Paul Aloysius Kenna
Paul Aloysius Kenna
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Born | 16 August 1862 Everton, Liverpool |
Died | 30 August 1915 (aged 53) Suvla Bay, Turkey |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ |
British Army |
Years of service | –1915 † |
Rank | Brigadier General |
Unit | 21st Lancers 3rd (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire) Mounted Brigade[1] |
Battles/wars | Mahdist War Second Boer War Third Somaliland Expedition World War I |
Awards | Victoria Cross, Distinguished Service Order |
Relations | Montagu Arthur Bertie, 7th Earl of Abingdon (father-in-law), Simon Mangan, Patrick Leonard, Nicolas Tindal-Carill-Worsley |
Other work | Olympic horserider |
Brigadier General Paul Aloysius Kenna VC DSO (16 August 1862 – 30 August 1915) was an English-born British Army officer of Irish descent and recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that could be awarded to British and British Empire forces.
Contents
Background
He was the son of James Kenna, of Liverpool, who was descended from a family of minor gentry from County Meath. Kenna was educated at Stonyhurst College and St. Francis Xavier College in Liverpool - he is honoured in a memorial which can be seen in the main hall of the current college site in Beaconsfield Road, Liverpool.
Military service and Victoria Cross
Kenna was 36 years old, and a captain in the 21st Lancers (Empress of India's) during the Sudan Campaign when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC:
- On 2 September 1898, at the Battle of Omdurman, Sudan, when a major of the 21st Lancers was in danger, as his horse had been shot in the charge, Captain Kenna took the major up on his own horse, to a place of safety. After the charge Captain Kenna returned to help Lieutenant De Montmorency who was trying to recover the body of an officer who had been killed.[2][3]
He later served in the Second Boer War in South Africa 1899–1900, and was promoted a Brevet major on 29 November 1900,[4] received the substantive rank of captain on 27 January 1902,[5] and the substantive rank of major on his appointment to lead a Mounted infantry flying column in Somaliland in September 1902.
Olympics
He competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics for Great Britain as a horse rider. He did not finish the Individual eventing (Military) competition, also the British team did not finish the team event. In the individual jumping event he finished 27th.[6]
World War I
He was killed in action at Suvla, Turkey during the Battle of Gallipoli on 30 August 1915, aged 53 and is buried in Lala Baba Cemetery.[7][8]
His VC is on display in The Queen's Royal Lancers and Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Museum in Thoresby Park, Nottinghamshire.
Family
Kenna married Lady Cecil Bertie, daughter of the 7th Earl of Abingdon. He married, secondly, Angela Mary, daughter of Herbert Hibbert. They had one daughter, Kathleen (died 1998) [9]
His first cousin, Margaret (née) Larkin (granddaughter of his grandfather Patrick Kenna) married Simon Mangan, HM Lieutenant for Co. Meath. Their grandson was Group Captain Nicolas Tindal-Carill-Worsley.
See also
References
- Notes
- ↑ Davies & Maddocks 1995, p. 80
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27490. p. 6897. 31 October 1902. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- ↑ Brighton, Terry, The Last Charge: the 21st Lancers and the Battle of Omdurman. Marlborough: Crowood, 1998. ISBN 1-86126-189-6.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27359. p. 6303. 27 September 1901.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27403. p. 716. 4 February 1902.
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- ↑ CWGC entry
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- ↑ Burke, 'Irish Family Records' (1978), Burke's Peerage (2005), see 'The Peerage' site.
- Bibliography
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- 1862 births
- 1915 deaths
- British Army personnel of the Mahdist War
- British Army cavalry generals of World War I
- British military personnel killed in World War I
- Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
- People educated at Stonyhurst College
- British recipients of the Victoria Cross
- English people of Irish descent
- Equestrians at the 1912 Summer Olympics
- Male equestrians
- Olympic equestrians of Great Britain
- Event riders from the United Kingdom
- British show jumping riders
- Victoria Cross awardees from Liverpool
- British Army personnel of the Second Boer War
- British military personnel of the Third Somaliland Expedition
- British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross