Keith Elliott: “Great Personal Courage and Leadership” at Ruweisat Ridge

Elliott’s Early Years

Keith Elliott was born auspiciously on Anzac Day, 25 April 1916, in Āpiti, north-east of Feilding in the Manawatu. Elliott attended Feilding Agricultural College, and after he left school, he farmed at Mangamaire and played provincial rugby for the rugged Wairarapa Bush.

WWII began while he was working on his father’s farm, and he immediately joined the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. He departed New Zealand for England in May 1940, before heading to the Middle East with 22nd Battalion. Elliott saw his first taste of action in Greece and Crete, and it was during the German airborne invasion that he was wounded in the arm while stalking German paratroopers.

After the evacuation of Crete, and after some much needed rest, Elliott found himself in the action of the Western Desert. By this time, he had reached the rank of Sergeant. Late in 1941, during the early fighting in the desert, Elliott was briefly a prisoner of war after 5th Brigade headquarters were overrun. However, he was later freed and was able to fight again.

VC at Ruweisat Ridge

Elliott’s Victoria Cross was awarded for his efforts during the First Battle of El Alamein at Ruweisat Ridge on 15 July 1942. Surrounded by the enemy and under heavy fire, Elliott led his men on a successful breakout, before leading a bayonet charge across almost 500 metres of open ground, took out multiple machine gun posts, captured an anti-tank gun and 130 prisoners, despite being wounded in the chest, back, thigh, and knee. His citation reads:

“At Ruweisat at dawn on the 15th July, 1942, the Battalion to which Sergeant Elliott belonged was attacked on three flanks by tanks. Under heavy tank, machine-gun and shell fire, Sergeant Elliott led the platoon he was commanding to the cover of a ridge 300 yards away, during which he sustained a chest wound. Here he reformed his men and led them to a dominating ridge a further 500 yards away where they came under heavy enemy machine-gun and mortar fire. He located enemy machine-gun posts on his front and right flank and while one section attacked on the right flank, Sergeant Elliott led seven men in a bayonet charge across 500 yards of open ground in the face of heavy fire and captured four enemy machine-gun posts and an anti-tank gun, killing a number of the enemy and taking fifty prisoners. His section then came under fire from a machine-gun post on his left flank. He immediately charged this post single handed and succeeded in capturing it, killing several of the enemy and taking fifteen prisoners. During these two assaults he sustained three more wounds in the back and legs. Although badly wounded in four places Sergeant Elliott refused to leave his men until he had reformed them, handed over his prisoners which were now increased to 130 and had arranged for his men to rejoin their Battalion. Owing to Sergeant Elliott’s quick grasp of the situation, great personal courage and leadership, nineteen men who were the only survivors of “B” Company of his Battalion captured and destroyed five machine-guns, one anti-tank gun, killed a great number of the enemy and captured 130 prisoners. Sergeant Elliott sustained only one casualty among his men and brought him back to the nearest advanced dressing station.”

Elliott received a field commission in May 1943, and, despite his protests, was returned to New Zealand not long after as part of a campaign to boost morale. He was later discharged in December 1943. 

From Soldier to Reverend

Elliott married Margaret Markham in February 1944, once again taking up farming before being ordained a minister in the Anglican Church in 1947. He was a Territorial Force chaplain and served as a Vicar in a number of parishes including Pongaroa, Pohangina, Ashhurst, and Bunnythorpe. He worked for many years in the Maori Mission, before moving to Wellington to work as the Assistant City Missioner and later as the Welfare Officer for the Fire Service.

After a lifetime of service to both the military and the Church, Elliott died in Wellington on 17 October 1989, aged 73. He is buried at the Paraparaumu Cemetery. He is also commemorated at Linton Military Camp, where the sports and community complex is known as the Elliott VC Club.

We are very proud to have Keith Elliott’s medals on display at the National Army Museum Te Mata Toa. If you wish to see them, they are in the Valour Alcove in our Medal Repository.