RESOURCES

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Pat O'Brien" + lieutenant +aviation -film , using the Google search engine, (9-10-07), you will find about 261 links, I found it to very difficult to pick out the relevant ones, but worth the effort.

 

2/Lt Patrick Alva O'Brien M.C.      This page offers a very complete review of O'Brien's life and career and includes a news clipping report of his suicide It had been researched by John Grech as one of many biographies on his 66 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps website . In addition, there are several mentions of Pat's good friend, Paul H. Raney, who was shot down while Pat was watching from outside the hospital after he was captured. You can access the page by clicking on the title above.      If time permits, I heartily reccommend that you visit the homepage and enjoy the many fascinating features which he has assembled.

 

O'BRIEN, Lieutenant Patrick Alan      This brief resumé, which is found on the Air Force Association of Canada website, offers the most information about his life and career that I have been able to find so far. "O'BRIEN, Lieutenant Patrick Alan - Military Cross - awarded as per London Gazette dated 16 December 1919. Home appears to have been in Momence, Illinois, but in 1925 his mother wrote to Ottawa asking his whereabouts; trained in Canada with RFC (No.81 CTS, Camp Borden); left Canada in May 1917, returning (presumably on leave) in January 1918; believed when query lodged to be still in RAF. Served with No.66 Squadron; reported missing and POW, 17 August 1917. Escaped as of December 1917; decorated for this. This may be the film actor, Pat O'Brien; see his book, Outwitting the Hun and Sir Gordon Taylor, Sopwith Scout 7309 (pp.107-108). In recognition of gallantry in escaping from captivity while prisoner of war.      You can access the page by clicking on the title above. If time permits, you may want to search on the title of the book he wrote, "Outwitting the Hun."

 
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RECOMMENDED READING

OUTWITTING THE HUN My escape from a German prison camp   by Lt. Pat O'Brien   Product Details Hardcover: 284 pages Publisher: New York and London, Harper & brothers, January 1918] Price, Used: $10.00 - $37.00 ISBN: 0742663167

Description:      A brief description of the book may be found on the Wolf's Head Books website as follows: "O'Brien, Pat Alva Outwitting the Hun: My Escape from a German Prison Camp NY Harper and Brothers [1918] 1st ed 284 pp. PRESENTATION COPY; Noffsinger 2070; autobiography of an American in the RFC; most of the book is about his 3 weeks as a POW and his escape; from the Noffsinger collection VG. eps foxing, edgewr, rubbed, some soil Price: USD 35.00 other currencies order no. BOOKS023486I"

 

Editor's Note: If you have any more information on this Early Flier, please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper   Back