Kavanagh in Korea 1951
Nationalist December 1955.
A brave Carlow man. Let us salute the memory of a very brave man.
He was a County Carlow man, a native of Pollerton, Carlow. Now as a
citizen of the Republic of Ireland, you may not approve of the fact
that he was a sergeant in the British Army-- the Royal Ulster Rifles
to be exact. Be it so; but that does not detract from his bravery.
Laurence Kavanagh was his name. He died in a Korean prison camp in
1951, and hid untimely death was due to the fact that he refused to
accept Communist doctrine, despite the fact that some of his
fellow-prisoners did.
As punishment and although he was suffering
from malnutrition, dysentery and threatened beri-beri, his Red
gaolers denied him medical aid. Readers will echo the words of his
brave mother; "It was just what I would have expected of him . He
stuck to the Faith. I would not have had him do otherwise".
Incidentally , although he died four years ago, information
concerning the way and the reason why he died was only revealed to
the world at large comparatively recently.
The above is a true and
accurate transcript of the original document.
- Transcribed by M. Purcell c2010.
- Old newspapers in the PPP.