During the summer and autumn of 1917 he commanded 1st Battalion, the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and was instrumental in the early success achieved during the Battle of Cambrai on 20 November for which he received the Victoria Cross from King George V at Buckingham Palace on 23 January 1918.

[2] His father, James Kelly, was born in Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland and settled in South Africa after serving in the British Army.

[3] His mother, Elizabeth Didcott, was born in Winchester, Hampshire and followed her husband to South Africa when he purchased a farm on the veld in the early 1870s.

After he was finished his service in Zululand, he married an Australian woman, Nellie, whose parents came to South Africa during the Witwatersrand Gold Rush.

[9] Prior to the outbreak of the First World War he was housemaster at Langley School, Loddon, Norfolk (England) and a member of the Territorial Force in the United Kingdom.

[11][12] He was 37 years old, and an Acting Lieutenant-Colonel in the Norfolk Regiment, British Army, Commanding Officer 1st Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

Lt.-Col. Sherwood-Kelly at once ordered covering fire, personally led the leading company of his battalion across the canal and, after crossing, reconnoitred under heavy rifle and machine gun fire the high ground held by the enemy.The left flank of his battalion advancing to the assault of this objective was held up by a thick belt of wire, whereupon he crossed to that flank, and with a Lewis gun team, forced his way under heavy fire through obstacles, got the gun into position on the far side, and covered the advance of his battalion through the wire, thereby enabling them to capture the position.Later, he personally led a charge against some pits from which a heavy fire was being directed on his men, captured the pits, together with five machine guns and forty-six prisoners, and killed a large number of the enemy.The great gallantry displayed by this officer throughout the day inspired the greatest confidence in his men, and it was mainly due to his example and devotion to duty that his battalion was enabled to capture and hold their objective".

In September 1918, he returned to the Western Front as commanding officer of the 12th Norfolk regiment, a position he held until the end of the war on 11 November 1918.

[20] In mid-April 1919, Sir Keith Price, a head of production at the Ministry of Munitions, wrote to the War Office urging the use of new variants of gas against the Bolsheviks in the North Russian theatre.

Winston Churchill, then Secretary of State for War and Air, was enthusiastic in his support but was concerned at revealing the new gas in the course of a relatively small campaign.

As a trial of the new weapon Kelly, who was now in command of a very mixed outfit on the railway front as part of the Vologda Force, was ordered to carry out a raid on the Bolsheviks under cover of a large ground discharge of gas.

[24] In his letter, Sherwood-Kelly wrote that he had volunteered in April 1919 for service in Russia "in the sincere belief that relief was urgently needed in order to make possible the withdrawal of low category troops, in the last stages of exhaustion, due to fierce fighting amid the rigors of an Arctic winter".

[25][26] Finally, Sherwood-Kelly charged that many of the British, Australian, and Canadian soldiers did not understand why they were fighting the Red Army above the Arctic Circle after the armistice had ended the First World War.

"[18]Initially the Adjutant General advised against a court martial, suggesting instead that Kelly be removed from the army administratively for misconduct as permitted by an article of the Pay Warrant.

Petty Officer Reginald Jowett, serving abroad the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Pegasus, wrote in his diary: "Lt.

Colonel Sherwood Kelly's scathing indictment of the Government's policy, published in the papers about Sept 8th, which have just reached us, is causing a good deal of comment around here, as we all know how true it is.

The 'High Official' of the War Office, who terms his statements as "biased and unfounded" is that peculiar animal known as the "armchair critic", who has probably never been within a thousand miles of Archangel.

To those of us who have been here, his statements against Kelly simply makes him look foolish, but I expect he is just trying to shield the Gov't as usual...All the men who have been up-river are unanimous in declaring that the conditions spoken of by Lt.

He concluded, "I plead with you to believe that the action I took was to protect my men's lives against needless sacrifice and to save the country from squandering wealth it could ill afford.

Pursued by a neglected wife and various creditors, he was unsuccessful in his many attempts to re-enter the army and even failed to obtain a place in the French Foreign Legion.

[18][31] During the political instability of 1923–24, Jack Kelly stood for the Conservative Party at two general elections for the constituency of Clay Cross in Derbyshire.