| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Private Fred Keith the son of Robert and May Keith of Mereside, Hornsea was baptised in Hornsea Church on 2 Jul 1882. He had 4 brothers and 2 sisters. In 1906 he married Beatrice Rogerson and they made their home in Hull where he earned his living as a rullyman on the railways. They had four children.
Fred joined the Coldstream Guards at the outbreak of war in 1914 and went to France in Jul 1916, the regiment was involved in all of the major battles of the war and it was at the 3rd Battle of Ypres, (Passchendaele) that Fred died on 5 Oct 1917. The Beverley Guardian of 3 Nov 1917 carried a photograph of Fred and a report, “official news had been received that Private Fred Keith, Coldstream Guards, third son of Mrs Keith, Mereside, Hornsea and the late Mr Robert Keith was killed in action on 9th October 1917. The deceased was 35 years old. He leaves a widow and four children.” His brother Harry also served in the Royal Engineers.
Fred was awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal and is commemorated in Artillery Wood Cemetery, Boezinge, Belgium. He is also commemorated on Hornsea War Memorial together with two other men named Keith, who may have been his cousins. The Beverley Guardian obituaries for 3 November under Roll of Honour names Fred Keith, Herbert Keith and Arthur Keith all of Hornsea killed in 1917.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |