Frederick William Keays (12 July 1898 – 24 June 1983) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played with

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

(1919–1921) and Collingwood (in the

1922 VFL season The 1922 VFL season was the 26th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured nine clubs, ran from 6 May until 14 October, and comprised a 16-game ...

) in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL). After his playing career, Fred competed in the 1927

Stawell Gift The Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short-distance running race. It is the main event in an annual carnival held on Easter weekend by the Stawell Athletic Club, with the main race finals on the holiday Monday, at Central Park, St ...

won by his rival at that time, Tom Miles. He was
trainer and committee member
for

spanning two decades until the Second World War. He served for a second time in WW2 having previously served and twice been wounded as a 16-year-old ANZAC in WW1. Keays eldest son
Desmond Charles Keays
enlisted in 1941, was reported as missing in July 1942 and died in 1945 as a POW at

Sandakan camp The Sandakan camp, also known as Sandakan POW Camp ( Malay: Kem Tawanan Perang Sandakan), was a prisoner-of-war camp established during World War II by the Japanese in Sandakan in the Malaysian state of Sabah. This site has gained notoriety as t ...

. Desmond is also remembered for paying the ultimate price for his country on the Fitzroy Football Club website �
Fitzroy Football Club Anzac Day Tribute
Fred Keays' grandson

Terry Keays Terence John "Terry" Keays (born 3 May 1970) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood and Richmond in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/AFL). His grandfather Fred Keays represented both Fitzroy and Col ...

also played

with Collingwood. His great-grandson

Ben Keays Ben Keays (born 23 February 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). His great-grandfather Fred Keays represented both and in the Victorian Football L ...

is a current Australian rules footballer with

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

ANZAC

Keays was only in his 17th year as he completed training in Egypt before being initially deployed with the

8th Battalion (Australia) The 8th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Initially raised in 1914 for the First Australian Imperial Force during the First World War the battalion was completely recruited from Victoria and formed part of the 2nd Bri ...

(November 1915) as reinforcements at Gallipoli before the retreat in December 1915. He was then wounded, most likely in France at the

Battle of Pozières The Battle of Pozières (23 July – 3 September 1916) took place in northern France around the village of Pozières, during the Battle of the Somme. The costly fighting ended with the British in possession of the plateau north and east of the v ...

. After being wounded for a second time, most likely on the Western Front this time in his lower right leg, he was sent to England to recover before returning home to Fitzroy, Melbourne 1919. In WW2 his age was recorded as one year younger (1900 birth year recorded when it was 1899) thus reporting an age of 39 at enlistment.

References

External links

*
Fred Keays's profile
at Collingwood Forever {{DEFAULTSORT:Keays, Fred 1898 births 1983 deaths Australian Army soldiers Australian military personnel of World War I Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Fitzroy Football Club players Collingwood Football Club players Child soldiers in World War I People from Richmond, Victoria Military personnel from Melbourne Fitzroy Football Club administrators