of wounds on this day in 1915

Read more about Richard Apjohn Fitz Gibbon

5 February 1917

John Huntley Wickham Stevenson died of wounds on this day in 1917

Read more about John Huntley Wickham Stevenson

7 February 1917

Eustace Delano Fishbourne died of wounds on this day in 1917

Read more about Eustace Delano Fishbourne

8 February 1917

Harold Courtenay Woollcombe-Boyce was killed in action on this day in 1917

Read more about Harold Courtenay Woollcombe-Boyce

9 February 1915

Leon Alfred O’Meara was killed in action on this day in 1917

Also remembered in February

Harold Clifton died of wounds on this day in 1915

Philip Arthur Blanshard died of wounds on this day in 1915

Oriel William Erskine Bannerman died of wounds on this day in 1915

Richard Apjohn Fitz Gibbon died of wounds on this day in 1915

John Huntley Wickham Stevenson died of wounds on this day in 1917

Eustace Delano Fishbourne died of wounds on this day in 1917

Harold Courtenay Woollcombe-Boyce was killed in action on this day in 1917

Harry Clayton Alban was killed in action on this day in 1915

John William Backhouse was killed in action on this day in 1916

John Elvin Collett was killed in action on this day in 1917

Ivan William Garnett was killed in action on this day in 1916

John Fawcett was killed in action on this day in 1915

Richard Brown died of illness on this day in 1916

Charles Grant was lost at sea on this day in 1915

Edward Gordon Riggall was killed in action on this day in 1915

Charles Percival Paine died of illness on this day in 1915

John Jackson died of wounds on this day in 1917

Edmund Battye was accidentally drowned on this day in 1915

Cecil Henry Dundas died of wounds on this day in 1915

David Ronald Cross was killed on this day in 1915

Henry Francis Heatly was killed in action on this day in 1915

Leonard Ewbank was killed in action on this day in 1916

Gilbert Thompson was killed on this day in 1915

Colin Edward Cumming was killed on this day in 1915

Katy Beaufoy was killed on this day in 1918

John Barley died of wounds on this day in 1915

Robert Robertson was killed in action on this day in 1915

Gerald Jamieson died of wounds on this day in 1916

Arthur Moore died of wounds on this day in 1916