LM 997 Sdt 2e Cl Russell Anthony Kelly, 2 RMLE.
Born in NewYork, USA on 13 June 1893, Russell was a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute at the time of the outbreak of war in Europe. Abandoning his studies, he travelled to France and enlisted in the Foreign Legion at Bordeaux in November 1914. Finding himself at the frontline within weeks of his arrival, he was reported as missing in action near Souchez during the Battle of the Artois on 16 June 1915. Initially, it was thought that he had been taken prisoner but, sadly, this proved to be untrue and he was, therefore listed as killed. Russell has no known grave or memorial (other than on the generic ‘Soldats Americains' memorial in Paris) but, being a prolific letter writer, his memory lived on as these letters were published in 1917 in a book entitled ‘Kelly of the Foreign Legion'.
(For anyone interested, this book is now available for (free) download at http://www.archive.org/details/kellyofforeignle00kell)
16 June 1915
Research by: David O'Mara, Croonaert Research Services.
