Queensland Police ANZACs
William Harold Kenny (20 August 1887 – 15 May 1949)
168 Queensland policemen volunteered in the AIF, Constable William (Bill) Harold Kenny survived the war and resumed service upon his return in 1919. He retired in 1943.
William Harold Kenny. Image HO5515 courtesy of the Australian War Memorial.
William (Bill) Harold Kenny was born on 20 August 1887 in Guyra, New South Wales to parents Mary Kenny (neé Moore from Wollombi) and Michael Kenny, a farmer from Kilkenny, Ireland. Bill had two sisters, Rachel and Elizabeth, as well as an older brother Henry Butler, who also served with the Queensland Police Force. Elizabeth Kenny was a member of the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and later became famous for her methods for treating the victims of poliomyelitis.
Reference letter, courtesy of Queensland State Archives AF 4720
Prior to joining the Queensland Police Fore, Kenny served with the Citizen Forces. On 28 April 1914, supernumerary Bill Kenny was sworn in to the Queensland Police Force (Reg No 1852, QSA 4720), aged 26 years and 8 months. Constable Kenny was just over 6 feet tall, with brown eyes and hair, and of dark complexion. Before volunteering in the AIF, Constable WH Kenny received only one transfer, to Roma Street Police Station.
On 21 August 1914, the day after his 27th birthday, Private Kenny was appointed to ‘A’ Squadron at Enoggera, Regimental Number 171 (NAA AIF B2455, Item No 11563912). On 24 September 1914, he boarded the HMAT Star of England from Brisbane, as a member of the 2nd Light Horse Regiment.
HAMT Star of England. Image CO2483 courtesy of the Australian War Memorial.
Pte Kenny landed in Gallipoli with the 1st Division’s Mounted Military Police, ‘many of whom had been recruited from men who were civil policemen and good horsemen.’ (Police Bulletin, May 2016, p. 15) According to the Royal Australian Corps of Military Police centenary publication, the Military Police was raised from the corps alone with a formal approval for creation of the ANZAC Provost Corps granted by General Birdwood on 9 March 1916. A week later, Kenny arrived in Heliopolis and soon after was transferred to the Army Police Headquarters, where he was assigned to General Birdwood as a bodyguard.
On 18 May 1916, Pte Kenny was awarded “Medaille Militaire” by the President of the 3rd French Republic, Raymond Poincaré, in recognition for his distinguished service during the campaign. (Com of Aus Gazette, No 60, 18 May 1916). In June of the same year, Pte Kenny of 2nd ANZAC HQ, was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal ‘for conspicuous good work throughout this campaign frequently under shell fire.’ In July 1916, he embarked overseas with the 2nd ANZAC Police Force from Alexandria. Kenny continued to serve as a military policeman with Royal Australian Corps of Military Police (RACMP) on the Western Front in France until the end of the war.
Kenny continued to rise through the ranks and in January 1918 he was awarded a rank of Senior Sergeant. He was discharged on 4 March 1919 and returned to Brisbane four days later resuming his police duties, which he continued to perform for another 24 years.
Queensland Police and the Great War Effort, is a project by a policing historian Dr Anastasia Dukova, which connects personal, police and war service stories and histories of the Queensland Police who left active police duty to volunteer in the Australian Imperial Force.
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“Queensland Police ANZACs: William Harold Kenny” was written by Dr Anastasia Dukova, Crime and Policing Historian and Queensland Police Museum volunteer, from the best resources available at the time of writing.
Further Readings:
Dukova, Anastasia. A History of the Dublin Metropolitan Police and its Colonial Legacy, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.