FAMILY KEEP S LEGACY ALIVE

PHOTOGRAPHS and sporting memorabilia that belonged to a Townsville veteran have been donated to preserve his history.

Keith Norton died earlier this year in January, and was a national cycling champion before he enlisted into the Royal Australian Air Force in 1943 to serve in World War II.

His oral and photographic history was given to the James Cook University Library, with his trophies housed by the Townsville Museum and Historical Society.

Keith’s 86- year- old sister Val Mathiesen described him as a “larrikin” and said he used to call her every day for a chat.

Military historian Jane Ryder said Keith was “passionate and a really good storyteller”.

“He did all the talking and I just had to listen which was really nice,” she said.

“He had an exceptional memory, enough that he could tell me dates and names and they would be exactly what I would look up in a newspaper later and I would find reports, a level of accuracy for his age was really important.”

RSL Rollingstone president Ewan Cameron said the histories of ex- personnel needed to be recorded.

“When we decided to do an oral history of Keith and digitise it, we actually said this can used in a wider capacity … when JCU saw the potential and were immediately interested,” he said. “I think this is the greatest way we can demonstrate the activities that were around servicemen.”