Australian Dictionary of Biography

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Life Summary

Name	Sir Alexander George William Keys
Born	2 February, 1923 Lidcombe, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died	3 May, 2000 (aged 77) Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Cause of Death	mesothelioma
Related Entries	[View as tree] Hall, William Henry (colleague) Yeo, William (employer)
Education *	Ando Public School (NSW) (student, 1928-1934) Hurlstone Agricultural High School (Sydney) (student, 1935-1940) Royal Military College (ACT) (student, 1942)
Occupation or Descriptor *	soldier (1941-1942) Federal, Australia army officer (1942-1946) Federal, Australia grazier (unspecified) (1946-1950) New South Wales, Australia army officer (1950-1951) Federal, Australia grazier (unspecified) (1951-1961) New South Wales, Australia ex-service leader (1961-1988) Federal, Australia
Military Service *	Korean War (army officer, 1950-1951) 7th Light Horse Regiment (soldier, 1941-1942) 2/3rd Australian Pioneer Battalion (soldier, 1942-1946) 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (soldier, 1950-1951)
Awards	Military Cross (recipient, 1951) Nuffield Fellowship (recipient, 1956) Churchill Fellowship (recipient, 1969) Officer of the Order of the British Empire (recipient, 1970) Knight Bachelor (recipient, 1980) Companion of the Order of Australia (recipient, 1988)
Key Events *	World War II (army officer, 1941-1945) Borneo Campaign (1945) (army officer, 1945)
Key Organisations *	Allied Mining and Processing (board member) Australian War Memorial Council (member) FAI Insurance (board member) Korea Veterans’ Association of Australia (member) Royal Military College (ACT) (council member) Royal Military College (ACT) (council member) Ultralight Group (board member) RSL (NSW) (member, 1944-1961) RSL (NSW) (council member, 1947-1949) International Federation of the Korean War Veterans’ Associations (president, 1995)
Political Activism *	Liberal Party (NSW) (member and candidate, 1949-1951)
Workplaces *	Returned and Services League of Australia (Federal) (secretary, 1961-1978) Returned and Services League of Australia (Federal) (president, 1978-1988)

* Dates are approximate