Picture above - letter handed over to Cllr David Molyneux in front of Ashton Town Hall
At every Remembrance Day parade I have attended, the local British Legion have saluted a Victoria Cross on parade which was won by a local man William Kenealy. Last year I also received the following anonymous e-mail:
I recently visited St Thomas's Cemetery and noted on the war memorial ' Pte Wm Keneally VC Lancashire Reg .and following a little research found he resided in Ashton . Born in Wexford 26 December 1886 Won the VC for his heroic action at Cape Helles Gallipoli 25 April 1915 and died in Ashton on 29 June 1915. The only worthy note of him is in St Thomas's Church Yard I thought there may have been some other note of him in his " Home Town " but we do not even have a Street named after in any Wigan district
And so I contacted Mel Lee of the local British Legion who told me:
William Kenealy's great-great nephew parades the VC at our two ceremonies every year - he is one of our members (Mick Kenealy) The VC was one of 6 awarded to the Fusiliers during the storming of the beach in which they lost half of the Battalion. Military men refer to these medals as 'the six before breakfast.' The battle was the battle of Gallipoli.
I agreed with the correspondent who pointed out that there was nothing in Ashton to remember this brave man's achievement so I wrote to the British Legion's HQ in London and to the leader of the Council - both agreed to support some kind of memorial to William Kenealy.
The culmination of all this correspondence was that last Friday members of the local British Legion together with Colonel Mike Glover from the Lancashire Fusilliers museum in Bury, Ian McCartney MP and myself presented a letter to Deputy leader David Molyneux asking Wigan Council to commemorate William Kenealy in some way in Ashton.
If you would like more information about William Keneally you can log in to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Keneally
6 comments:
I agree that William Keneally should be commemorated in some way, and have suggested that the woodland on Ashton Heath could be named after him. Alternatively, there could be a blue plaque at the home his parents occupied - 361 Bolton Road.
One small point - your correspondent is mistaken in saying that William died in Ashton. According to Wikipedia, two months after the action for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross he was mortally wounded in the Battle for Gully Ravine on June 28, 1915, and died the next day. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records that he is buried in the Lancashire Landing Cemetery in Turkey.
There is only one true place where Billy should be remembered and that`s the village of Stubshaw Cross where he and his family livedat the outbreak of war in 1914.But he was not the only hero from Stubshaw Cross to have fought in that war and they all should be remembered as well.Billy Lysons from North St. killed in action.aged just 18. John matthew Davies MM wounded but survived. and maybe others....Some time in the near future a garden at the corner of Bolton Rd.and Woods Lane will be renovated by the Stubshaw Cross Residents Group. That`s the place where these heros should be properly commemorated because it was the birthplace of our village. How about it Mr. Ash?would you approve of that or not?
Sorry , Fair Play ! I got the place at which Wm Kenealy died,but would like it too be noted Anonymous who highlighted to Nigal Ash to this item is a ex Scouser** . Pity someone local did not initiated his memory to be marked.
Ps.** An Ashtonian for 48 yrs
Spike Hughes
Thanks for these comments.
I will look into the matter of putting a blue plaque on 361 Bolton Road
I agree with the writer who said the ideal place to commemorate his name would be in this proposed garden in Stubshaw Cross and I will be meeting representatives of the Stubshaw Cross residents group to discuss this.
I would be interested in learning more about other local men who died in action
Nigel.. Thanks for taking my suggestion of a memorial in the garden seriously and I sincerely hope you can pursuade the SCRG to go down that path tho somehow I have a feeling they will reject the idea but do your best anyway... as for a blue plaque on 361 Bolton Rd.I hope you know that the original house was demolished years ago and a new house stands in its place....That would not go down well with stubshiers at all. As for war heroes from Stubshaw Cross you don`t have to die to be a hero you know!!
Story One....Young Billy Lysons lived at 107 North St.Stubshaw Cross ..He had a sweetheart named Martha Littler who also lived on North St.But in 1914 Billy signed up aged 18 and went to war..He never came back...Brokenhearted Martha emigrated to New Zealand and she at least had a long life and a happy one. but she never forgot Billy. She was my wife`s aunt.....
Story Two..Billy Keneally was already a regular soldier in 1914 and his story is well recorded and while there is no doubt he WAS a hero the mission that won him a V.C. was actually a failure.
Story Three...Jack Davies lived at 338 Bolton Rd.He was born in 1897 in Wales and his dad,a miner brought him to Stubshie as a baby.He was only 17 when war broke out but he lied about his age and signed on.He was give a rifle and shipped to France. The army found out about his age and took his rifle off him and gave him a stretcher instead.He saw front line service on the Somme, at Ypres, at gallipolli, and back to the Somme.I can only imagine what horrors he went through because he would never tell me about it.All I know is that in 1917 he had to make three trips across a river under heavy fire carrying wounded officers on his back,and on the last trip he got a bullet in his backbut because he was bent double it travelled up his spine and by some miracle he survived.If he had died he would most likely have got a V.C. like Billy did. But they only gave him a Military Medal and a Gold Watch from Ashton Council.I`m glad he survived otherwise I woudn`t be here today.He was my dad,John Matthew Davies A hero just like the two Billies. And I want them all to be remembered in that garden along with many other soldiers and miners from Stubshie who served our village with honour.
My name is Patricia Callaghan, I live in Redcar on the north east coast of the UK.
Im a decendent of John Kenealy born Wexford Ireland, his son William Kenealy was my GGrandfathers younger brother.
Im after gaining as much information about my Kenealy ancestors as possible.
My GGrandfather was James Herbert Kenealy born 1882 Wexford this is all I know about my Kenealy side and would love to know more.
I felt very proud reading this article, brought a lump to my throat.
Please dont hestitate to contact me with any more info. Thank you.
Regards Patricia Callaghan.
patzy_c70@hotmail.com
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