Sir William Algernon Ireland Kay, 6th Baronet
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Sir William Kay | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 21 March 1876 Cheltenham, England |
| Died | 4 October 1918 (aged 42) near Magny-la-Fosse, France |
| Buried | Vadencourt British Cemetery, Maissemy, France |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1895–1918 |
| Rank | Brigadier-General |
| Unit | King's Royal Rifle Corps |
| Commands | 3rd Brigade |
| Battles / wars | World War I |
| Awards | CMG, DSO |
Brigadier-General Sir William Algernon Ireland Kay, 6th Baronet, CMG, DSO (21 March 1876 – 4 October 1918) was a British Army officer. He was killed in action in October 1918 in Magny-la-Fosse, while reconnoitering a new area. At the time, he was in command of the 3rd Brigade.
Early life
[edit]Kay was born in 1876, the only son of Sir William Kay, Bart. and his wife, Emily, daughter of Thomas Ireland, of Ousden Hall, Suffolk. He was educated at Harrow School between 1890–1891 and subsequently, at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in 1895.[1]
Military service
[edit]Kay commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps in 1896 and subsequently served in the Hut Tax War of 1898 in Sierra Leone and the Second Boer War, being Mentioned in Dispatches during the latter campaign. During the First World War he deployed to the France in August 1914 as a part of the staff of the Commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Field Marshal Sir John French. He was awarded one of the First Distinguished Service Orders of the First World War for conducting a 'reconnaissance of Great Value on 1 October, reaching a point within 100 yards of the enemy's outposts'.[2] He was wounded in October 1914 and returned to France in Spring 1915 on the Staff of 24th Division, serving at the Battle of Loos. In 1916, he became G.S.O.I to 24th Division and saw further action during the Battle of the Somme and Third Battle of Ypres.
In October 1917, he became Commandant of the Small Arms School in Boulogne, before being appointed as Commander of 2nd Brigade in March 1918, but was again wounded on 17 March 1918. He returned to France in April 1918, to take command of 3rd Brigade and was Killed in Action, alongside his Brigade Major, Captain William Somervail, by a German Gas Shell on 4 October 1918 whilst conducting a reconnaissance near Magny-La-Fosse.[1]
Burial
[edit]Brigadier General Kay and Captain Somervail are buried alongside each other at Vadencourt British Cemetery, Maissemy.[1] He died without issue and the Baronetcy became extinct upon his death.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Roll of Honour Entry, Harrow School" (PDF).
- ^ "No. 28968". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 November 1914. p. 9108.
- Davis, Frank; Maddocks, Graham (1995). Bloody Red Tabs - General Officer Casualties of the Great War, 1914-1918. London: Leo Cooper, pp. 78–79.
- https://www.harrowschool-ww1.org.uk/DOCS/KAY_WAI.pdf
External links
[edit]- 1876 births
- 1918 deaths
- Kay baronets
- British Army brigadiers
- Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
- British military personnel killed in World War I
- People educated at Harrow School
- King's Royal Rifle Corps officers
- British military personnel of the Second Boer War
- Military personnel from Cheltenham
- British Army generals of World War I