Camelot International > Tower of London

John Kenny

Military Service & Rank: The Royal Signals / The Ghurka's

Yeoman at the Tower Since: 1983

Interests & Hobbies: Golf / Jack the Ripper

John Kenny's Military career saw him serving in many countries of the east and far eastern regions of the globe including Nepal, Borneo, Malaya, Singapore and India. The main reason for this is that for the last nine years of his term of service he was a member of what are possibly the most notorious military units in the world, the Ghurka's.

The Ghurka's are basically a powerful mercenary unit made up generally of Nepalese soldiers who are trained and fully equipped for jungle warfare. It is not surprising then, that the public image of the Ghurka is generally of someone not too far removed from Sylvester Stalone's movie character Rambo. To an extent this is true, as without a doubt the Ghurka's are definitely a deadly force to be reckoned with. It is a pleasant surprise and I have to say, a bit of a shock to find that John Kenny is as far removed from Rambo as chalk is to cheese. Anyone who has ever met him will verify that he is extremely amiable, humorous and an exponent at story telling, as I found out during this interview with him. On the question of story telling here is a little one he told me on something that happened to him while serving in the east with the Ghurka's.

'I was training instructor to a group of young raw recruits, leading them on quite a hard course on survival in the jungle. One of our objectives was that we had a small river to cross by foot. That is nothing unusual during army training for jungle warfare except that this river was rife with deadly piranha fish.

I'm sure that you already know that piranha's have razor sharp teeth and swim in swarms of huge numbers. If it's close to their meal times and you happen to be in the water, within easy reach of these friendly little creatures it could well be the end of civilisation, as you know it. Although small in size, a batch of fifty or sixty piranha can strip all the flesh off an average sized human being within minutes. There is a way, however that you can swim or wade across a piranha infested river'.

Why does the name Rambo suddenly spring to mind again?

'With my group looking on intently albeit a little bit horrified I took out my army knife and promptly stabbed myself in the thigh. Everyone let out a gasp of terror but I quickly explained that for some reason piranhas wouldn't attack if you were bleeding. After a quick demonstration in the river to prove it I asked for a volunteer, at which point everybody took ten steps back.

After a bit of persuading, the bravest of the bunch stepped forward and asked me to explain once more in detail what he should do. I simply replied, while making stabbing movements to my leg; just do exactly what I did. I couldn't believe what happened next as at first he simply refused to do it. I asked him what was wrong and he said he just couldn't use the knife so repeating myself I said once more, just do exactly what I did. He looked me straight in the eye repeating almost parrot fashion what I had said to him, paused for a minute and said are you absolutely sure sir, you want me to do exactly what you did.

Straining at this point to keep my patients with him I nodded, smiled and said yes. The next sound that came from my lips was a loud scream of agony. Instead of using the knife on himself, the young man in question had dashed forward and stabbed me in the thigh close to my self inflicted cut. Everyone roared with laughter and when he realised what he had done I think he thought I was going to shoot him, which of cause I didn't. Consequently though, I couldn't walk straight for a month'.

Luckily for John Kenny life at the Tower of London is much more tranquil. As with his fellow Yeoman he enjoys everyday to the full, especially meeting and entertaining its never-ending array of visitors. 'I have no regrets at all about becoming a Yeoman Warder' John says. 'The fact that everyday brings a fresh batch of tourists from every corner of the world definitely stops the boredom of routine setting in'.

Much of his recreational time is spent playing golf, which he says he finds a great form of exercise. This is quite unusual for someone who spends his working days on his feet as opposed to sitting in an office. There is however, a new found interest that is taking up much of John Kenny's spare time, the life and crimes of the infamous Victorian serial killer, Jack the Ripper.

'I became interested in Jack the Ripper as a result of some of my Yeoman Warder colleagues, Tony Strafford in particular. One of Tony's hobbies is researching the macabre world of the serial killer. Anyway, Tony became more and more fascinated by, what has come to be known as the great granddaddy of serial killers, Jack the Ripper. After a short period of time spent hearing about old Jack I found that I was beginning to become intrigued by this almost phantom like figure. Suddenly, there were no less than five of us, all Yeoman Warders forming this little click and all sharing the same interest.

With the help of a few high placed friends, who shall remain nameless we gathered more and more information and photos on the Ripper. We also realised that much of the information released to the public was based more on the writer's theory than factual police evidence. Now of cause, we delight in telling interested folks what we believe is closer to the real truth. Whether we shall ever know for sure is debatable, but for now, we are about the closest you will get to finding out the real identity and truths of Jack the Ripper and the unsolved mystery of the Whitechapel Murders'.

For those of you reading this who are contemplating a visit to the Tower of London, please don't worry as I assure you, Jack the Ripper is just a thing of an interest to John Kenny and his friends, or should I say 'partners in crime'. Well, at least it is until night casts its cloak of darkness over the land, then it becomes much more than just an interest.

If you are in the area of Tower Hill tube station around 6/30pm any evening you will find out exactly what I mean. Be there if you dare, Heh! heh! heh! heh! heh! But whatever you do, make sure you watch out for something unusual. A strangely clad man maybe, wearing a long brown coat, an unusual hat, smoking an old briar pipe or wearing glistening silver watch chain. Look out for a special badge or even a pamphlet but most of all look and listen for the name that struck terror in the streets of old Whitechapel, Jack the Ripper. Remember!!!! You have been warned.

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