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Paul Aloysius Kenna

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Paul Aloysius Kenna
Kenna by Christina Broom
Born16 August 1862
Everton, Liverpool
Died30 August 1915 (aged 53)
Suvla, Gallipoli, Ottoman Turkey
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service / branch British Army
Years of service1886–1915 †
RankBrigadier-General
Unit21st Lancers
3rd (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire) Mounted Brigade[1]
Battles / warsMahdist War
Second Boer War
Third Somaliland Expedition
World War I
AwardsVictoria Cross, Distinguished Service Order
RelationsMontagu Arthur Bertie, 7th Earl of Abingdon (father-in-law), Simon Mangan, Patrick Leonard, Nicolas Tindal-Carill-Worsley
Other workOlympic 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. He also competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics.[2]

Background

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He was the son of James Kenna, of Liverpool, who was descended from a family of minor gentry from County Meath. Kenna was educated first at St.Francis Xavier's College, Salisbury Street, Liverpool[3], then, after his father's death, at St. Augustine's College[4] in Ramsgate 1874-9[5], and, from the age of 17, at Stonyhurst College[6][7]. He is honoured in a memorial which can be seen in the main hall of the current St.Francis Xavier's College site in Beaconsfield Road, Liverpool, on the war memorial at St.Augustine's Church in Ramsgate and by a plaque and a portrait at Stonyhurst.

Military service and Victoria Cross

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After serving in the 4th (Militia) Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry, into which he was commissioned as a lieutenant in December 1882,[8] Kenna, having resigned his commission in August 1884,[9] attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and was re-commissioned into the British Army as a lieutenant in the 2nd West India Regiment on 25 August 1886,[10] In 1887 he transferred once again, this time to the 21st Lancers (Empress of India's), and was promoted to captain on 12 June 1895.[11][12][13] In that year he also received the Royal Humane Society's Certificate for saving a man from the river Liffey [14].

He was 36 years old, serving as a captain in the 21st Lancers during the Mahdist War 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.[15][16]

He later served in the Second Boer War in South Africa 1899–1900, and was promoted a brevet major on 29 November 1900.[17] For his service during the war, he was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in the South Africa Honours list published on 26 June 1902.[18][19]

Following the end of the war that month Kenna returned to the United Kingdom in the RMS Dunottar Castle, which arrived at Southampton in July 1902.[20] He received the substantive rank of major on 7 September 1902,[21] on his appointment to lead a Mounted infantry flying column in Somaliland.[22] He arrived there to take part in the 1903 Somaliland campaign, which ended in British retreat. He was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel in September 1904.[23]

In September 1910 he retired with the rank of colonel from the Regular Army but in April 1912 was appointed to command the Notts and Derby (Yeomanry) Mounted Brigade and on the outbreak of war over two years later was appointed brigadier-general.[24][25][26][27]

Olympics

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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.[28]

The 21st Lancers at Omdurman

First World War

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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.[29][30][31]

His Victoria Cross medal is on display in The Royal Lancers and Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Museum in Thoresby Park, Nottinghamshire.

Family

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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) [32]

His first cousin, Margaret (née) Larkin (granddaughter of his grandfather Patrick Kenna) married Simon Mangan, HM Lieutenant for County Meath. Their grandson was Group Captain Nicolas Tindal-Carill-Worsley.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Davies & Maddocks 2014, p. 80
  2. ^ "Paul Aloysius Kenna". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  3. ^ Kirby, Henry L. (1987). The Seven VCs of Stonyhurst College. Blackburn: T.H.C.L. Books. p. 43. ISBN 0 948494 04 2.
  4. ^ "General Paul Kenna, V.c. - from the Tablet Archive". archive.thetablet.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  5. ^ Parry, David (1965). Scholastic Century. Fowler Wright Books Ltd. pp. 22 & 96.
  6. ^ "General Paul Kenna, V.c. • - from the Tablet Archive". archive.thetablet.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  7. ^ Liverpool Footprints by Alan Burnham
  8. ^ "No. 25175". The London Gazette. 8 December 1882. p. 6251.
  9. ^ "No. 25383". The London Gazette. 1 August 1884. p. 3485.
  10. ^ "No. 25619". The London Gazette. 24 August 1886. p. 4134.
  11. ^ Hart's Army list, 1903
  12. ^ "No. 26633". The London Gazette. 11 June 1895. p. 3317.
  13. ^ Murphy 2008, pp. 70–72.
  14. ^ Memorial in St. Augustine's.
  15. ^ "No. 27490". The London Gazette. 31 October 1902. p. 6897.
  16. ^ Brighton, Terry, The Last Charge: the 21st Lancers and the Battle of Omdurman. Marlborough: Crowood, 1998. ISBN 1-86126-189-6.
  17. ^ "No. 27359". The London Gazette. 27 September 1901. p. 6303.
  18. ^ "No. 27448". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 June 1902. p. 4192.
  19. ^ Murphy 2008, pp. 76–77.
  20. ^ "The Army in South Africa - Troops returning home". The Times. No. 36814. London. 8 July 1902. p. 11.
  21. ^ "No. 27491". The London Gazette. 4 November 1902. p. 7013.
  22. ^ "No. 27531". The London Gazette. 3 March 1903. p. 1418.
  23. ^ "No. 27711". The London Gazette. 6 September 1904. p. 5776.
  24. ^ Kirby & Walsh 1987, pp. 52, 54.
  25. ^ "No. 28598". The London Gazette. 12 April 1912. p. 2640.
  26. ^ Murphy 2008, p. 77.
  27. ^ "No. 28875". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 August 1914. p. 6581.
  28. ^ "Paul Kenna". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  29. ^ CWGC entry
  30. ^ "Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  31. ^ Paul Aloysius Kenna on Lives of the First World War
  32. ^ Burke, 'Irish Family Records' (1978), Burke's Peerage (2005), see 'The Peerage' site.

Bibliography

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