HARVEY Harold Keith de Warenne

About Keith Harvey

Harold, or Keith as he was known was born in Letterston, Wales in 1895 to Joshua and Emily Harvey. Keith emigrated to Australia sometime before 1914.

Broome Connection

Keith was working as a shell opener in the pearling industry when war broke out. He enlisted in Broome and his Attestation Paper signed by W. Clarke Hall, Mayor of Broome. His medical was performed by Smythe Yule in Broome. Keith listed Broome as his home address on his Attestation Paper.

© Mark Newton 14 June 2016 (WMR-962) — Cpl H K De Warenne Harvey DCM And 2Lt R De Warenne Harvey

War Service

After enlisting in Broome, Keith travelled to Perth with a number of other Broome men. He was assigned to the 28th Battalion, C Company, which embarked at Fremantle aboard the HMAT Ascanius, and sailed to Egypt, landing at Gallipoli on 4 September 1915. While in Gallipoli he was attached to a machine gun unit, where he remained until the Gallipoli withdrawral. After a general reorganisation of the AIF, Keith was sent to Marseilles with the 28th where they entrained for Northern France, taking the line near Bois Grenier. It was here that Keith was killed in action during a routine spell in the trenches on 25 April 1916. His younger brother Ralph De Warenne Harvey also fell during WWI.

Keith Harvy was killed on the evening of our last day in the trenches, the last time we were in. A German bullet got him through the head while looking through the sand bags after firing. A small funeral party of Broome boys saw the last of him. Harvy was a man I knew very little of till we all joined together, but soon got. chummy and found him a great comrade, and is sadly missed by us all.Letter from A. Davies, published in the North West Echo 5th August 1916

Enlistment Details

Date of Enlistment: 25/02/1915
Place of Enlistment: Blackboy Hill Camp, Western Australia
Occupation: Shell Opener
Age at Enlistment: 21
Service Number: 84
Unit: 24th Battalion, C Company
Rank: Lance Corporal
Fate: Killed in Action
Place of Death: Armentieres, France
Date of Death: 25/04/1916
Cemetery or Memorial Details: Ration Farm Cemetery
Place of Association: Broome, Western Australia

Show less