George Burdon McKean (4 July 1888 – 28 November 1926) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

soldier who served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. McKean was a recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest and most prestigious award for valour in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

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and

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forces.

Early life

George Burdon McKean was born in Willington,

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, England on 4 July 1888. He came to Canada in 1902 and settled in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. He was a student at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

and assistant minister at Robertson Church. Either just before his enlistment in January 1915 or sometime a few months after, he married Isabel Hall (and sometime later he married again). (A book he wrote after the war, Making Good - A Story of North-West Canada, was based on his knowledge of life in Alberta.)

World War I

In early 1915 McKean enlisted in the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry division ...

. He was awarded three separate medals for outstanding valour. In the course of his military service, he received the Military Medal and the Victoria Cross and, after he was commissioned as an officer, the Military Cross. He was one of only a handful of people who have won all three and lived to peacetime. As a corporal in 1917, he was awarded the Military Medal for rescuing wounded men under fire. A year later, he was 29 years old, and a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in the 14th (

The Royal Montreal Regiment The Royal Montreal Regiment is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army based in Westmount, Quebec. It is part of the 2nd Canadian Division's 34 Canadian Brigade Group. Lineage File:RMR Colour.jpg, The regimental colour of The ...

) Battalion, when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. On 27/28 April 1918 at the

Gavrelle Gavrelle () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A farming village situated northeast of Arras, at the junction of the N50 and the D33 roads. The motorway junction of the A26 autoroute ...

Sector,

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, when Lieutenant McKean's party was held up at a block in the communication trench by intense fire, he ran into the open, leaping over the block head first on top of one of the enemy. Whilst lying there, he was attacked by another with a fixed bayonet. He shot both of these men, captured the position, then sent back for more bombs, and until they arrived he engaged the enemy single-handed. He then rushed a second block, killing two of the enemy, capturing four others, and driving the remainder into a dug-out, which he then destroyed. He later achieved the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. In the closing months of the war,

Canada's Hundred Days Canada's Hundred Days is the name given to the series of attacks made by the Canadian Corps between 8 August and 11 November 1918, during the Hundred Days Offensive of World War I. Reference to this period as Canada's Hundred Days is due to the s ...

, he led the capture of Cagnicourt near Arras, using, one historian wrote, "little but courage and bravado." He won the Military Cross but was probably due another Victoria Cross as his actions were so incredible. McKean wrote of his wartime experiences in
Scouting Thrills: The Memoir of a Scout Officer in the Great War
' (1919, re-issued by CEF Books in 2003). He remained with the army after the end of World War I, serving in Egypt. He left the army in March 1926.

Later life

After leaving the army he settled in England, finding work in a sawmill, but within a few short months, on November 26, 1926, he was killed in an

industrial accident A work accident, workplace accident, occupational accident, or accident at work is a "discrete occurrence in the course of work" leading to physical or mental occupational injury. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), more tha ...

, leaving a widow who two days later bore him a daughter. He is buried at Brighton Extra Mural Cemetery, Sussex, England.

Legacy

His Victoria Cross is stored at the

Canadian War Museum The Canadian War Museum (french: link=no, Musée canadien de la guerre; CWM) is a national museum on the country's military history in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The museum serves as both an educational facility on Canadian military history, in a ...

in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The Church Square of Cagnicourt, France was renamed 'La Place Du Lieutenant George Burdon McKean' in his honour, displaying a plaque to his honour, on 6 September 2003, cagnicourt is where he earned his Military Cross. A mountain in the

Victoria Cross Ranges The Victoria Cross Ranges ( to ) are a set of mountain ranges in the Canadian Rockies, located to the northwest of Jasper. Of the 19 peaks contained within this range, five are named after Canadian recipients of the Victoria Cross. The area of th ...

is named in his honour. His name is also present on the memorial wall located in Convocation Hall at the University Of Alberta. On 29 April 2018, a memorial stone for McKean was unveiled in his birth town of Willington,

References

External links