Michael Munnelly


Michael Joseph Munnelly was posthumously awarded the George Cross for his gallantry on 24 December 1964 in Regent's Park, London.

Life and work

Born in 1941, Munnelly was a journalist for The People newspaper.

George Cross citation


Fourteen youths had been drinking at Kentish Town and had travelled in a van to Regents Park Road to a flat where two of them had been
invited. They were in an extremely rowdy mood shouting and swearing. The fourteen were refused entry to the flat and some of them immediately
attacked the occupier. Others went to a dairy opposite and from crates left outside began to bombard the flat with milk bottles, resulting in all the windows being broken, also the window of the shop next door. Some of the youths were attacking the occupier of the flat, some were throwing dozens of bottles and all were shouting, swearing and milling about.
Although there were several onlookers, it appears they were all too frightened to interfere. In an endeavour to protect his property, the dairyman went into the street where he was immediately attacked by being butted, kicked and knifed in the groin. Michael Joseph Munnelly, his
brother and a friend were the occupants of a third floor flat and hearing the noise of breaking glass and shouting, looked out of the window
and saw the dairyman was on the ground being kicked. All three men decided they must go and help him and ran to the street. They detained
two men but Munnelly was hit on the head by some person and released the man he was holding.
The van, which had left the scene, then returned and was followed into the next turning by Munnelly's friend who in an attempt to stop
the van banged on the side. The van stopped and he grabbed a youth who was sitting next to the driver. This resulted in a cry for help, the
rear door of the van opened and several of the youths attacked him until they had kicked him senseless. Munnelly immediately went to his
rescue. Bottles were thrown at him, he was kicked and received a fatal stab wound in his lower left abdomen. The youths then fled.
Munnelly and the others were mere onlookers who could have stayed in the safety of the flat but without thought for themselves they went
to the assistance of the dairyman. Munnelly saw his friend being attacked with knives and immediately went to his rescue. Within a few
minutes he was dead. He had given his life to save that of his friend.