Lieutenant-General Sir Alfred Henry Keogh, (3 July 1857 – 30 July 1936) was a medical doctor in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. He served as Director-General Army Medical Services twice; from 1905 to 1910 and 1914 to 1918.

Early life

Keogh was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

on 3 July 1857 to Henry Keogh, a barrister and magistrate of

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who buil ...

. He was educated at

Queen's College, Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

, and Guy's Hospital, London. He received his

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

(MD) degree from the Queen's University of Ireland in 1878. 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 Moorfields Eye Hospital is a specialist NHS eye hospital in Finsbury in the London Borough of Islington in London, England run by Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Together with the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, which is adjacen ...

Military career

On 2 March 1880, Keogh was commissioned into the

Army Medical Services The Army Medical Services (AMS) is the organisation responsible for administering the corps that deliver medical, veterinary, dental and nursing services in the British Army. It is headquartered at the former Staff College, Camberley, near the ...

as a surgeon-captain. His first posting was as a surgeon to the Royal Arsenal,

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

. On 6 March 1892, he was promoted to surgeon-major. With the outbreak of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

in 1899, he was posted to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. He was promoted to

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

on 6 March 1900, and became commander of No. 3 General Hospital near

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. During the war, he served in

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

, the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

, and the

Transvaal Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...

. In January 1902, following his return from the Second Boer War, he was appointed Deputy Director-General of the

. He was promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

on 2 December 1904. On 1 January 1905, he was appointed Director-General Army Medical Services and promoted to lieutenant-general. He retired from the military on 6 March 1910. With the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was reappointed DGAMS on 3 October 1914. He supervised the huge expansion of the Army’s medical services to cope with the war, and was in command of the medical services in the UK. He left the appointment and the military in June 1918.

Later life

He was appointed

Rector of Imperial College London The President of Imperial College London is the highest academic official of Imperial College London. The President, formerly known as the Rector, is the chief executive, elected by the Council of the college and Chairman of the Senate. The positi ...

and served from 1910 to 1922. He died at 10 Warwick Square, London, on 30 July 1936. A

requiem mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

was held at

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. The site on which the cathedral stands in the City o ...

. He was buried in the Marylebone Cemetery, Finchley.

Honours and decorations

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. On 7 May 1903, he was appointed a Knight of Grace of the Venerable Order of Saint John (KStJ). He was promoted to

Knight Commander Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mili ...

of the Order of the Bath in the 1906

King's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are prese ...

. On 24 July 1907, he was appointed Honorary Physician to the King (KHP). He was promoted to

Knight Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

of the Order of the Bath (GCB) on 24 January 1917 'for services rendered in connection with WI. He was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) on 25 February 1918 'for services in connection with the war'. In the 1918 King's Birthday Honours, he was appointed

Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(GCVO). 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, and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour by the President of France. In 1918, he was awarded the Order of the White Eagle, 2nd Class by the King of Serbia. He received the

Queen's South Africa Medal The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...

with four clasps in 1901.

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 Keogh Barracks is a military installation on Mytchett Place Road, Mytchett, Surrey, England. History The barracks were commissioned to accommodate the Army School of Hygiene and are named after Sir Alfred Keogh, a former Director-General of Ar ...

Mytchett Mytchett is a village in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. It is to the east of Farnborough (in Hampshire), the nearest town. Much of the village dates from the first half of the twenti ...

, 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.

References

External links

Military background of Sir Alfred Keogh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keogh, Alfred 1857 births 1936 deaths Medical doctors from Dublin (city) Alumni of the University of Galway Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons Irish surgeons 20th-century Irish medical doctors Royal Army Medical Corps officers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Rectors of Imperial College London Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Knights of Grace of the Order of St John Grand Officers of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur 20th-century surgeons