Within
three days of Captain the Lord Lyell`s death the Guards won
another V.C. In the desperate fighting for the control of
the Bou, but this time it was not an officer or a peer from
Eton or Oxford, but a young Irish Guardsman from a farm in
Tipperary called Patrick Kenneally.
With the rest
of the 1st Battalion Irish Guards, L/Cpl Patrick Kenneally
was part of the general attack on the Bou which included the
Scots Guards Grenadier Guards and was launched in broad daylight
on the scorchingly hot afternoon of 27th April.
The Irish Guards
attacked at four o'clock under an intense, blinding sun. Their
attack on the Bou had to be made across open country which
was in direct observation from the Germans. The only possible
cover in sight was the was an olive-grove which could be reached,
this was about three quarters of a mile away, through stretches
of peacefully waving corn.
Colonel Scott,
the commanding officer of, THE MICKS, made up his mind to
direct his men onto this olive grove. The only thing was that
there was nothing for it but to launch a straight forward
advance through an inevitable hail of fire, and hope that
the Irish Guards would not be wiped out before they reached
the olive grove.
Prior to the
attack the commanding officer warned the Guardsmen that, as
they were engaging in a battle they would be followed up by
tanks and that wounded men that were lying in a cornfield
could be run over by their own tanks, Colonel Scott said "e;
ensure that all wounded and dead men have their rifle stuck
in the ground by the bayonet and the helmet placed on top".
this was to prevent an unpleasant possibility of the follow
up of tanks. With a mind to the fierce heart, he also warned
that there would almost certainly be a shortage of water.
The moment
had come and No 3 company lead the MICKS attack (commanded
by Captain kennard). The Germans promptly opened up with all
and everything they had. The battle scene was so unreal in
its setting of sunshine and corn, the Germans threw everything
but their cap badges at the MICKS. As the platoons faced the
corn fields they spread out into open order and plunged into
the waist high corn. Part of the corn was burning smokily
due to the intensity of the fire power from the Germans. Amid
the tall poppies that stood out over the top of the corn,
sprang a new crop, it was a crop of rifle butts.
The Irish Guards
had the task of securing points 212, 214 and 181 and the Scot
Guards were given point 226 as their objectives, by the night
of the 27th the MICKS were established on point 212, however
their was only 173 battle worn survivors and five officers
(names below) from the four rifle companies which had attacked
at four o'clock and from the advance Battalion Headquarters:
Captain Egon
Captain D Fitzgerald
Lieutenant
I Madden
Lieutenant
T Keigwin
Lieutenant
C Kennard
As the fighting
progressed the commanding officer had decided that point 212
was the key point for him to hold and he secured permission
from Brigade Headquarters to consolidate what remained of
his men there. No1 Company were located on point 212, No 2
and 3 companies were located on point 214, and No4 Company
with Headquarters were located in the rocky ground between
points 212 and 214.
At first light,
on the morning of 28th, the 173 Irish Guardsmen remaining
discovered instead of the Scots Guards at point 226 (the summit)
it was still the Germans. There were no Guards to the right
flank, this caused a problem and the MICKS were in great danger
of being cut off and wiped out. The commanding officer made
a decision to descend the hill that morning between 8 and
9am, just before the Germans made a counter attacked.
Here on
this mountain side in North Africa a six foot three young
Irishman performed one of the most audacious acts of single
handed bravery of world war II.
Patrick
Kenneally came from Eire. He had made up his mind that he
wanted to be an Irish Guardsman from quite a young mans age
and enlisted into the Irish Guards. Before the war he served
in Palestine and took part in the ill starred campaign in
Norway in 1940 without drawing attention to him self. At the
beginning of the war he married a Stafford shire girl who
was working in a munitions factory, and in November 1942 found
himself part of the 1st Battalion Irish Guards sailing in
convoy from the Clyde bound for North Africa
On Wednesday
morning the 28th the German commander noticed that the MICKS
had no protection on there right flank, the German commander
was also confident that there was no Anti-tank weapons covering
this gap, at 0900 hrs the German commander made a flanking
movement and the Irish Guards were cut off, this was just
after the MICKS commanding officer had just got off the side
of the mountain. It now only remained for the Germans to mop
up the small group of Irish Guardsmen remaining. Not unnaturally,
the German commander did not consider that this would be a
difficult task taking much time and many men.
Let us see
how it looked from the British side, the MICKS had Bren guns,
rifles and each man had two grenades, with no supporting arms
they were painfully weak to withstand a co-ordinated German
attack, it was obvious that the Germans would waste no time
in making an all out attempt to recapture the key ridge, and
it soon became clear that all available forces were being
concentrated for us against the 173 Guardsmen on point 212.
The only way
that supplies could get through to the Guardsmen was by runner,
a runner had to run the gauntlet of numerous watchful German
tanks observing from all directions, worst still, everything
that survived running the gauntlet had to be carried about
a half a mile.
The MICKS were
short of water, ammunition and after grueling fighting they
were very tired. All these facts were known to the British
High Command in the rear and a gloomy picture was made up,
of there hopes. If the Irish Guards failed to hold the success
of Alexander's ambitious plan for North Africa - and a re-entry
to Europe - would be prejudiced.
No outside
observer would have gambled on the chances of the Guards if
this was to be an ordinary infantry battle. The odds in favor
of the Germans were far too great, but one man was to transform
an ordinary infantry battle into an extraordinary military
occasion.
Through the
day, the little garrison's radio reported desperate hand to
hand fighting. Message after message could only confirm that
point 212 was still holding - and no more. From the positions
on the ridge, the Guardsmen could see the Germans forming
up below to attack them. To the British it seemed that there
was no reinforcements for the German commander to call upon
and only a dodged refusal to admit defeat for the MICKS kept
the moral from faltering. The little force of Guardsmen dourly
watched the Germans form up for what was obviously intended
to be the coup de grace, a bold plan was forming in
the head of one of them.
By this stage
L/Cpl Kenneally was fed up of the Germans and fed up of the
gradual elimination of his fellow Guardsmen that he had been
forced to watch over the past few days. Down the exposed rock
he charged, a solitary extraordinary figure, his Bren gun
blazing from the hip. It was one Guardsman blazing an entire
company of German infantry, a single handed, self ordained
attack so brave, so heroic that the enemy was completely unnerved.
As was truly
said of another suicidal charge, when the Light Brigade rode
at the Russian guns through the valley of Balaclava "c
est magnifique, mais ce n`est pas la guerre". L/Cpl
Kenneally tore through the German rifle company and dumbfounded
them, it took the Germans moments to react. Then L/Cpl Kenneally
turned and methodically began to destroy those who were still
peering fearfully up the mountain side, not unnaturally expecting
that more Irish Guardsmen would come charging down the mountain.
Then all that
remained of No 1 Company Irish Guards moved forward down the
slope and finished off the Germans who had been forming up
to mount an attack, L/Cpl Kenneally then returned to his post
from were he mounted the attack from. The MICKS, throughout
the remainder of the day sorted out there defensive position
and hoped for the best.
The following
day, the Germans gave the MICKS no peace. From the Adjutants
report on the Defence of the hill, this is one extract: "
The mortar and shell fire began again and continued steadily
till Friday night. I can not remember any time that we were
not shelled and mortared, and later machine gunned followed
by the snipers as well, but worst of all, was the thirst,
the days were blazing hot, and the shelling turned the ridge
into a haze of dust; we had some half dozen jerry cans of
water and two tins of cold tea. Half a water bottle for 24
hours was the ration and by the end we were all croaking harshly.
The tea we
kept for the wounded. There was a brief shower of rain on
Thursday night and we caught a little muddy water in the ground
sheets, the only other source was from the Germans, we use
to crawl forward and take the water bottles from the dead
German soldiers. One man got to a wrecked carrier at the foot
of the hill and brought back 3 tins of peaches, he gave them
to me for the wounded MICKS, for the next 3 days I doled out
the juice spoonful by spoonful. It was the only physical comfort
we had to offer our dying
The Germans
were ruthless and repetitive in war the next day the pattern
was the same, the Guardsmen again watched the preparation
for the assault on all the 173 Irish Guardsmen, and again
they saw the Germans forming up to finish them off. The attack
was launched with a great number of German officers to the
rear, presumably to endeavor to maintain the moral of the
attackers.
Patrick Kenneally
had now acquired a taste for stamping the Hun, single handed,
the form up of the enemy was approximately company strength,
and once again Patrick Kenneally chose what he thought was
the psychological moment to charge and disrupt the Germans
before they were ready to attack. This time he was accompanied
by Sergeant Salt, of the Reconnaissance Corps.
In vain the
Germans tried to silence him. Kenneally repeated his previous
tactics, and inflicted so many casualties that the projected
enemy attack had to be called off yet again.
Later that
day, in the words of the citation which led to his being awarded
the Victoria Cross, he was noticed "hopping
from one position to another further on the left in order
to support number 4 Company". He was also carrying his
beloved Bren gun in one hand and leaning on a Guardsman with
the other, it was then discovered that he was carrying on
although wounded.
In the mean
time the enemy had (with tank support) almost gained control
of point 214 and two sections of Irish Guards had been swamped.
In the nick of time the survivors of numbers 3 and 4 Companies
rallied forces and charged with bayonets fixed. With a line
of cheering, yelling Guardsmen on them at the point of the
bayonet and the shout "UP THE MICKS" in their ears,
the Germans broke and fled down the hillside.
By Friday night
the Germans had launched 5 attacks on the Irish Guards, and
of the 173 MICKS who had held the ridge on that Wednesday
morning 80 remained. The Irish Guards were relieved, and on
the 7thMay Tunis fell to General Alexander.
To
the Prime Minister from General Alexander 13th May 1943
Mr. Winston
Churchill, "Sir, it is my duty to report that the Tunisian
campaign is over. All enemy resistance has ceased. We are
the masters of the North African shores".
The Irish Guards
were given a much needed rest in the outskirts of Tunis, and
it was there, at the end of August, that news came of the
award of the Victoria Cross to Patrick Kenneally. On the 27th
August 1943, General Alexander made the presentation and the
1st Battalion Irish Guards marched past the saluting base.
Now Sergeant Kenneally, stood on the right of General Alexander.
A white cross
now stands on top of hill 212. It reads, "To the memory
of Officers, Warrant Officers, Non - Commissioned Officers
and Guardsmen of the Irish Guards who died on and around this
hill April 27th - 30th 1943. Quis separabit".
