Joseph Thomas Keable, VC, MM (5 May 1892 – 9 June 1918) was a Canadian soldier during the First World War. Keable was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was the first French Canadian soldier to be decorated with the VC and Military Medal. Mostly wrongly spelled Kaeble in English, his actual name at baptism was Keable. His name is also oddly spelled Kable in a page of the 1911 Census of Canada.

Biography

He was born on 5 May 1892 in Saint-Moïse, Quebec. He joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in March 1916. Kaeble was a corporal in the 22e Battalion (Canadien Francais), CEF. On 8 June 1918 at Neuville-Vitasse, France, Kaeble performed an act of bravery for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He died whilst doing so.

Citation

"For most conspicuous bravery and extraordinary devotion to duty when in charge of a Lewis gun section in the front line trenches, in which a strong enemy raid was attempted. During an intense bombardment Corporal Kaeble remained at the parapet with his Lewis gun shouldered ready for action, the field of fire being very short. As soon as the barrage lifted from the front line, about fifty of the enemy advanced towards his post. By this time the whole of his section except one had become casualties. Corporal Kaeble jumped over the parapet, and holding his Lewis gun at the hip, emptied one magazine after another into the advancing enemy, and although wounded several times by fragments of shells and bombs, he continued to fire and entirely blocked the enemy by his determined stand. Finally, firing all the time, he fell backwards into the trench mortally wounded. While lying on his back in the trench he fired his last cartridges over the parapet at the retreating Germans, and before losing consciousness shouted to the wounded about him: "Keep it up, boys; do not let them get through! We must stop them !" The complete repulse of the enemy attack at this point was due to the remarkable personal bravery and self-sacrifice of this gallant non-commissioned officer, who died of his wounds shortly afterwards."

• London Gazette, Supplement No. 30903, dated 16 September 1918

Burial and legacy

He was buried in the local cemetery in Wanquetin, some seven miles west of Arras (Wanquetin Communal Cemetery: Plot II. Row A. Grave 8. Headstone). At CFB Valcartier, honours to Keable include Mount Keable, just east of Camp Vimy; a street on the base; and the Keable Club, the privates' and corporals' mess. On 10 February 2011, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced that the nine new vessels in a new class of midshore patrol vessels would be named the Hero-class patrol vessels. The second of the new vessels was named CCGS Caporal Keable V.C., and was presented to the Coast Guard on 13 November 2012.