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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

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 St. Augustine's College[3] in Ramsgate, Stonyhurst College[4] 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 and by a plaque and a portrait at Stonyhurst.

Military service and Victoria Cross

Kenna was commissioned into the British Army as a lieutenant in the 21st Lancers (Empress of India's) on 25 August 1886, and promoted to captain on 12 July 1895.[5]

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.[6][7]

He later served in the Second Boer War in South Africa 1899–1900, and was promoted a brevet major on 29 November 1900.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10] He received the substantive rank of major on 7 September 1902,[11] on his appointment to lead a Mounted infantry flying column in Somaliland.[12] He arrived there to take part in the 1903 Somaliland campaign, which ended in British retreat. 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 was appointed Brigadier-General.[13]

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.[14]

The 21st Lancers at Omdurman

First World War

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.[15][16][17]

His Victoria Cross medal is on display in The 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) [18]

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

References

  1. ^ Davies & Maddocks 1995, p. 80
  2. ^ "Paul Aloysius Kenna". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  3. ^ "General Paul Kenna, V.c. - from the Tablet Archive". archive.thetablet.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  4. ^ "General Paul Kenna, V.c. • - from the Tablet Archive". archive.thetablet.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  5. ^ Hart's Army list, 1903
  6. ^ "No. 27490". The London Gazette. 31 October 1902. p. 6897.
  7. ^ Brighton, Terry, The Last Charge: the 21st Lancers and the Battle of Omdurman. Marlborough: Crowood, 1998. ISBN 1-86126-189-6.
  8. ^ "No. 27359". The London Gazette. 27 September 1901. p. 6303.
  9. ^ "No. 27448". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 June 1902. pp. 4191–4192.
  10. ^ "The Army in South Africa - Troops returning home". The Times. No. 36814. London. 8 July 1902. p. 11.
  11. ^ "No. 27491". The London Gazette. 4 November 1902. p. 7013.
  12. ^ "No. 27531". The London Gazette. 3 March 1903. p. 1418.
  13. ^ Kirby & Walsh 1987, pp. 52, 54.
  14. ^ "Paul Kenna". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  15. ^ CWGC entry
  16. ^ "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.
  17. ^ Paul Aloysius Kenna on Lives of the First World War
  18. ^ Burke, 'Irish Family Records' (1978), Burke's Peerage (2005), see 'The Peerage' site.

Bibliography

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