Leonard Maurice (Kyezor) Keysor VC (1885 - 1951)

Ancestors

Biography

Leonard Maurice Kyezor (Anglicised to Keysor) was born on 3rd November 1885 at Maida Vale, London, England. He was the third of five children and younger son of Benjamin Kyezor, a Jewish clock importer, and Julia Benjamin. ^[1] He was the cousin of British character actress and comedian, Rita Webb. Whilst Leonard was still young, his father changed the spelling of the family name from Kyezor to Keyzor. Due to a mispelling in official documents (London Gazette), Leonard changed the spelling of his name to Keysor by Deed Poll in 1920. Keysor was educated at Townley Castle in Ramsgate. After completing his studies, he travelled to Canada in 1904 where he remained for a period of ten years before moving to Australia in 1914 where his brother Stanley and sister Madge were living. He briefly obtained clerical work in Sydney, New South Wales.

Keysor had only been in Australia for about three months when the First World War broke out. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 18th August 1914 as a Private and was assigned to the 1st Australian Infantry Battalion.^[2] On 18th October 1914 he embarked for overseas service among the first contingent. Initially he served in Egypt where the Australians were involved in the defence of the Suez Canal against the Turks, but on 25th April 1915, he landed at Gallipoli where he took part in the subsequent fighting on the peninsula. On 20th June 1915 he was promoted to Lance Corporal.

Victoria Cross

It was during the course of the Lone Pine battle in August that Keysor performed the actions that led to him receiving the Victoria Cross; gazetted in London 15th October 1915 on page 10154 at position 6. ^[3] Early in the morning on 6th August 1915 the 1st Battalion carried out a diversionary attack at Lone Pine and after heavy fighting that lasted almost the entire day they managed to capture the Turkish trenches. After this, fighting continued around the position for the next three days as the Turks attempted to regain the position. The fighting was carried out at close range, using bayonets and improvised grenades and bombs. Over the course of some fifty hours on 7–8th August, Keysor continually risked his life to pick up the Turkish grenades as they were thrown into the trenches and throw them back. Later, despite being wounded and ordered to seek medical attention, Keysor continued to remain in the line, volunteering to throw bombs for another company. After the battle was over Keysor was evacuated from Gallipoli suffering enteric fever. He eventually rejoined the 1st Battalion after they had been transferred to France in early 1916. In March 1916 Keysor took part in the Battle of Pozières. In November 1916 he was transferred to the 42nd Battalion and promoted to the rank of Sergeant on 1st December. On 13th January 1917 he was commissioned and promoted to Second Lieutenant. Six months later he was promoted to Lieutenant and transferred to 42nd Australian Infantry Battalion.

On 28th March 1918 Keysor was wounded and was evacuated from the line before returning to take part in the fighting at Villers-Bretonneux, where he was gassed on 26th May 1918. In October 1918 when manpower levels in the AIF reached critical level, Keysor was ordered to return to Australia to head up a recruiting campaign.

He was discharged from the army on medical grounds on 12th December 1918. Continuing to reside in Sydney until February 1919 he worked as a clerk, before returning to England to live after an absence of almost fifteen years. On 8th July 1920 in the Hill Street Synagogue, London he married Gladys Benjamin. ^[4] Soon afterward, he joined the family business, importing clocks.

He passed away of cancer, aged 65 years, on 12th October 1951 at Paddington, London and was cremated after a memorial service at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, St John's Wood. ^[5] He was survived by his wife and their daughter Joan.

In 1977 Keysor's Victoria Cross was purchased by the Returned Services League (RSL) and is now displayed at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

Sources

1. ↑ birth record yet to be located
2. ↑ Australian War Memorial unit record: 1st Australian Infantry Battalion; accessed 13 Apr 2019
3. ↑ Australian War Memorial Honours and Awards: 958 Private Leonard Keysor; accessed 13 Apr 2019
4. ↑ UK FreeBMD Marriage Index Sep qtr 1920, vol 1a, page 1727
5. ↑ UK FreeBMD Death Index Dec qtr 1951, vol 5d, page 312

See also

• McCarthy, Dudley. 'Keysor, Leonard Maurice (1885–1951)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1983; accessed online 13 Apr 2019.
• Wikipedia profile: Leonard Keysor; accessed 13 Apr 2019.