William David Kenny VC (1 February 1899 – 2 January 1920) was a British Indian Army officer and an Irish 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 award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Early life

Kenny was born in

Saintfield Saintfield () is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is about halfway between Belfast and Downpatrick on the A7 road. It had a population of 3,381 in the 2011 Census, made up mostly of commuters working in both south ...

, County Down on 1 February 1899.

Military career

Kenny was commissioned in to the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

as a second lieutenant on 31 August 1918. He was promoted to lieutenant a year later. He was 20 years old, and a lieutenant in the 4/ 39th Garhwal Rifles during the Waziristan Campaign when the deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. The citation was published in a supplement to the '' London Gazette'' of 7 September 1920 (dated 9 September 1920):

The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the

National Army Museum The National Army Museum is the British Army's central museum. It is located in the Chelsea district of central London, adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the " Chelsea Pensioners". The museum is a non-departmental public bo ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. Memorials:

India Gate The India Gate (formerly known as the All India War Memorial) is a war memorial located near the Rajpath on the eastern edge of the "ceremonial axis" of New Delhi, formerly called duty path. It stands as a memorial to 84,000 soldiers of the B ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, India,

Donaghadee Donaghadee ( , ) is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about east of Belfast and about six miles (10 km) south east of Bangor. It is in the civil parish of Donaghadee and ...

, Co Down, Northern Ireland, Dundalk Grammar School,

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

, Co. Louth, Republic of Ireland.

References

Bibliography

*''

The Register of the Victoria Cross ''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' is a reference work that provides brief information on every Victoria Cross awarded until the publication date. Each entry provides a summary of the deed, along with a photograph of the recipient and the fo ...

'' (1981, 1988 and 1997) * *''

Ireland's VCs List of Irish Victoria Cross recipients lists all recipients of the Victoria Cross (post-nominal letters "VC") born on the island of Ireland, together with the date and place of their VC action. The Victoria Cross is the highest war honour of ...

'' (Dept of Economic Development, 1995) *''

Monuments to Courage David Charles Harvey (29 July 1946 – 4 March 2004) was a historian and author. He is notable for his seminal work, ''Monuments To Courage'', which documents the graves of almost all recipients of the Victoria Cross, a task that took him over 3 ...

'' (David Harvey, 1999) *''

Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross List of Irish Victoria Cross recipients lists all recipients of the Victoria Cross (post-nominal letters "VC") born on the island of Ireland, together with the date and place of their VC action. The Victoria Cross is the highest war honour of ...

'' (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)

External links

VC medal auction details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenny, William David 1899 births 1920 deaths People from Saintfield Irish recipients of the Victoria Cross British Indian Army officers British military personnel of the Waziristan Campaign 19th-century Irish people Irish soldiers in the British Indian Army British Indian Army personnel killed in action Military personnel from County Down Indian Army personnel of World War I