Lieutenant Colonel Shane Edward Robert O'Neill (36738) served in North Irish Horse, Royal Armoured Corps during the Second World War. Born on 6th February 1907, the Lieutenant Colonel and 3rd Baron O'Neill was the son of Captain the Honorable Arthur Edward Bruce O'Neill M.P. who died in The Great War.
His mother was Lady Annabel Hungerford O’Neill (née Crewe Milnes) of South Kensington, London. Shane was the husband of Lady O’Neill of Shane’s Castle, Co. Antrim, the county of which he was Lord Lieutenant.
Lord O’Neill received his education at Eton and Sandhurst and in 1928 succeeded his grandfather to become the 3rd Baron O’Neill. In 1929, he joined Gillett Brothers Discount Company as a Director. In 1932, he married Ann Geraldine Mary Charteris. The couple had a son and a daughter born in 1933 and 1936 respectively.
Imperial War Museum Photo: NA 17041 (Part of the War Office Second World War Official Collection). Heavily camouflaged Churchill tanks of the North Irish Horse, 25th Tank Brigade in Italy on 19th July 1944. Photo taken by Sergeant Best - No. 2 Army Film & Photographic Unit.
In 1936, Lord O’Neill joined the 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars. In 1938, he became the youngest Lord Lieutenant of Co. Antrim to date. By 1939, he was President of the National Service Committee and took a leading role in the formation of the Territorial Army. O’Neill joined the mechanised North Irish Horse on the outbreak of the Second World War, serving in North Africa and Italy.
He died on 24th October 1944 aged 37 years old while in command of the North Irish Horse. Shane’s younger brother Captain Brian Arthur O’Neill also died during the conflict and has no known grave. His youngest brother Terence O’Neill would go on to become Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.
Shane Edward Robert O’Neill’s grave is in Section XVII, Row A, Grave 1 of Coriano Ridge War Cemetery, Italy.