Christopher O'Kelly
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Christopher Patrick John O'Kelly VC MC (November 18, 1895 - November 15, 1922) was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
[edit] Biography
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, O'Kelly was 21 years old, and an Acting Captain in the 52nd (96th Lake Superior Regiment)Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 26 October 1917 at Passchendaele, Belgium, Captain O'Kelly led his company with extraordinary skill and determination. They captured six pill-boxes, with 100 prisoners and 10 machine-guns. Later his company repelled a strong counterattack, taking more prisoners, and subsequently during the night they captured a hostile raiding party consisting of one officer, 10 men and a machine-gun.
He later achieved the rank of Major. After the war, O'Kelly became a prospector in Northwestern Ontario. He died in a boating accident in 1922 near Red Lake, Ontario. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Canadian War Museum (Ottawa, Canada).
[edit] References
- Monuments To Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
- VCs of the First World War - Passchendaele 1917 (Stephen Snelling, 1998)
