Figure 1. 2nd Lieutenant Harold Francis Amboor Keating, R.E. circa 1914.
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum)
Lieutenant
HAROLD
FRANCIS AMBOOR KEATING
Royal Engineers
by
Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Edward De Santis,
MSCE, BSAE, P.E., MinstRE
(September 2025)
Figure 1. 2nd Lieutenant Harold
Francis Amboor Keating, R.E. circa 1914.
(Image courtesy of
the Imperial War Museum)
1. INTRODUCTION
This research was prompted by two excellent photographs of Lieutenant Keating which were found on the Imperial War Museum web site. According to his Medal Index Card, he went to France in May 1915. He was killed in action in June 1918 while serving in the 210th (Leeds) Field Company, Royal Engineers in the 31st Division.
In May 1915 the 210th (Leeds) Field Company was at home, so Keating must have joined another R.E. unit when he went to France initially. Unfortunately this research did not uncover which unit that might have been. He later joined the 210th (Leeds) Field Company, probably about March 1916. In addition to the 210th (Leeds) Field Company, the 211th (Leeds) Field Company and the 223rd (Leeds) Field Company also were serving in the 31st Division. Keating may have served in one of these companies for a while before ultimately being transferred to the 210th (Leeds) Field Company.
Family Information
Harold Francis Amboor Keating was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1895. He was the son of Francis Amboor Keating (1853-1929), a merchant, and Constance Mary Keating (1870-1941), née Prell. The Keatings had a daughter, Hilary Madeline Keating (1903-) who also was born in Melbourne. In 1901 the family resided at 15 Rutland Gate in Knightsbridge, London, with six servants: a Domestic Maid, a Cook, a Kitchen Maid, two Housemaids and a Footman. Obviously Francis Keating was a wealthy merchant. The family and servants was reminiscent of the television drama “Upstairs, Downstairs.”
Figure 2. 15 Rutland Gate, Westminster, London (circa
2025).[1]
(Image
courtesy of Google Earth)
Early Life
As a young man Keating was enrolled in the Officer Training Corps (OTC) of the University of Leeds. Most of the University students were members of the Officer Training Corps, to which they were expected to devote 15 hours a week for training. Upon request from the War Office, the University found extra sleeping space and more Refectory meals for them when the OTC increased from 50 to 100 officers.[2]
The OTC switched almost overnight from a lark with an annual camp, “a free holiday”, as one member put it, to deadly serious preparation for the real thing. All university OTCs had to double their numbers pronto as the early weeks of combat laid waste to not only the poor Bloody Infantry of the standing army but to the experienced, professional “officer class.”[3]
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Figure 3. Leeds student OTC members learn to care for their feet during combat. (Image courtesy of Leeds in the First World War) |
Figure 4. Leeds OTC cadets in training on the University campus. (Image courtesy of Leeds in the First World War. |
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3. COMMISSIONING AND TRAINING
Commissioning
Keating was commissioned a temporary 2nd Lieutenant from the Leeds Officer Training Corps on 1 October 1914.[4] Following his commissioning he proceeded to the School of Military Engineering (SME) at Chatham, Kent where he underwent additional training as an engineer officer.
Training
As the war was well underway when Keating was commissioned, he probably attended an accelerated or short court consisting of the study of field fortifications, construction, surveying, telegraphy, electric lighting, photography, chemistry and tactics, before he was posted to his first unit.
4. POSTINGS AND CAMPAIGN SERVICE
2nd Lieutenant Keating went to France on 15 May 1915.[5] As noted in the INTRODUCTION above, the unit to which he was posted is not known, however it is assumed that he joined the 210th (Leeds) Field Company, Royal Engineers with the 31st Division in about March 1916 when the company arrived in Marseilles, France from Egypt.[6] At the time of the company’s arrival in France Major Arthur Butler Clough, R.E. was its Officer Commanding (see Annex A).[7]
After its arrival on the Western Front, the 210th (Leeds) Field Company was involved in many of the major battles of the war. These included the following.[8] Fatal casualties during the time that Keating served in the company are included in chronological order.[9]
1916
· The Battle of Albert (The Somme), 1-13 July 1916.
┼ 83658 Lance Corporal Henry Sherlock, 31 July 1916.
· The Battle of the Ancre, 13-18 November 1916.
Casualties in preparation for the battle:
┼ 83692 Sapper S. Nunns, 25 October 1916.
┼ 83733 Pioneer Arthur Morris, 25 October 1916.
┼ 83631 Lance Corporal William Field, 26 October 1916.
Casualty following the battle:
┼ 83573 Sapper J. Stirk, 30 November 1916.
1917
· The Third Battle of the Scarpe, 3-4 May 1917.
On 28 June 1917 the company was at Oppy[10] and on 1 July Keating was promoted to the rank of temporary Lieutenant.[11]
Figure 5. Lieutenant Harold Francis Amboor Keating,
R.E. (circa 1917).
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War
Museum)
May to November 1917 was the period in which the company suffered the most casualties
┼ 83850 Lance Corporal J. Derrick, 16 May 1917.
┼ 83753 Sapper J. Ewart, 16 May 1917.
┼ 430306 Sapper Charles Richard Grimes, 29 October 1917.
✡︎ 470911 Sapper Israel Levene, 24 November 1917.
┼ 459881 Sapper J. Howe, 25 November 1917.
1918
On 22 February 1918 Major Clough relinquished command of the 210th (Leeds) Field Company.[12]
· The Battle of St. Quentin, 21-23 March 1918.
· The Battle of Bapaume, 24-25 March 1918.
┼ 83669 Sapper J.R. Creighton, 27 March 1918.
┼ 83622 Sapper Henry Fountain, 30 March 1918.
┼ 83839 Sapper Patrick McShee, 31 March 1918.
┼ 83643 Sapper John Birtley Skelton, 5 April 1918.
· The Battle of Estaires, 9-11 April 1918.
┼ 179402 Sapper G.D. Pook, 11 April 1918.
· The Battle of Hazebrouck, 12-15 April 1918, to include the Defence of the Nieppe Forest (12-14 April 1918)[13]
┼ 398770 Sapper Albert Hawtin, 17 April 1918.
┼ 48207 2nd Corporal W. Flint, 18 April 1918.
┼ 60224 Driver H. Humphrey, 31 May 1918.
Lieutenant Harold Francis Keating was killed in action on 28 June 1918 at the age of 23. He was the only officer killed in the company during the war. In addition to Lieutenant Keating, the company lost the following men on 28 June 1918:
┼ 36054 Lance Corporal T. Brown, M.M.
┼ 140427 Sapper George William Faulkner Fallodown.
Lieutenant Keating was buried at Le Grand Hasard Military Cemetery, Morbecque, France, Plot 1, Row A, Grave 5.[14]
Probate of Keating’s Will took place in London on 8 February 1919. His effects, amounting to £1625-10s-4d (about $110,900 US in 2025 currency) were left to his father, Francis Amboor Keating.
5. MEDALS, AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
For his service during the Great War of 1914-1918, Lieutenant Keating was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal, shown left to right in the image below.
Figure 6. The 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and
Victory Medal.
(Image from the author’s collection)
NOTE: The medals shown are not those of Lieutenant Keating. They are presented here for illustrative purposes only.
ANNEX A.
Obituary of Brigadier Arthur Butler Clough, CBE, MC, SGM
REFERENCES:
Civil Documents
1. Census of England, 1901 (RG 13/83).
2. Commonwealth War Graves Commission Memorial.
3. U.K. Probate Calendar, 1919, p. 474.
Family Tree
Ancestry.com: Harold Francis Amboor Keating (by RobertJones1892).
Internet Web Sites
1. Imperial War Museum.
2. Leeds in the First World War.
https://spotlight.leeds.ac.uk/first-world-war-at-leeds/index.html
London Gazette
1. Supplement to the London Gazette, 30 September 1914, p. 7773
2. Supplement to the London Gazette, 26 October 1917, p. 11015.
Military Documents
Medal Index Card.
Periodicals
1. Battle Honours of the Royal Engineers. The Royal Engineers Journal. The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, Kent, 1925-1928.
2. The Royal Engineers Journal, August 1989, pp. 207-209.
Personal Communications
Gase, S. West Drayton, Middlesex, 2004. Movements of Royal Engineer Field Companies during the Great War.
ENDNOTES:
[1] The building shown in Figure 2 may be a new structure at 15 Rutland Gate or it may be a renovated version of the 1901 house in which the Keatings lived.
[2] Leeds in the First World War.
[3] Ibid.
[4] London Gazette, 30 September 1914.
[5] Medal Index Card.
[6] Battle Honours of the Royal Engineers.
[7] The Royal Engineers Journal, August 1989.
[8] Battle Honours of the Royal Engineers.
[9] Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
[10] Gase, S.
[11] London Gazette, 26 October 1917.
[12] Gase, S. His successor is not known.
[13] Gase, S.
[14] Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
