RIP Ted Kenna VC

[Keith Webb]

Our last living WW2 VC winner passed away yesterday.

My friend Roger Clarke and I interviewed Ted about seven years ago and he was kind enough to let me hold his Victoria Cross - an amazing feeling.

He was near Wewak, New Guinea facing a concealed enemy machine gun post. This is a verbatim quote from the interview: “We had to take this hill, everything was going according to plan. But the Nips decided to have a go then and everything broke loose. We were caught pretty well in open ground,” he said. His VC citation records that; “Private Kenna stood up in full view of the enemy 50 yards away and engaged the bunker, firing his Bren gun from the hip. The enemy machine-gun immediately returned Private Kenna’s fire and with such accuracy that bullets actually passed between his arms and his body.” Kenna’s reaction was typical of the man; “The bullet went through and ruined me shirt, went through the arm and body and just drew blood from me ribs and ruined a good shirt.”

What a hero.