an anzac soldier's cricketing skills were put to good use on the battlefields of gallipoli when he picked up turkish bombs and threw them back at the enemy during world war i lance corporal leonard keysor, 30, received a victoria cross for his 48 hour effort that saw him lob live, palm sized iron grenades from the trenches of lone pine to save the lives of his comrades the victoria cross is the highest military honour an australian can receive lcpl keysor even caught some of the bombs in mid air, channel 7's sunday night reported scroll down for video  lance corporal leonard keysor served during world war i in gallipoli and was awarded a victoria cross medal  the 30 year old fought in the trenches at lone pine in anzac cove on the shores of turkey  lcpl keysor signed up just before the start of the war in 1914 as a pilot but instead was sent to the shores of turkey he had moved to sydney after living in canada for 10 years and had been a clerk for most of his life in australia, he discovered cricket and it soon became a passion for the young man anzac war memorial's brad manera said lcpl keysor was an unlikely candidate to become a bomb thrower, but his strong arm soon solidified him as an asset to the australian army 'he's one of those blokes that's obviously got great hand eye coordination he should have been a test cricketer,' mr manera told victoria cross winner ben roberts smith who was hosting the sunday night special to mark the anzac centenary every time lcpl keysor picked up a grenade, he was risking his life to save others as turkish bombs only had an eight second fuse while soldiers were being killed around him lcpl was awarded the vc for his 48 hour effort where he threw live grenades back at the enemy  his grand niece, keira quinn lockyer, said her great uncle was a humble man who did not think he did anything special  'he doesn't know how many seconds, how many fractions of a second he's got before he flings it back,' mr manera told the news program 'it's a remarkable feat of endurance and every time he grabs one of those grenades he's putting his life on the line and he's doing it hundreds of times over a period of 48 hours' not only was he throwing bombs back at the turkish army, lcpl keysor was also shielding the blasts by throwing sandbags on top of them and covering them with his coat his grand niece, keira quinn lockyer, who penned a book about lcpl keysor's life was told it was 'one of the most sustained acts of bravery' during world war i anzac war memorial's brad manera said each time lcpl keysor picked up a turkish bomb he was risking his life  the sunday night special was hosted by victoria cross recipient ben roberts smith who served in afghanistan  a sunday night re enactment shows turkish bombs as palm sized, iron grenades (left), which were then lobbed over trench walls back at the enemy by lcpl keysor (right) 'it wasn't something that was done in the heat of the moment it was something that was sustained for days,' she told sunday night ms lockyer revealed her great uncle was a humble man and referred to his time at gallipoli as the 'only adventure he ever had' 'i'm proud of leonard obviously and leonard made the comment many times that 'i didn't do anything more special than others i was noticed and that was the difference',' she said 'he thought he was no more deserving than any other of the soldiers at lone pine that day'
compassionless world war i misinterment 30 duneland moorhens drays leonard keysor varsities tableaus
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