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{{short description|English cricketer and British Army officer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
|name =Reginald Charles Keller
|image=
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption=
|nickname=
|birth_date = 5 August 1894
|birth_place = [[Fareham]], Hampshire, England
|death_date = 30 October 1986 (aged 92)
|death_place = [[Ballylickey]], [[Munster]], Ireland
|burial_place=
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= [[British Army]]
|service_years= 1914–1948
|service_number= 15767
|rank= [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|Brigadier]]
|unit= [[Royal Hampshire Regiment|Hampshire Regiment]]<br>[[Machine Gun Corps]]<br>[[Royal Tank Regiment|Tanks Corps]]
|commands= [[3rd Royal Tank Regiment]]
|battles= [[First World War]]<br>[[Second World War]]
|awards=
|relations=
|other_work=
}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| name =
| image =
| country =
| fullname =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nickname =
| family =
| batting = Unknown
| bowling = Unknown
| role =
| club1 = [[Europeans cricket team|Europeans (India)]]
| year1 = 1928/29–1929/30
| club2 = [[Dorset County Cricket Club|Dorset]]
| year2 = 1926–1928
| columns = 1
| column1 = [[First-class cricket|First-class]]
| matches1 = 3
| runs1 = 47
| bat avg1 = 11.75
| 100s/50s1 = –/–
| top score1 = 25
| deliveries1 = 348
| wickets1 = 9
| bowl avg1 = 19.11
| fivefor1 = 1
| tenfor1 = –
| best bowling1 = 5/50
| catches/stumpings1 = 1/–
| date = 5 October
| year = 2018
| source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/30252.html Cricinfo
}}
[[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|Brigadier]] '''Reginald Charles Keller''' (5 August 1894 – 30 October 1986) was an English first-class [[cricket]]er and [[British Army]] officer.

==Early life and First World War==
The son of Charles Keller, he was born at [[Fareham]], Hampshire.<ref name="PEER">{{cite web|url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p62393.htm#i623922 |title=Profile: Reginald Charles Keller |publisher=thepeerage.com |accessdate=5 October 2018}}</ref> Keller was educated at [[Radley College]], entering in 1909.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.radleyarchives.co.uk/people/2350-reginald-charles-keller-1909-1909 |title=Reginald Charles Keller (1909) |publisher=Radley College |accessdate=5 October 2018}}</ref> He served in the British Army during [[World War I]], enlisting in September 1914 as a [[second lieutenant]] in the [[Royal Hampshire Regiment|Hampshire Regiment]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=28886|date=1 September 1941 |page=6911}}</ref> In April 1917, he was promoted to the rank of [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30022|date=17 April 1917 |page=3611}}</ref> He served the latter part of the war in the [[Machine Gun Corps]],<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30511|date=6 February 1918 |page=1718 |supplement=y}}</ref> and remained in the corps after its conclusion.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31835|date=24 March 1920 |page=3621 |supplement=y}}</ref>

==Cricket, WWII and later life==
He joined the [[Royal Tank Regiment|Tanks Corps]] (later the Royal Tank Regiment) in April 1921, by this point holding the rank of [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32758|date=24 October 1922 |page=7461 |supplement=y}}</ref> He married Maureen Standish Harrison in March 1922, with the couple having a daughter in 1926.<ref name="PEER"/> He made his debut in [[Minor counties of English and Welsh cricket|minor counties cricket]] for [[Dorset County Cricket Club|Dorset]] in 1926, with Keller playing in the [[Minor Counties Championship]] six times from 1926–1928.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/13/13815/Minor_Counties_Championship_Matches.html |title=Minor Counties Championship Matches played by Reginald Keller |publisher=CricketArchive |accessdate=5 October 2018}}</ref> Having fulfilled the role of Assistant Instructor at the Tank Gun School, Keller relinquished this position in January 1929.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33462|date=1 February 1929 |page=770}}</ref>

While serving in [[British Raj|British India]], Keller made his debut in [[first-class cricket]] for the [[Europeans cricket team|Europeans]] against the [[Muslims cricket team|Muslims]] at [[Bagh-e-Jinnah, Lahore#Cricket ground|Lahore]] in March 1929.<ref name="FCM">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/13/13815/First-Class_Matches.html |title=First-Class Matches played by Reginald Keller |publisher=CricketArchive |accessdate=5 October 2018}}</ref> He played two further first-class matches in 1930, playing for the Europeans against the Muslim, and for a [[Punjab Governor's XI cricket team|Punjab Governor's XI]] against the Muslims.<ref name="FCM"/> In the 1930 Europeans v Muslims match, Keller took his career best bowling figures, taking [[five wicket haul|5/50 from 21 overs]].<ref name="BOOK">{{cite book|last=McCrery|first=Nigel|title=The Coming Storm: Test and First-Class Cricketers Killed in World War Two|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RYQwDwAAQBAJ&q=Richard+Geoffrey+Tindall&pg=PA87|date=30 November 2017|publisher=[[Pen and Sword]]|isbn=9781526706980}}</ref> He became a [[Major (British Army and Royal Marines)|major]] in April 1935.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34153|date=23 April 1935 |page=2739}}</ref>

Weeks into [[World War II]], Keller was promoted to [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]] in October 1939.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34728|date=7 November 1939 |page=7599 |supplement=y}}</ref> In May 1940 he commanded [[3rd Royal Tank Regiment]] during the defence of Calais in support of the [[Dunkirk evacuation]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Buckton|first=Henry|title=Cover art Retreat: Dunkirk and the Evacuation of Western Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p5ckDwAAQBAJ&q=brigadier+reginald+keller&pg=PT125|date=15 May 2017|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=9781445664835|page=125}}</ref> and later commanded tanks in North Africa.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.generals.dk/general/Keller/Reginald_Charles/Great_Britain.html |title=Keller, Reginald Charles |publisher=generals.dk |accessdate=5 October 2018}}</ref>

He retired from active service in March 1948, after a military career spanning almost thirty-four years, at which time he was granted the honorary rank of [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|brigadier]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=38245|date=23 March 1948 |page=2063 |supplement=y}}</ref> He later moved to Ireland, where he lived out his final years at [[Ballylickey]] in County Cork,<ref name="PEER"/> passing away there in October 1986, at the age of 92.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cricinfo|id=30252}}
*[https://generals.dk/general/Keller/Reginald_Charles/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Reginald}}
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1986 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Fareham]]
[[Category:People educated at Radley College]]
[[Category:British Army brigadiers of World War II]]
[[Category:Royal Hampshire Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Machine Gun Corps officers]]
[[Category:Royal Tank Regiment officers]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:Dorset cricketers]]
[[Category:Europeans cricketers]]
[[Category:English expatriates in Ireland]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Hampshire]]
[[Category:Cricketers from Hampshire]]
[[Category:20th-century English sportsmen]]

Reginald Keller - Revision history

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