Alexander Robert Kennedy MC is a serving member of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and believed to be the youngest person to be awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

since the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Kennedy was serving with the

Mercian Regiment The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire, Worcesters and Foresters, and Staffords) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, which is recruited from five of the counties that formed the ancient kingdom of Mercia. Known as 'The Heart of England's Infant ...

at the time, was awarded the MC on 19 March 2010, in recognition of his efforts to aid his injured platoon commander whilst under fire during a battle in

Helmand province Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (, '' wilåyat''). The provinces of Afghanistan are the primar ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in June 2009, when aged only 18. Private Kennedy was taking part in an operation to clear hostile terrain in

Garmsir Garmsir ( ps, ګرمسير; from Persian گرمسیر, meaning "hot place") is the center of Garmsir District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. It is situated on the eastern bank of the Helmand River on at 714 m altitude and 63 km southwest ...

as point man when his group was ambushed by Taliban insurgents. Three

PK machine gun The PK (russian: Пулемёт Калашникова, transliterated as ''Pulemyot Kalashnikova'', or "Kalashnikov's machine gun"), is a belt-fed general-purpose machine gun, chambered for the 7.62×54mmR rimmed cartridge. Designed in the Sov ...

machine gun positions who opened fire from 100 to 150 meters away . All together there were nine Taliban reported and Kennedy's platoon commander was shot. Running back through the machine gun fire to his commander, Kennedy lay on the floor next to him with his back facing the enemy fire to protect him from the elements. Once he had stopped the bleeding, he then started to locate the enemy positions and returned fire with his

Light machine gun A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridges of the same caliber as the other riflemen of the sam ...

. During this, his LMG was shot on the handle next to the rear site of his weapon as he was returning fire. Flipping him onto his back, blinding him and deafening him. Once he came to, he then carried on returning weathering fire. Bromsgrove District Council recognised Kennedy's actions in a civic reception in 2010, where Major Bob Prophet of the 2nd Battalion Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) read his full Military Cross citation. Kennedy requested only a minute's silence for casualties, including Private Robbie Laws of Bromsgrove.

References

External links

Operational Honours and Awards Citations: 19 March 2010

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, includes Kennedy's citation. Recipients of the Military Cross Living people Mercian Regiment soldiers British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) People from Bromsgrove Year of birth missing (living people) Military personnel from Worcestershire {{UK-army-bio-stub