Daly, P K (Philip Kevin)

Daly, P K (Philip Kevin)
Rifleman Philip Daly was the son of Philip and Maud Daly of Londonderry. He had served with the Royal Ulster Rifles, 1st (Airborne) Battalion.
On the 6th of June 1944, his regiment, landed during the invasion of Europe by gliders near Ranville,[1] France with surprisingly no casualties. An hour after landing they received their orders, to take the villages of Longueval[2] and Sainte Honorine.
Longueval was captured without incident, but at Sainte-Honorine they met determined resistance and received around one hundred casualties, mostly missing, or injured.
The battalion remained in Normandy until September 1944 when they withdrew to England for training but were unexpectedly called back to action on the 20th of December 1944 to help stop the German offensive in the Ardennes.
On the 24th of March 1945, the 1st Battalion took part in Operation Varsity and were to capture the villages of Schnappenberg and Hamminkeln[3] and then secure three bridges over the River Issel.
The Royal Ulster Rifles, returned to England during May 1945, but were soon called into action again when they were sent to Palestine to help quell the uprising there. At some stage though, Rifleman Philip Daly became ill and was hospitalised. He did see the end of the war in both Europe and the Far East, but not the end of the year.
Philip had Leukaemia[4] and finally succumbed to myocardial failure.[5]
Date of Death: 12/11/1945 (Aged 22), listed wrongly as 12/04/1945 (Aged 22)
Service: Rifleman, Royal Ulster Rifles, 1st (Airborne) Battalion.
Service Number: 6984190
Burial Location: Londonderry (or Derry), City Cemetery, Sec. M. Class D. Grave 513.
[1] Ranville, was the first village to be liberated in France during D-Day.
[2] Village of Longueval is around 13 miles east of Ranville.
[3] Both villages are in Germany.
[4] Leukaemia is a cancer of the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal white blood cells.
[5] Myocardial failure is basically a heart attack.