Australian Victoria Cross Recipient
Lance Corporal Leonard Maurice Keysor
Unit
1st Battalion
Born
3 November 1896 at Maida Vale, London. He arrived in Australia from Canada in 1914.
Date of action
7-8 August 1915
Place
Lone Pine trenches, Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey
Details
On 7 August Keysor was in a trench which was being heavily bombed by the enemy. At great risk to himself he picked up two live Turkish bombs and threw them back at the enemy. Although wounded, he kept throwing bombs. The next day, at the same place, he bombed the enemy out of a position which made his trench vulnerable. He was again wounded. Although he was marked for hospital he stayed in the trenches and threw bombs for another company which had lost its bomb throwers. Keysor kept throwing both Turkish bombs and crude Australian bombs, manufactured on the beach, for fifty hours before he allowed himself to be evacuated for treatment.
Died
12 October 1951
Buried or Commemorated
Urn at Golders Green Crematorium, London. Plaque at Rookwood Cemetery Garden of Remembrance, Sydney
Current location of the VC
Australian War Memorial