The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (146) Trooper Frederick Thomas Keane, 9th Light Horse Regiment, First World War

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Charis May, the story for this day was on (146) Trooper Frederick Thomas Keane, 9th Light Horse Regiment, First World War.

146 Trooper Frederick Thomas Keane, 9th Light Horse Regiment
KIA 19 April 1917
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 26 July 2014

Today we remember and pay tribute to Trooper Frederick Thomas Keane.

Born at Willunga in South Australia, Frederick Keane was one of five brothers who joined up to fight in the First World War. Frederick was 22 when he enlisted with his brother Wilfred in October 1914. They were both assigned to the 9th Light Horse Regiment.

Keane left Australia in February 1915 for training in Egypt. In mid-May he was sent to the Gallipoli peninsula, joining the first Anzacs who had landed there just a few weeks before. The 9th Light Horse Regiment was positioned at Walker’s Ridge.

Keane was wounded on 30 June during an assault by the Turks on nearby positions, and he was sent to England to recuperate. He did not return to his regiment until April 1916, when the 9th Light Horse was advancing across the Sinai Desert after the pivotal battle of Romani.

By December 1916 this advance had reached the Palestine frontier. Keane was again wounded in the fight to secure the Turkish outpost of Maghdaba. He spent about three months recovering in hospital in Egypt.

Keane rejoined his regiment in time to take part in the first battle of Gaza in late March 1917. The coastal city was the heart of the main Turkish defensive position in southern Palestine, and a major objective of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. The first battle failed, leading to a second battle three weeks later on 17 April. Two days later Keane’s regiment helped take a Turkish redoubt, but was heavily bombarded with artillery. Keane was among those killed in action during the fighting. After three days the attack on Gaza was called off, having gained no significant ground. Gaza was eventually taken by the British in November.

Trooper Keane was 24 years old when he was killed. All of his brothers survived the war and one of them, Arthur, who served in the 1st Light Horse Brigade Machine Gun squadron, was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry.

The name of Trooper Frederick Keane is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War. There is no photograph in the Memorial’s collection to display beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Trooper Frederick Keane and all of those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.