Daniel Alan Keighran
Corporal, D Company, 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR), Mentoring Task Force 1
VC
Living holder
- Award
- Victoria Cross for Australia
- Rank
- Corporal all Corporals →
- Unit
- D Company, 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR), Mentoring Task Force 1 all D Company, 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR), Mentoring Task Force 1 VCs →
- Date of action
- 24 August 2010, Battle of Derapet, Tangi Valley, Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan on this day → all of 2010 →
- Conflict / campaign
- War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) (War in Afghanistan (Operation Slipper))
- London Gazette
- 1 November 2012 on this day → all of 2012 →
- Born
- 18 June 1983 at Nambour, Queensland, Australia
- Status
- Living holder of the Victoria Cross all living VCs →
- Medal held by
- Was on loan to the Australian War Memorial Hall of Valour. Keighran decided in 2024 to sell his medal group; it was offered by Noble Numismatics, Sydney, on 26 November 2024 (estimate A$1.25m) and was passed in unsold. Current custody not confirmed.
- Investiture
- 1 November 2012, Government House, Canberra, by Governor-General Quentin Bryce
Summary of the action
On 24 August 2010 Keighran's company was in a three-hour firefight with an insurgent force near Derapet. To locate enemy firing positions and direct his comrades' fire, he repeatedly ran along an exposed ridgeline under heavy machine-gun fire, each time drawing fire onto himself. When Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney was mortally wounded, Keighran again deliberately exposed himself to pull fire away from the team treating and evacuating him. His actions let the force regain fire superiority and withdraw without further casualties.
A summary in our own words; the official citation can be read in The London Gazette (link below).
Awarded after Alf's death. This entry was compiled by his family in 2026 from public sources so that the register remains complete. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, juleswings.com
Places connected with Keighran
Research this recipient further
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