Birkenhead survivors
John O`Neil
COLOUR SERGEANT JOHN
O`NEIL was the son of a farrier major of the 7th Dragoons and was born a soldier
on shipboard at Malta. As a boy he sailed to South Africa with the 91st Regiment
in 1842, and was shipwrecked in Table Bay. He fought in two Kaffir Wars under
Sir Harry Smith, and also in operations conducted in those early days against
the Boers. In 1852 O’Neil, a corporal then, was sent on escort duty to Robben
Island with prisoners.
Afterwards with the two privates who accompanied him he went on board the
ill-fated troopship Birkenhead at
Simon’s Bay to return to the headquarters of his regiment.
He escaped death by swimming ashore through the heavy breakers and the threat of sharks.
Further information about John O`Neil appears in the record of his testimonial.