'At Messines 29th June 1917. This NCO was in charge of a gun detachment on the night of the raid of the 2nd Battalion, Otago Regiment. The enemy opened a heavy fire round of mortar. Corporal O'Connor ordered his men under cover, but remained and served the gun himself. He maintained the required rate of fire for 45 minutes, during which time the enemy occurred several direct hits on the parapet of the emplacement. During the bombardment a 15cm shell completely wrecked the pit. Corporal O?Connor, with the rest of the detachment, removed the mortar to a temporary emplacement and continued the firing at Zero hour. His coolness and courage have had a splendid moral effect on the men under him.'
Source: London Gazette
Date: 16 August 1917