Nigel Gray Leakey VC (1 January 1913 – 19 May 1941) was a British soldier and a recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

forces.

Early life

Leakey was born in

Kiganjo Kiganjo is a small town in Kenya's Nyeri county. It hosts the Kenya Police College which is Kenya's main college for police training. Kiganjo also hosts one of the Kenya Cooperative Creameries KCC (now New KCC) and a milk depot for the Brookside ...

, Kenya to English parents. Leakey's mother Elizabeth died in 1926. His father, Arundell Gray Leakey, was the son of Reverend John Arundell Leakey, clergyman in England. He was a cousin of archaeologists

Louis Leakey Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey (7 August 1903 – 1 October 1972) was a Kenyan-British palaeoanthropologist and archaeologist whose work was important in demonstrating that humans evolved in Africa, particularly through discoveries made at Olduvai ...

and

Richard Leakey Richard Erskine Frere Leakey (19 December 1944 – 2 January 2022) was a Kenyan paleoanthropologist, conservationist and politician. Leakey held a number of official positions in Kenya, mostly in institutions of archaeology and wildlife cons ...

. Leakey's younger brother

Rea Leakey Major-General Arundell Rea Leakey, (30 December 1915 – 6 October 1999) was an officer in the British Army. He served in the Royal Tank Regiment in the Second World War, in North Africa, Italy and France. He later served in Korea, in the Arab ...

served in the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the World War I, First World War. Today, it is an Armoured warfare, armoured regiment equipped with Challenger 2 main battle tanks ...

in the Second World War, and later became a major general. His sister Agnes Leakey (later Agnes Hofmeyr) worked for black and white reconciliation in Kenya. After serving in the

Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) was a Light infantry, light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1959. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, by the merger of the 32nd ( ...

in the early 1900s, Leakey's father became a farmer at Nyeri Station, west of

Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Meru people, Meru: ''Kĩrĩmaara,'' Kikuyu people, Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba language, Kamba: ''Ki nyaa'', Embu language, Embu: ''Kĩ nyaga'') is an extinct volcano in Kenya and the Highest mountain peaks of Africa, second-highe ...

in Central Province, Kenya, about north of Kiganjo and about north of

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

. His father was an honorary

Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language. It may also refer to: *Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya * Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people *Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cen ...

tribesman known as "Morungaru" ("tall and straight"); he was kidnapped and brutally murdered by the Mau Mau in October 1954, and his second wife Mary was also killed. Leakey was educated in Kenya, and then attended

Bromsgrove School Bromsgrove School is a co-educational boarding and day school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. Founded in 1553, it is one of the oldest public schools in Britain, and one of the 14 founding members of the Headmasters' Confer ...

in England. Returning to Kenya, at the outbreak of war in 1939 he joined the

Kenya Regiment The Kenya Regiment was a unit of the British Army recruited primarily among white settlers in Kenya and to a lesser extent Uganda. Formed in 1937, it was disbanded at the oubreak of World War II in 1939. It was reformed in 1950 and participate ...

and, after training, was attached to the

King's African Rifles The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a British Colonial Auxiliary Forces regiment raised from Britain's East African colonies in 1902. It primarily carried out internal security duties within these colonies along with military service elsewher ...

Victoria Cross

Leakey was a 28 year old

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

in the 1/6th Battalion, King's African Rifles during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the

. Leakey's 1/6th Battalion was part of the 22nd (East African) Brigade ( 12th African Division). On 19 May 1941, at Alaba Kulito,

Abyssinia Abyssinia (; also known as Abyssinie, Abissinia, Habessinien, or Al-Habash) was an ancient region in the Horn of Africa situated in the northern highlands of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea.Sven Rubenson, The survival of Ethiopian independence, ...

, when Allied forces had made a

bridgehead In military strategy, a bridgehead (or bridge-head) is the strategically important area of ground around the end of a bridge or other place of possible crossing over a body of water which at time of conflict is sought to be defended or taken over ...

against strong

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

opposition, the Italians made a sudden counterattack with both light and medium tanks. In the face of withering fire, Leakey leaped on top of an Italian tank, wrenched open the

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

and killed all the crew except the driver, whom he forced to drive the tank to cover. Along with three others, Leakey tried to repeat this with another Italian tank, but just as he opened the turret, he was killed. The confusion and loss of armour Leakey caused was critical to the Italian defeat in the battle. Captain David Hines witnessed the event through binoculars, as did other soldiers. Leakey has no known grave but he is commemorated on the

East Africa Memorial East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that eas ...

, near

, Kenya. His second cousin twice removed,

Joshua Leakey Colour Sergeant Joshua Mark Leakey (born 1988) is a British soldier currently serving in the Parachute Regiment. In 2015, Leakey was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration for valour in the British and Commonwealth armed f ...

, was also awarded the Victoria Cross for his service in Afghanistan in 2013. Leakey's medal is kept by a member of the Leakey family in England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leakey, Nigel Gray 1913 births 1941 deaths British colonial army soldiers British Kenya people British military personnel killed in World War II East African campaign (World War II) World War II recipients of the Victoria Cross

Nigel Nigel ( ) is an English masculine given name. The English ''Nigel'' is found in records dating from the Middle Ages; however, it was not used much before being revived by 19th-century antiquarians. For instance, Walter Scott published '' The F ...

People educated at Bromsgrove School People from Nyeri County

Early life

Victoria Cross

See also

References