Keith Forster Graham, born on 25th August 1890, was admitted to King Edward’s School in September 1900. He was the only son of Leslie and Joseph, a theatrical manager, and the family lived at 1, Duchess Road, Edgbaston.
At School, Keith was a member of the Shakespearean and Dramatic Society; in March 1906 he gave a “touching performance” as Quince and Moonshine in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in spite of the handicap of an “inferior stage”, acting alongside another Edwardian who was to die in the war, WL Vince (as Hippolyta). Academically, Keith was a competent member of the Modern School (which offered a curriculum that emphasised scientific rather than classical subjects), showing an aptitude for languages. After School, Keith relocated to Sanderstead in Surrey.
Keith enlisted as a Private Soldier in the 16th London Regiment (Queen’s Westminster Rifles). He was killed at Gommecourt on the Somme on 1st July 1916, having reached the rank of Lance Corporal. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. His medal card shows that nobody applied for Keith’s medals but his Commanding Officer “requested instructions re disposal of medals of dead men”.