John Keefer Mahony

Early Life

Jack Mahony was the son of Joseph Mahony and Louisa Keefer. After graduation from the Duke of Connaught High School, he worked as a reporter for the Vancouver Province and later married Bonnie Johnston. Before the war, he joined the Westminster Regiment, a militia infantry unit, and became an officer.

Second World War

When the Second World War began, the Westminster Regiment was mobilized as a machine-gun battalion on 1 September 1939. Jack Mahony was among the first to enrol for active service. His unit was converted to a motor battalion on 25 November 1940 during training in Canada.

Motor battalions were created during the war and attached to the armoured brigade of each armoured division. They were organized like regular infantry battalions, except the entire unit was carried in motorized transport, which enabled its soldiers to keep up with the tanks. In the Westminster Regiment, the antitank and machine gun platoons used Universal carriers, while infantry platoons used American-built M3 White scout cars. The term “scout car” was a misnomer, however, since the vehicle was a 4x4 lightly armoured, open-topped truck.

In Britain, the Westminster Regiment (Motor) was assigned to 5th Armoured Brigade, 5th Canadian Armoured Division. On 1 December 1943, the battalion landed in Italy and began its fight up the Italian peninsula as part of the newly created I Canadian Corps. When 1st Canadian Infantry Division broke through the formidable Hitler Line on 23 May 1944, it opened the way for 5th Armoured Division to take the lead up the Liri valley.

Courage at the Melfa River

Fifth Armoured Division had to seize two successive objectives. The first was a bridgehead over the Melfa River, which ran at right angles to the Liri River and joined it about eight kilometres beyond the Hitler Line. The second was the town of Ceprano, a farther eight kilometres away. For this operation, the division commander, Major-General Bert Hoffmeister, assigned the first task to 5th Armoured Brigade.   

Brigadier “Des” Smith, commander 5th Armoured Brigade, reorganized his leading units into two strong striking forces named after the commanders of their armoured regiments. Vokes Force comprised the British Columbia Dragoons and the Irish Regiment of Canada, while Griffin Force comprised Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) and A Company of the Westminster Regiment under Mahony. Once Vokes Force secured a base halfway to the Melfa, Griffin Force would pass through and seize a crossing over the river. Each battle group was supported by a self-propelled antitank artillery battery and a detachment of field engineers.

Vokes force achieved its objective about noon on 24 May, and Brigadier Smith ordered Griffin Force to take the lead. The Strathcona reconnaissance troop under Lieutenant Edward “Perky” Perkins led the advance. The troop consisted of Stuart light tanks, which had their turrets removed, and a .50-calibre machine gun mounted instead. The troop seized a bridgehead about 3:00 p.m. The troop captured a farmhouse but quickly came under a heavy enemy counterattack.

Jack Mahony came to the Strathconas’ assistance and led his now-dismounted company across the Melfa under heavy machine-gun fire. On the far side, he directed each section to its position and established his headquarters in the captured farmhouse. Due to the nature of the ground, his soldiers could only dig shallow weapons pits.

The small group faced a formidable force because the tiny bridgehead was surrounded on three sides. Enemy weapons included four 200 mm anti-aircraft guns, two 88 mm self-propelled guns and a Spandau machine gun, along with approximately a company of enemy infantry with mortars and machine guns.

The Germans launched several infantry counterattacks, supported by tanks and self-propelled guns. The Canadians beat back the Germans using PIATs (Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank), two-inch mortars, grenades and small arms. Mahony had been wounded three times early in the battle but refused all aid and continued to direct the defence of the bridgehead.  

From 3:30 to 10:30 p.m., A Company and the reconnaissance troop held their positions despite German efforts to force them back. It was only after the rest of the unit crossed into the bridgehead later that night that Mahony allowed his wounds to be treated.

For his outstanding courage and leadership, Mahony received the Victoria Cross. King George VI presented Mahony with the crimson ribbon in Italy on 31 July 1944 and the Victoria Cross medal at Buckingham Palace on 3 December 1944. Perkins was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, a rare award for a junior officer.  

Life Postwar

Jack Mahony remained in the army after the war and eventually rose to lieutenant-colonel, serving in various appointments in Edmonton, Alberta; Ottawa; Washington, D.C.; St. John’s, Newfoundland; and London, Ontario. When he retired in 1962, he returned to London, where he became executive director of the city’s Junior Achievement branch. Ill health caused by Parkinson’s disease forced Mahony to retire in 1974. His wife died five years later. Mahony passed away in December 1990.

Memory

In April 1945, Mount Mahony, an 845 m mountain northeast of Powell River, British Columbia, was named in his honour. A memorial cairn and plaque outside the Royal Westminster Regiment armouries on 6th Street honours Mahony, as well as the unit’s other VC recipient, Filip Konowal. A street in New Westminster, Jack Mahony Place, is also named after him. In Roccasseca, Italy, a town plaza was renamed Jack Mahony Square in 2019 during a Royal Westminster Regiment Association 75th anniversary commemorative tour of Italy.

In 2010, Mahony’s daughters donated their father’s VC and his other medals to the Canadian War Museum. They form part of the museum’s extensive VC collection, which contains almost half of all VCs awarded to Canadians.