b. 1886 Saddleworth, Yorkshire. d. 18/02/1926 Saddleworth, Yorkshire.
DATE OF AM ACTION: 30/01/1918 Clipstone Camp, Nottinghamshire.
Fred was the eldest of three children of William Henry and Mary Ann Kelly and they lived in Saddleworth, Yorkshire. Fred became an order clerk on the railways following schooling, and in 1915 he married Mary Hannah Winterbottom in Saddleworth. He enlisted in the 6th Battalion of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment and received his AM from King George V at Buckingham Palace on 25th May 1918. He died aged just 39 in 1926 in Saddleworth.
AM CITATION:
On the 30th January last, at a camp in England where rifle grenade practice was being carried out, one of the men struck the loophole. with his bayonet and caused the fuse of the grenade to ignite. Lieutenant Kelly, who was in charge, shouted to the man to drop his rifle and get clear, but he lost his nerve and remained in the trench gripping the rifle. Lieutenant Kelly then seized the rifle, and with much difficulty got it out of the man’s hands and threw it away. He then tried to push the man out of the emplacement, but before he could get him clear the bomb exploded, and, they were both slightly wounded. But for Lieutenant Kelly’s courage and resource the soldier would probably have been killed.
BURIAL LOCATION: UNKNOWN.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
