Bede Kenny Thomas James Bede Kenny VC ( 29 September 1896 – April 1953 ) was an Australian 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 . He was 20 years old , and a private in the 2nd Battalion ( New South Wales ) , Australian Imperial Force during the First World War when for his conspicuous bravery he was awarded the VC . Early life . Bede Kenny was born on 29 September 1896 at Paddington , Sydney , the son of Austin James Kenny , a butcher , from Auckland , New Zealand , and his wife Mary Christina , née Connolly , of New South Wales . He was educated at the Christian Brothers ' College , Waverley . Following matriculation from high school , he began to train as a chemist ' s assistant at Bondi . After just three months of training , on 23 August 1915 , he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force — a fortnight after the major Australian actions at Lone Pine and The Nek , Gallipoli . First World War . On 20 December he embarked with the 13th Reinforcements , 2nd Battalion and , after arriving in Egypt , served with the 54th Battalion – the 2nd Battalion ' s daughter battalion – before joining the 2nd on 27 February 1916 . In March 1916 he went to France and , in the second phase of the Battle of Pozières , fought in the battalion bombing platoon . On 9 April 1917 , at Hermies , France , Kenny ' s platoon was held up by an enemy strong point . Despite heavy enemy fire , he ran alone towards the enemy , killing one man who tried to stop him , and soon after bombing the enemy position . Kenny was successful in wounding and capturing the gun crew and seizing the gun . For his actions in Hermies he was awarded the Victoria Cross . His citation read : Following this , Kenny was immediately promoted to lance corporal and soon afterwards was evacuated to England with trench feet . He rejoined the battalion at Hazebrouck and on 26 June 1918 was wounded during fighting in the Merris sector . Despite describing his injuries as " nothing to write home about " , he was invalided to Australia in August , arriving in Sydney on 9 October . He had become a corporal earlier that same month . In Sydney , Kenny rejected an offer to join the military police , whom it is said he disliked intensely , and was subsequently discharged on 12 December . Civilian life . Returning to civilian life in Australia , Kenny began working as a travelling salesman for Clifford Love & Co . ( manufacturers , importers and merchants ) . He then joined the " Sunday Times " newspaper in Sydney , and shortly after became a traveller for Penfolds Wines . On 29 September 1927 , Kenny married Kathleen Dorothy Buckley , a florist , at St Mary ' s Cathedral ; they had three children . His eldest daughter died in 1943 , and his only son in 1948 , both from rheumatic fever , from which it is said he never recovered . Kenny repeatedly suffered the effects of trench feet ; the war had also made him partially deaf . Though he never talked openly of his wartime experiences , Kenny always led the V . C . awardees in the Sydney Anzac Day march . Death . Kenny died in Concord Repatriation General Hospital , Sydney , on 15 April 1953 and was buried in Botany cemetery . Ironically , the pall bearers at his funeral were military policemen . He was survived by his wife and one of his daughters . Legacy . In 1957 , the Bede Kenny Memorial Ward was opened at Wentworth Private Hospital , Randwick , to provide beds for ex - servicemen ineligible for repatriation hospital treatment . His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Australian War Memorial .