Keith Coster

{{Short description|Rhodesian Army general}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}

{{Use South African English|date=June 2019}}

{{Infobox military person

| honorific_prefix = Lieutenant General

| name = Keith Robert Coster

| honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=ZAR|ID|OBE|SSAS|ESM}}

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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1920|04|19|df=yes}}

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2012|06|05|1920|04|19|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Eshowe, Natal, Union of South Africa

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| allegiance = {{flag|South Africa|1928}}
{{flag|Rhodesia}}

| branch = {{army|South Africa|1961}}
{{army|Rhodesia}}

| serviceyears = 1937{{ndash}}1985

| rank = Lieutenant General

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| awards = {{MilAward Stack|ID |OBE |SSAS |ESM|size=x12px}}

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| spouse = {{Married|Molly Stanley|1941|reason=died}} {{Married|Millie Aherin|1995}}

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Lieutenant General Keith Robert Coster (19 April 1920{{snd}}5 June 2012) was a South African army officer who rose to command the Rhodesian Army from 1968 to 1972.

Coster was born on 19 April 1920 in Eshowe, Natal, Union of South Africa.{{cite web|url=https://www.myheritage.com/names/margery_coster|title=Mary Coster Search|website=myheritage.com|access-date=2 February 2023 }}{{Better source needed|date=February 2023}} He was educated at Maritzburg College,{{cite web | url=http://www.maritzburgcollege.org.za/mcob/military?showall=&start=3 | title=Military old boys | access-date=18 June 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055140/http://www.maritzburgcollege.org.za/mcob/military?showall=&start=3 | archive-date=4 March 2016 | url-status=dead }} in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. After his matriculation at the school in 1936, he enlisted in the Special Service Battalion of the Union Defence Force (UDF) (of South Africa), and was commissioned into the South African Air Force (SAAF) on 6 September 1939. While flying a Mohawk V with 5 Squadron SAAF, he was shot down over North Africa by a Luftwaffe fighter plane, a Bf 109, on 11 July 1942 and was a prisoner of war {{Cite book|title=Nongqai Vol 8 No 8|url=https://issuu.com/hennieheymans/docs/nongqai_vol_8_no_8|page=51|chapter=Part II: Shot Down and POW in Italy|journal=Nongqai|volume=8|issue=8|first1=Hennie|last1=Heymans|date=25 July 2017 |access-date=2 February 2023|via=Issuu|language=en}} until 4 May 1945.{{Cite web|title=Lt Gen K.R. Coster: A Life in Uniform|url=http://rhodesiansoldier.com/lt-gen-k.r.-coster--a-life-in-uniform.html|access-date=2021-07-20|website=The Rhodesian Soldier|language=en}} He was sent to Stalag Luft 111 in 1942 where he was reunited with his old friend Roger Bushell (Big X) just before the camp was liberated in 1945 he helped his neighbour in the next bed Paul Brickhill to successfully hide his manuscript of The Great Escape by wrapping it round his forearm and covering it with plaster of paris.