World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseRodney Frederick Leopold Keller was born in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom. He entered the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and joined the Princess Patricia's Light Infantry Regiment of the Canadian Permanent Force. He attended Camberley Staff College in England. In WW2, he was given the war time rank of brigade major and was sent to England, where he served as a staff officer with the 1st Canadian Division. He was given command of the Prince Patricia's Light Infantry in 1941, and later the commanding officer of the 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade. Between 8 Sep 1942 and 8 Aug 1944, he was the commanding officer of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division at the rank of major general. During the Normandy invasion, he was among the troops charging onto the invasion beaches. On 8 Aug, he was wounded by friendly fire as American bombers mistakenly dropped bombs on Canadian troops during Operation Tractable. He was relieved of his command due to his wounds, but he was never given further responsibilities because of his heavy drinking habits, which at least at one occasion leaked military intelligence. He retired from military service in 1946 and passed away in 1954 during a trip visiting Normandy, France.

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Rodney Keller Timeline