Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Harry Collcutt KECK

Military Medal

Recommendation: - 

'At VILLE-sur-ANCRE on the night 4th/ 5th July 1918 when all the forward bridges had been destroyed by shell fire, and at a time when urgent reinforcements, who were called for urgently to replace casualties at the objective gained, could only reach their position by swimming the river ANCRE, and his Officer was to construct a bridge practically at our Front Line; a delay occurred through material not arriving. Cpl. KECK returned through heavy shellfire and found that the wagon carrying the material had been damaged by a shell. He immediately organised a party and made repeated trips along a heavily shelled track to the bridge site with them, man handling all the material for the bridge. It was due to this N.C.Os conspicuous gallantry under fire and determination that this bridge, 35 feet long which enabled lateral communication across the River between the left flank of the objective gained and Right flank of the original front line to be established, was successfully completed.'

Recommendation: Lieut-Col. 5th Australian Division

Harry Keck came from a well known family in Bendigo that had its beginnings back in the 1880’s when his father and uncle Herbert & James Keck started on a block of 20 acres, as growers of citrus, deciduous fruits and palms. Harry Keck was the son of Herbert Keck who would become the Councillor and then Shire President of Strathfieldsaye, a municipality south east of Bendigo. (photo)

Harry enlisted in July 1915 as the Gallipoli campaign stalled on the Dardanelles Peninsula. Harry would land in Alexandria, Egypt late February 1916 and witness first hand the surviving and battered Gallipoli veterans recuperating in the various AIF camps across Egypt. Fresh troopships from Australia were arriving almost daily and Harry would be sail with the Second Field Engineers to the front in Northern France and be wounded almost immediately.

News of this would appear in the Bendigonian Newspaper on August 1916: - ‘The injury of Sapper H. C. Keck by gunshot wounds in the side, neck, and ear was notified to the soldier's father, the well-known seedsman of Retreat-Road, Bendigo, on Friday by the Defence department. The message further stated that Sapper Keck had been admitted to the 13th General Hospital, London, on 19th August. Sapper Keck enlisted just 12 months ago in the infantry, but relinquished three stripes to transfer to the Engineers. He was with the Australian Engineers in France when he sustained the wounds. Mr. Keck has a son-in-law at present with the Engineers, who have been engaged in fortifying the approaches to the Suez Canal’. [1]

As reported, Harry was a member of the 2nd Field Company Engineers. Each Division had three Field Engineer Companies under command, numbered the same as the Brigades of the Division. They undertook a broad range of tasks including preparation and supervision of the construction of defensive and gun positions, excavation of trenches and dugouts, erection of wire and other obstacles, preparation of command posts, signalling and water supply, field engineering, road and bridge construction and route maintenance. They also undertook obstacle breaching and crossing which Harry would be rewarded for later in his service period.

Harry would recover from his wounds and rejoin his unit to be made Lance Corporal in November 1916. He would be promoted to Corporal in October 1917 and perform his brave deeds on the evening in early July 1918. For his work at the bridge on the Ancre river, Harry would be allowed a weeks’ leave to Paris in the September and be presented his Military Medal in late October 1918.

Photo 1: - Son of Cr. H. Keck, Retreat-road, Bendigo, wounded in France in July' - photograph in the Bendigonian (Bendigo, Vic. : 1914 - 1918)  Thu 24 Aug 1916  Page 2

Photo 2:- H Keck Bendigo Nursery circa 1900. Possibly photo of a young Harry in foreground who was eleven or twelve years of age in 1900. [2]

SERVICE DETAILS:

Regimental No. 5646

Place of birth: Bendigo Victoria

Religion: Church of England

Occupation: Orchardist

Address: Retreat Road, Bendigo, Victoria

Marital status: Single

Age at enlistment: 26

Next of kin: Father, Herbert Keck, Retreat Road, Bendigo,

Enlistment date: 19 July 1915

Rank on enlistment: Sapper

Unit name: 2nd Field Company Engineers, also 15th Field Company Engineers

Embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A54 Runic on 20 January 1916

Final Rank: Corporal

Returned to Australia 8 May 1919

Ville-sur-Ancre is a village in the Department of the Somme, 7 Kms south-west of Albert and 2 Kms north of Morlancourt. The Ancre river flows through the village and joins the Somme river at Corbie which was a AIF staging base and rest area. Major fighting around the village had taken place in may 1918 however, a most significant battle took place south of the Somme on July 4, 1918, at Le Hamel, with the objective to dislodge the Germans from a position of high ground. The attack commenced without the usual artillery bombardment. The battle lasted about 93 minutes; Monash had planned on 90 minutes. The Australians and Americans lost about 900 men while the Germans lost about 1,800.

[1] Bendigonian Newspaper on Aug 17 1916, Page 9

[2] From the website of McDonald’s Nursery, Bendigo https://www.macdonaldsnursery.com.au/about/