Leonard Keysor

Lieutenant Leonard Maurice Keysor was a British-born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Born in England, Keysor emigrated to Australia shortly before the outbreak of the First World War. He enlisted in the First Australian Imperial Force in August 1914 and served in Egypt before landing at Gallipoli, Turkey, at the beginning of the campaign.

On 7 August 1915 at Lone Pine, while serving as an acting lance-corporal, the 29-year-old Keysor performed a legendary act of bravery. Over a period of two days, he repeatedly caught incoming enemy grenades and threw them back, or smothered them with his body and sandbags, saving many of his comrades. For this conspicuous gallantry, he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Later in the war, Keysor took part in the fighting in France, serving in the trenches along the Western Front. He would later achieve the rank of lieutenant before being discharged from the army on medical grounds at the end of the war, leaving behind a legacy of extreme courage and devotion to duty.