Michael McCarthy, son of John and Mary McCarthy and the husband of Winifred McCarthy, enlisted into the Sussex Regiment before volunteering for airborne forces.

Private McCarthy successfully completed his training at Ringway on 19 January 1942 and was posted to the 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment.

He went with the battalion on Operation Torch in North Africa.

Pte McCarthy died aged 25 years old on 29 March 1943 and is now buried in Beja War Cemetery, Tunisia.