Friends kick off a special tribute for ‘Army Tom’
Football event raises £500 for charity in memory of Tom Keogh, killed in Afghanistan
Published: 15 April 2010
by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS
HE was known by friends in Camden Town simply as “Army Tom”, a fitness instructor who made the ultimate sacrifice on the frontline in Afganistan.
And when Tom Keogh was killed, while defending a new British base in Sangin, his parents were devastated at the loss of a son who could “bring laughter to any room”.
On Friday night, friends, overwhelmed by memories of Tom’s generosity and his bravery in uniform, organised a football tournament in his name to raise money for the Help For Heroes charity.
Close friend Terry King said: “Normally you can tell a soldier by the way they walk and talk on Civvy Street. His army mates said he was more like a geezer off Camden Market.”
Tom lived in Camden Road, Camden Town, having grown up in Paddington.
He was a regular at Koko nightclub in Mornington Crescent, where he headed with his friends most Friday nights, and was a familiar face in Hyde Park, where he would encourage people to get in shape as a British Military Fitness instructor.
To his regiment, Tom was known as Lance Corporal Tom Keogh, the A Company 4 Rifles’ top student and “one of the very best soldiers in the battalion”, according to its commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Jones.
On March 7, while fighting off an “enemy attack” in Helmand province, Tom died from a gunshot wound.
Lt Jones said: “It is sometimes tempting to get carried away in extolling the virtues of the fallen, but with Lance Corporal Tom Keogh there is no danger of drifting towards exaggeration. He was quite simply one of the very best soldiers in the battalion and proves yet again the sad adage that it is the best that die young.”
Describing him as “one of the real stars” of the Reconnaissance Platoon and a “natural soldier”, Lt Jones added: “He was always there for those less capable and experienced than him. The younger lads were drawn to him by his example and kindness. He was a genuine role model to them and they aspired to his standards.”
Tom’s parents, Lawrence and Marion Keogh, paid tribute to their son as someone who “brought laughter and happiness to our home and all who knew him”.
The Army Tom’s Cup raised £500 for Help For Heroes, the charity that supports returning soldiers and their families.
They remembered his dedication to the team, describing how he would rush home from training every Friday to join them at the Somers Town sports club in Chalton Street, before a group of them would head out to nearby pub The Crescent and often end their evening in Koko.
Friend Haydn Higgs, from Somers Town, said: “He was my best mate. It still feels like he’s going to come home.
“He was a top fella and everyone you meet says he was the most generous funny and outspoken person.”
They plan to send his parents a memory book, filled with friends’ anecdotes about him, along with a signed T-shirt of his favourite team, Queens Park Rangers, and a framed picture drawn by one of his friends in memory of him.
Fundraising Help for Heroes jars have been placed in some of his favourite bars and pubs around Camden Town and King’s Cross in his memory.