John
Firstname
Robinson
Middle Name
Keen
Surname
Date of Birth
School Years:
Date of Death:
1929 - 35
Family
Mystery surrounds John's parentage. He was fostered at an early age by Mrs Emily Bye, 656 Woodbridge Road. Mrs Bye had 2 children herself, Doris and Gordon. He attended St John's Primary School, Cauldwell Hall Road, Ipswich.
School Record
John was awarded a scholarship at the age of 10 to enter the school. He was awarded a Divinity prize (1933) He enjoyed sport and gained caps in Rugby (2nd XV colours 1933) and Cricket (X1 colours 1934) Hockey (2nd colours 1935 and 2nd string colours 1934). He was a day boy in Holden House and House Prefect (1935) before leaving prior to the end of term. John was also a member of the school OTC.
After leaving school he attended Loughborough College, then part of the Cooperative training for business management and was then employed with the Cooperative Society.
Branch of Service:
67th Medium Regiment R.A.
Service Number:
953119
Rank:
Decorations:
Service Record
Lance Bombardier
Post War Career
John enlisted in the 67th Medium Artillery Regiment on 12th December 1939. After training in the UK, he was posted to the Middle East leaving the UK on 29th July 1941. He fought with his Regiment against Rommel in what is now Libya, before being captured in Tobruk on 19th June 1942. As a POW he was taken by the Italians to Benghazi before being shipped to POW camps in Italy. He ended up in camp PG70 at Monturano near to Fermo on the east coast. When the Italians capitulated in September 1943 he escaped for about a month before being recaptured by the Germans and taken by cattle rail truck to POW camp Stalag 1VB at Muhlberg in Germany. Later he was moved to a sub camp near to Goring’s Treibstoff-Werk (Fuel Works) processing oil from coal. In April 1945, the Germans abandoned the camp fearing the arrival of the Russian Army. John Keen decided to leave the camp before they arrived and started walking west, under constant threat from guns and bombing but eventually found American troops. He was then sent to an American hospital in Paris for treatment. He finally arrived back in the UK on 8th May 1945, the day the War ended.
After the War he married Dorothy Jean Carter, with whom he had been engaged for the previous 6 years, at St John’s Congregational Church on 9th June 1945. They had one son, David. John finished his Business Management Studies at Loughbough College and worked for the Cooperative Society in Ipswich and Sudbury, retiring in 1983. He died suddenly on 4th November 2000.
Burial Information
Additional Information
Other Pictures
Training at POW High Wycombe early 1940 (John loading 3rd from right)
Egypt 1941 (John 1st from right)
Italy POW camp PG70
1942-3 (John 2nd from right, second row)
