Story hero
SOLDIER’S BRAVERY AND RETURN TO MINES AFTER WAR DETAILED IN NEW MOVIE
remembering the injured and the widows and families who suffered long after the final shots were fired.
“The sacrifices they made for the freedoms and liberties we have today will never be forgotten.”
The project is being delivered by the councils, their library services, Community Arts Project North East and Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums.
The film telling the story of Thomas was commissioned from County Durham heritage media experts Lonely Tower Film & Media by Wheatley Hill History Club in County Durham with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The club has researched Thomas’s life and members of the local community played various roles in the production, which includes interviews with relatives and military experts.
Marie Gardiner from Lonely Tower Film & Media, said: “Wheatley Hill History Club were a joy to work with.
“They embraced every aspect of the filming process with a passion that reflects their hard work and research.”
Thomas was born in South Wingate, County Durham.
After leaving St Mary’s Roman Catholic School, Wingate, he worked as a quarryman and then a coal miner.
By 1914 he was living with his wife, Isabel, and their seven children in South Wingate.
In August 1914, he joined the 13th (Service) Battalion DLI.
In 1915, his battalion went to France, and Thomas became observer to a young officer, Lieutenant Philip Anthony Brown who had worked as a tutor in Newcastle with the Workers’ Educational Association, and also worked as a lecturer at Durham University.
One night in early November 1915 near Armentieres, Lieut Brown and Private Kenny went out into no man’s land on patrol.
Thick fog covered the area and they lost their way.
As they tried to retrace their steps through the mud, Philip Brown was shot through both thighs.
Thomas hoisted the wounded officer on to his back and, under heavy fire, set off to crawl back.
After an hour, exhausted, he was forced to leave Brown and go for help.
Thomas then guided two stretcher bearers to the wounded officer, who was carried back to the battalion’s front line.
There Philip Brown recovered consciousness for a short time and said “Well, Kenny, you’re a hero.”
He died while being carried back to the dressing station.
In March 1916 Thomas was presented with the VC by King George V at Buckingham Palace, with Philip Brown’s mother present.
He and his wife were also invited to his old school, St Mary’s, and were presented with a marble clock, two silver vases and two bronze statues which pupils, parents and teachers had raised money to buy.
At the end of the war, Company Sergeant Major Kenny returned to his old life as a miner, working at Wingate Colliery until 1927 and then at Wheatley Hill.
In 1940 he joined the Local Defence Volunteers.
Thomas died on November 29, 1948, aged 66, and was buried in Wheatley Hill cemetery.
In 1994, following an appeal by DLI veterans, his unmarked grave was given a headstone, which was unveiled by Captain Richard Annand VC.