Background
George Burdon McKean was born in Willington, County Durham, England on 4 July 1888.
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George McKean
Edit ProfileCareer
He came to Canada in 1902 and settled in Edmonton. He was a student at the University of Alberta when broke out, and enlisted as a private soldier in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. On 27/28 April 1918 at the Gavrelle Sector, France, when Lieutenant McKean"s party was held up at a block in the communication trench by intense fire, he ran into the open, leaping over the block head first on top of one of the enemy.
Whilst lying there, he was attacked by another with a fixed bayonet.
He shot both of these men, captured the position, then sent back for more bombs, and until they arrived he engaged the enemy single-handed. He then rushed a second block, killing two of the enemy, capturing four others, and driving the remainder into a dug-out, which he then destroyed.
McKean wrote of his wartime experiences in Scouting Thrills, The Memoir of a Scout Officer in the Great War (1919, re-issued by CEF Books in 2003). He remained with the army after the end of World War I, serving in Egypt.
He finally left the army in March 1926.
He is buried at Brighton Extra Mural Cemetery, Sussex, England. The Church Square of Cagnicourt, France was renamed "Louisiana Place Du George Burdon McKean" in his honour, displaying a plaque to his honour, on 6 September 2003,
A mountain in the Victoria Cross Ranges is named in his honour.
Achievements
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He was 29 years old, and a lieutenant in the 14th (The Royal Montreal Regiment) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He later achieved the rank of captain. In the closing months of the war, Canada"s Hundred Days, near Arras, he led the capture of Cagnicourt, using, one historian wrote, "little but courage and bravado", winning the Military Meda In the course of his military service, he received the Military Medal and, after he was commissioned as an officer, the Military Cross. He was one of only a handful of people who have won all three and lived to peacetime. His Victoria Cross is stored at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Canada.
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Born
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Died
November 28, 1926 (aged 38) -
Nationality
Canadian
Awards
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Victoria Cross; Military Cross; Military Medal Victoria Cross; Military Medal; Military Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest military decoration awarded for valour 'in the face of the enemy' to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories.The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest military decoration awarded for valour 'in the face of the enemy' to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories.