William Kenealy

2023-12-09T02:20:40Z

2A00:23C5:B320:DF01:718E:2389:C225:C1B2: /* Further reading */

{{short description|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= William Stephen Kenealy
|birth_date=26 December 1886
|death_date=29 June 1915 (aged 28)
|birth_place= [[Wexford]], [[County Wexford]], [[Ireland]]
|death_place= near [[Cape Helles]], [[Gallipoli]], [[Ottoman Turkey]]
|placeofburial= [[Lancashire Landing Cemetery]], [[Gallipoli Peninsula]]
|image=William Kenealy VC.png
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{UK}}
|serviceyears= 1909–1915
|servicenumber= 1809
|rank= [[Lance sergeant|Lance Sergeant]]
|branch=[[File:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]]
|commands=
|unit=[[Lancashire Fusiliers]]
|battles=[[World War I]]
* [[Gallipoli campaign]]
** [[Landing at Cape Helles]] {{KIA}}
|awards= [[Victoria Cross]]
|laterwork=Coal miner
}}
Lance Sergeant '''William Stephen Kenealy''' [[Victoria Cross|VC]], (26 December 1886 – 29 June 1915) was an [[Irish people|Irish]] recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]], the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces.

==Biography==
Born in [[Wexford]], his father John<ref name=cwgc>[http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/600033 Kenealy, William],
Commonwealth War Graves Commission</ref> was a [[colour sergeant]] in the [[Royal Irish Regiment (1684-1922)|Royal Irish Regiment]]. When his father retired from the army, the family moved to the district of [[Ashton-in-Makerfield]], [[Lancashire]] where his father worked as a check-weigher at [[Bryn Hall Colliery]]. Kenealy became a [[coal miner]] at age 13. Ten years later, he enlisted into the army, signing up for 7 years. He joined the 1st Battalion, [[Lancashire Fusiliers]], [[British Army]] as a [[private (rank)|private]] in during the First World War.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

===Citation===
On 25 April 1915 west of Cape Helles, [[Gallipoli]], [[Ottoman Turkey]], Kenealy was 28 years old when he performed an act of bravery for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

{{quote|On 25th April, 1915, three companies, and the Headquarters of the 1st Bn. Lancashire Fusiliers, in effecting a landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula to the West of Cape Helles, were met by a very deadly fire from hidden machine guns which caused a great number of casualties. The survivors, however, rushed up to and cut the wire entanglements, notwithstanding the terrific fire from the enemy, and after overcoming supreme difficulties, the cliffs were gained and the position maintained. Amongst the many very gallant officers and men engaged in this most hazardous undertaking, Capt. Willis, Serjt. Richards, and Pte. Kenealy have been selected by their comrades as having performed the most signal acts of bravery and devotion to duty.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29273|page=8395|date=24 August 1915 }}</ref>}}

[[File:William Kenealy's grave at Lancashire Landing Cemetery.jpg|right|thumb|175px|William Kenealy's grave at [[Lancashire Landing Cemetery]], Gallipoli Peninsula]]
Kenealy was one of the six members of the regiment elected by their colleagues in the regiment for the award, and described in the press as "six VC's before breakfast".<ref>[http://www.1914-1918.net/lancsfus.htm Lancashire Fusiliers at 1914-1918.net]</ref> [[Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton|Lieutenant-General Sir Ian Hamilton]], the overall Allied army commander at Gallipoli ordered that the beach be renamed [[Landing at Cape Helles#W Beach (Lancashire Landing)|Lancashire Landing]] because of his conviction that "no finer feat of arms has ever been achieved by the British Soldier – or any other soldier – than the storming of these beaches".<ref>[http://www.army.mod.uk/fusiliers/the_regimental_and_traditional_days/gallipoli_day.htm UK Ministry of Defence website, Gallipoli Day] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060728132638/http://www.army.mod.uk/fusiliers/the_regimental_and_traditional_days/gallipoli_day.htm |date=28 July 2006 }}</ref>

The other five members of the regiment who received the award as a result of the landing were [[Cuthbert Bromley]], [[John Elisha Grimshaw]], [[Alfred Joseph Richards]], [[Frank Edward Stubbs]] and [[Richard Raymond Willis]].

Shortly afterwards he was promoted to [[corporal]] and then [[lance-sergeant]]. He was seriously wounded in the [[Battle of Gully Ravine]] on 28 June 1915 and died the next day.<ref name=cwgc/> Kenealy is buried at [[Lancashire Landing Cemetery]] on the [[Gallipoli Peninsula]].<ref name=cwgc/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* ''[[The Register of the Victoria Cross]]'' (1981, 1988 and 1997)
* {{cite journal|first=Brian D. H.|last=Clarke|title=A register of awards to Irish-born officers and men|journal=[[The Irish Sword]]|volume=XVI|issue=64|pages=185–287|year=1986}}
* ''[[Ireland's VCs]]'' {{ISBN|1-899243-00-3}} (Dept of Economic Development, 1995)
* ''[[Monuments to Courage]]'' (David Harvey, 1999)
* ''Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross'' (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)
*{{cite book|last=Snelling|first=Stephen|title=Gallipoli|series=[[VCs of the First World War]]|orig-date=1995|year=2012|publisher=[[The History Press]]|isbn=978-0752456539}}

{{Royal Regiment of Fusiliers}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keneally, William}}
[[Category:1886 births]]
[[Category:1915 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from County Wexford]]
[[Category:People from County Wexford]]
[[Category:People from Ashton-in-Makerfield]]
[[Category:Irish Gallipoli campaign recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Lancashire Fusiliers soldiers]]
[[Category:British military personnel killed in World War I]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Irish soldiers in the British Army]]
[[Category:British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:British coal miners]]
[[Category:Burials at Lancashire Landing Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery]]

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William Kenealy