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Australia Downunder > Forums > ANZAC HISTORY > Last WWII Victoria Cross winner Ted Kenna dies
 
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maggie1
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    07/09/09 at 08:04 PM
 #1
WAR veteran Ted Kenna made an outstanding contribution to the nation and will be remembered for his courage, Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said.
               

Mr Kenna, Australia's last surviving Victoria Cross winner from World War II, died yesterday, aged 90.

His death was a sad day for the nation, Ms Gillard said in a joint statement with Veterans Affairs Minister Alan Griffin.

"Ted Kenna was a great Australian," they said, adding his story of bravery in New Guinea in 1945 was "extraordinary".

"Private Kenna made an outstanding contribution to the nation and he will be remembered for his courage."

"It is a very sad day and, if you like, almost an end of an era," Mr Griffin later told Sky News.

More here.....................

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25756113-29277,00.html


maggie1
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    07/10/09 at 07:46 AM
 #2

Diggers mourn WWII's last VC hero Edward Kenna


WHEN the news broke yesterday that Edward Kenna, Australia's last surviving Victoria Cross winner from World War II had died, old Diggers in suburbs and small country towns around the nation wept for a mate whom they knew only as "Ned".

                       

He was a humble and self-effacing bloke who always insisted that too much fuss was made of his heroic, some would argue crazy, act of courage in the jungles of New Guinea in the closing months of the war.

As Kevin Rudd led the tributes to Mr Kenna, who died on Wednesday aged 90, other more personal memories were being shared between those who served with him on the front line.

Bill Panter, a lifelong friend of Mr Kenna, was, like Ned, a private in what was known by their colleagues in other sections of the defence forces as the "PBI" - poor bloody infantry.

He spent most of yesterday taking calls from mates who had telephoned to console him and shed a tear. He also tried to find the words to include in a death notice for a man who believed there was no higher honour than being thought of as a good bloke, but whose war deeds made that epitaph impossible to write.


Read on from this link....................

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25759141-2702,00.html

maggie1
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    07/16/09 at 12:50 PM
 #3

Hundreds attend funeral for Victoria Cross hero Ted Kenna


PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd, federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull, Victorian Premier John Brumby and senior defence chiefs are among hundreds of people who have turned out for the funeral of Ted Kenna, who was Australia's last surviving World War II Victoria Cross recipient.
               

One of Australia's two living Victoria Cross recipients, Vietnam veteran Keith Payne, was also at the service.

Mr Kenna earned his VC in the jungles of New Guinea in 1945, when he selflessly exposed himself to a barrage of Japanese machinegun fire. His outstanding gallantry - and good fortune - allowed fellow troops to gain a decisive advantage.

Mr Kenna, 90, a father of four, grandfather of 12 and great grandfather of 15, died last Wednesday.

He leaves behind his wife of 62 years, Marjorie, who nursed him at a Melbourne hospital after he was badly wounded in battle.

Nepalese Victoria Cross recipient Limbu Rimbahadur was also among the mourners at St Patrick's Cathedral in East Melbourne.

Mr Kenna will be buried with full military honours.


http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25790338-29277,00.html
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