Edward Kellett (Conservative politician)

The Honourable

Edward Orlando Kellett

DSO MP
Born19 May 1902
Ireland
Died22 March 1943 (aged 40)
Tunisia
Buried
Sfax War Cemetery, Tunisia
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service / branch British Army
RankColonel
Service number26078
UnitRoyal Armoured Corps
Battles / warsWorld War II
Awards

Colonel Edward Orlando Kellett DSO (19 May 1902 – 22 March 1943) was an English Member of Parliament and British Army officer who was killed in action during the fighting in Tunisia during the Second World War.

The son of Major-General Richard Orlando Kellett,[1] Kellett graduated from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Irish Guards on 1 February 1923.[2] In 1928 he was confirmed as a lieutenant in the reserves.[3] On 1 March 1930 he transferred to the Territorial Army (TA) as a lieutenant in the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry.[4][5] By 1939 he was a major and in May 1939 was elected as Member of Parliament for Birmingham Aston.[6] He was also a big game hunter.[1]

The Second World War saw him fighting in Tunisia as a colonel of the Royal Armoured Corps. Kellett is prominently featured in Keith Douglas' memoir 'Alamein to Zem Zem', where he is referred to under the pseudonym 'Piccadilly Jim'. Kellett was killed in action by a shell which hit his tank during the fighting in North Africa. He is buried in Section XIII, Row A, Grave 12 at Sfax War Cemetery.[7]

  1. ^ a b "LIEUT. COL. KELLETT IS KILLED IN ACTION; Member of Parliament Was With 8th Army in Africa". The New York Times. 8 April 1943. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  2. ^ London Gazette 32792 Archived 16 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ London Gazette 33444 Archived 16 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ London Gazette 33584 Archived 16 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Person Page – 22001; Lt.-Col. Edward Orlando Kellett". The Peerage. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  6. ^ London Gazette 34628 Archived 16 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ CWGC entry.