Product Description

Many years after becoming the youngest person ever to be awarded the VC for attacking a company of Panzer Grenadiers on his own – an action that proved a turning point in one of the major battles of the Second World War – John Kenneally made an extraordinary confession. The courageous hero of the Irish Guards, who had taken on a whole company single-handed was not, in fact, John Kenneally at all, but Leslie Jackson, the illegitimate son of Neville Blond and Gertrude Robinson (a ‘high-class whore’), who had deserted his former regiment, the Honourable Artillery Company.

In THE HONOUR AND THE SHAME, he tells his story with great verve and frankness – a story of riotous living, great courage on the front line, and intense loyalties. Full of the escapades of battle – from the triumphant Tunisian campaign to the bloodbath of Anzio – and the many adventures of a freewheeling youth, THE HONOUR AND THE SHAME is a vivid portrait of a fascinating man.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39922 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

About the Author
John Kenneally was awarded the VC during the Tunisian campaign in the Second World War. He was promoted sergeant after the fall of Tunis and later wounded during the battle of Anzio in February 1944. He subsequently joined the 1st Guards Parachute Battalion, and went out to Palestine. Tempted to join the Israeli forces, thoughts of his wife and two sons, and his loyalty to the Guards, kept him from doing so. After the war, he had a successful career in the motor industry.

Customer Reviews

outstanding tale of heroics
John Kenneally won the Victoria Cross (Britain's highest military honour) during WW2 for his actions in Africa when he single handedly took on an entire Company of Germans. This is his biography through to the end of military service that included Africa, Anzio and Palestine. His tale is simply and honestly told and comes over very much as 'matter of fact' and 'you did what you had to do'. This is a fascinating view of an elite regiment (the Irish Guards) the soldiers within it and their many acts of stoic bravery.

But there is a twist to this tale. John Kenneally was an assumed name for someone who had deserted and rejoined under fake papers. This charade (and of course the awarding of a VC to someone who technically did not exist) makes for extra interesting reading. There are not many holders of the VC and this was a typical tale of a young man on the rough side that found true calling and comradeship in the Army who then performed a heroic deed on a dusty African hill. There is no doubt that the author deserved his medal, but, as he points out, so did many who held that critical strategic point against the Germans.

An engrossing tale of the dirty end of war, the author (who sadly died in 2000) remains a credit to his regiment and to the British Army.

what a life!
This soldier certainly had a bold outlook, a truly brave person in the old fashioned sense, faced with fire on all fronts and surviving against the odds whilst his comrades fell. This was balanced by his personal ups and downs once war was over, an exuberant character not always suited to army rules, well worth the read with the photos at the back.

Simply Fascinating
This is the firsthand account of a brief period in both civil and military WWII history written by a man named Kenneally, who it later transpires is in fact an assumed name given to the author (a former deserter) by an Irish national.

This prompted the question, is it correct to award the highest decoration for valour in the face of the enemy to a man who had previously deserted the Army in a time of war?

Having re-read Kenneally's reasoning, this appears to be a mute point given that if it was not correct to do so, would have seen the V.C. being retracted once Kenneally's true identity (Jackson) became known, however others may not agree.

Having said that this is a fascinating read, moving as it does from descriptions of guttural fighting (although the numbers of Germans engaged resulting in the award of the V.C. seem somewhat variable depending on who's account you read) and a fantastically ageless dark military humour.

This dark humour can be shown in Kenneally's account of his shooting dead a German chef and denying the enemy their lunch!

Similarly in the recollection of an exchange with a German soldier "... when The Stuka comes you duck, when the Spitfire comes we duck, when [the American plane] comes, everybody ducks ..."

Whilst it cannot be said that every Allied soldier behaved appropriately in war and the record of misdeeds speaks for itself, I was struck by instances of clear humanity and a lack of judgment on the part of Kenneally, which I doubt has become more acute over the years of reflections.

Kenneally's actions toward an injured German soldier and his rebuke of the treatment toward Allied troops ostracised due to what was regarded as a lack of moral fibre (later recognised as battle fatigue/shell shock) is a credit to his self discipline and humanity respectively.

Oddly enough this book was not as heavy on recollections of battle as I had first thought but contained other accounts of life (and loves) during WWII and attitudes towards life in the Army and the view of the opposing forces which is not something I was expecting but found engrossing.

As with so many of these, Kenneally's recollections provoked various questions and comparisons, which to me is an indication of a `good book' rather than just a good read.

The title is particularly and cleverly apt in this regard, the honour but also the shame.

I would have no issue recommending this book to anyone with an interest in the life of the `Tommy at the front end' and how he saw WWII.