Alfred Keogh

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox military person Lieutenant-General Sir Alfred Henry Keogh, Template:Postnominals (3 July 1857 – 30 July 1936) was an Irish medical doctor in the British Army. He served as Director-General Army Medical Services twice; from 1905 to 1910 and 1914 to 1918.<ref name="Oxfrod DNB" >Template:Cite ODNB</ref>

Early life

Keogh was born in Dublin on 3 July 1857 to Henry Keogh, a barrister and magistrate of Roscommon.<ref name="bio - RCSEng">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was educated at Queen's College, Galway, and Guy's Hospital, London.<ref name="bio - Munks Roll">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He received his Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the Queen's University of Ireland in 1878.<ref name="Oxfrod DNB" />

Upon graduation, he moved to London to undertake his house officer placements. He served as a house physician at the Brompton Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, and as a clinical assistant at the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital.<ref name="bio - RCSEng" />

Military career

On 2 March 1880, Keogh was commissioned into the Army Medical Services as a surgeon-captain.<ref name="bio - RCSEng" /> His first posting was as a surgeon to the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich.<ref name="Oxfrod DNB" /> On 6 March 1892, he was promoted to surgeon-major.<ref name="LG 22 March 1892">Template:London Gazette</ref><ref name="bio - RCSEng" /> With the outbreak of the Second Boer War in 1899, he was posted to South Africa.<ref name="bio - Munks Roll" /> He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 6 March 1900,<ref name="LG 6 April 1900">Template:London Gazette</ref> and became commander of No. 3 General Hospital near Cape Town.<ref name="Oxfrod DNB" /> During the war, he served in Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal Republic.<ref name="bio - RCSEng" />

In January 1902, following his return from the Second Boer War, he was appointed Deputy Director-General of the Army Medical Services.<ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref><ref name="obit - The Tablet">Template:Cite news</ref> He was promoted to colonel on 2 December 1904.<ref name="bio - RCSEng" /> On 1 January 1905, he was appointed Director-General Army Medical Services and promoted to lieutenant-general.<ref name="bio - RCSEng" /> He led the reform of the Army Medical Services in response to the Haldane reforms of the Territorial Forces in 1907; this included the introduction of the Territorial Force Nursing Service.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He retired from the military on 6 March 1910.<ref name="LG 8 March 1910">Template:London Gazette</ref>

With the outbreak of the First World War, he was reappointed DGAMS on 3 October 1914.<ref name="LG 16 November 1915">Template:London Gazette</ref> He supervised the huge expansion of the Army’s medical services to cope with the war,<ref name="bio - Munks Roll" /> and was in command of the medical services in the UK.<ref name="bio - RCSEng" /> He left the appointment and the military in June 1918.<ref name="Oxfrod DNB" />

Later life

He was appointed Rector of Imperial College London and served from 1910 to 1922.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

He died at 10 Warwick Square, London, on 30 July 1936.<ref name="bio - RCSEng" /> A requiem mass was held at Westminster Cathedral.<ref name="obit - The Tablet" /> He was buried in the Marylebone Cemetery, Finchley.<ref name="bio - RCSEng" />

Honours and decorations

File:Alfred Henry Keogh c1919.jpg

Sir Alfred Henry Keogh, c. 1919

On 29 November 1900, he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in recognition of services in the campaign in South Africa, 1899 to 1900.<ref name="LG 19 April 1901">Template:London Gazette</ref> On 7 May 1903, he was appointed a Knight of Grace of the Venerable Order of Saint John (KStJ).<ref name="LG 8 May 1903">Template:London Gazette</ref> He was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1906 King's Birthday Honours.<ref name="LG 26 June 1906">Template:London Gazette</ref> On 24 July 1907, he was appointed Honorary Physician to the King (KHP).<ref name="LG 23 August 1907">Template:London Gazette</ref> He was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) on 24 January 1917 'for services rendered in connection with [WWI]'.<ref name="LG 23 January 1917">Template:London Gazette</ref> He was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) on 25 February 1918 'for services in connection with the war'.<ref name="LG 1 March 1918">Template:London Gazette</ref> In the 1918 King's Birthday Honours, he was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO).<ref name="LG 31 May 1918">Template:London Gazette</ref>

He was a recipient of a number of foreign honours. In 1917, he was appointed Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown by the King of the Belgians,<ref name="LG 21 September 1917">Template:London Gazette</ref> and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour by the President of France.<ref name="LG 25 September 1917">Template:London Gazette</ref> In 1918, he was awarded the Order of the White Eagle, 2nd Class by the King of Serbia.<ref name="LG 6 September 1918">Template:London Gazette</ref>

He received the Queen's South Africa Medal with four clasps in 1901.<ref name="bio - RCSEng" />

Legacy

• The Keogh Platoon is named in honour of Sir Alfred Keogh, who is enshrined in the history of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC).
• The Keogh Barracks at Mytchett, Surrey, was also named in Sir Alfred Keogh's memory.
• Keogh Hall, a hall of residence at Imperial College, London, is named in his honour.<ref name="Imperial College London">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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External links

• Military background of Sir Alfred Keogh