Geoffrey Keyes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname | "Geoff"[1] |
| Born | (1888-10-30)October 30, 1888 Fort Bayard, New Mexico, U.S. |
| Died | September 17, 1967(1967-09-17) (aged 78) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Service years | 1913–1950 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant General |
| Service number | 0-3561 |
| Unit |  Cavalry Branch |
| Commands | Third United States Army Seventh United States Army II Corps I Armored Corps 9th Armored Division |
| Conflicts | Pancho Villa Expedition World War I World War II |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Cross Army Distinguished Service Medal (3) Silver Star (2) Legion of Merit Bronze Star Medal |
Geoffrey Keyes (October 30, 1888 – September 17, 1967) was a highly decorated seniorUnited States Armyofficer who served with distinction inSicily andItaly duringWorld War II.
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Keyes was born on October 30, 1888, inFort Bayard, New Mexico, the son of Captain Alexander S. B. Keyes, aUnited States Army officer, and his wife, Virginia Maxwell Keyes. Like his father, Geoffrey enrolled as a cadet at theUnited States Military Academy (USMA) atWest Point, New York, on March 2, 1908, and graduated, 38 in a class of 93, on June 12, 1913, beingcommissioned as asecond lieutenant, into theCavalry Branch of the United States Army. His first assignment was with the6th Cavalry Regiment, where he served until October 1916 and participated in thePancho Villa Expedition.
Keyes' next assignment was at the USMA, where he served as an instructor ofFrench language. He was also head football coach for one season in 1917, compiling a record of 7–1.
Keyes'interwar service included duty with thePanama Canal Division as an Assistant Chief of Staff (G-3), instructor at the USMA and theUnited States Army Cavalry School atFort Riley, Kansas, and Chief of Supply of Supply Division withinWar Department. He attended theUnited States Army Command and General Staff School from August 1925 until June 1926[2] and theUnited States Army War College, which he attended from 1936 to 1937. His classmates there includedMatthew Ridgway,Mark W. Clark,Edward H. Brooks, andWalter Bedell Smith, all of whom would rise to high rank in the years to follow.
In 1940, duringWorld War II, Keyes waschief of staff of the2nd Armored Division, which was then commanded by Major GeneralGeorge S. Patton who, like Keyes, was a fellow cavalryman who had served with distinction in World War I and had taken a significant interest inarmored warfare. Patton was to think highly of Keyes, later stating that he "had the best tactical mind of any officer I know."
In January 1942, a month after theJapaneseattack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the subsequentGermandeclaration of war on the United States, on December 11, Keyes, promoted to theone-stargeneral officer rank ofbrigadier general on January 15,[3] assumed command ofCombat Command 'B' (CCB) of the3rd Armored Division. In July, now atwo-star major general (having been promoted on June 22),[3] he raised the9th Armored Division and, in September, relinquished command of the division to Major GeneralJohn W. Leonard, before going to North Africa as Deputy Commander of theI Armored Corps, commanded by Patton, which was later redesignated theSeventh United States Army for theAllied invasion of Sicily.
Keyes was originally serving as deputy commander of the Seventh Army during the campaign, once again serving under Patton, in July 1943. During Operation Husky, when Patton split the Seventh Army in half, Keyes was given command of the Provisional Corps, composed of the2nd Armored Division, the3rd Infantry Division and the82nd Airborne Division, along with twoUnited States Army Ranger battalions, and supporting units. Advancing 125 miles in five days, through difficult mountainous terrain, the corps captured most of Western Sicily, includingPalermo, the Sicilian capital, along with some 53,000Axis soldiers, mainly Italians, along with nearly 600 vehicles, in exchange for less than 300 casualties. The corps then settled down for garrison duties and the administration of western Sicily until it was disbanded on August 20, three days after the end of the campaign. For his actions in the brief Sicilian campaign Keyes was awarded theArmy Distinguished Service Medal. GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower, theSupreme Allied Commander in theMediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) wrote to GeneralGeorge C. Marshall, theChief of Staff of the United States Army, noting that his "reports on Keyes as an acting Corps Commander in the Sicilian affair was most favorable".
In September 1943 Keyes assumed command of theII Corps from Major GeneralJohn P. Lucas and commanded it throughout theItalian Campaign, landing in Italy in mid-November and serving under Lieutenant GeneralMark W. Clark'sUnited States Fifth Army. Clark, who was eight years younger than Keyes, had been a fellow student at the United States Army War College in the late 1930s. His first major battle was theBattle of San Pietro Infine and later, with Major GeneralFred L. Walker's36th Infantry Division under command, his corps took part in the controversialBattle of Rapido River, part of the firstBattle of Monte Cassino. The corps sustained heavy losses in the battle. The corps was then involved inOperation Diadem, the fighting on theGothic Line and theSpring 1945 offensive in Italy, which ended the fighting in Italy. Keyes was promoted to the rank oflieutenant general on 17 April 1945, three weeks before the surrender of Germany on 8 May 1945.
After the war Keyes commanded the Seventh Army from 8 September 1945 until its deactivation on 31 March 1946. In December 1945 he was by his friend George S. Patton's side when the latter died. This was followed by command of theUnited States Third Army, Patton's former command, from 1946 to 1947. In 1947, Keyes was appointed United States High Commissioner on the Allied Council for Austria. He served as Director, Weapons Systems Evaluation Group (WSEG) from 1951 to 1954.
Keyes retired from the army in 1954, after 41 years of service. He died on September 17, 1967, atWalter Reed Hospital inWashington, D.C., just a few weeks short of his 79th birthday.[4] He is interred atWest Point Cemetery.
Lieutenant General Keyes's ribbon bar:
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| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army Cadets(Independent)(1917) | |||||||||
| 1917 | Army | 7–1 | |||||||
| Army: | 7–1 | ||||||||
| Total: | 7–1 | ||||||||
| Military offices | ||
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| Preceded by Newly activated organization | Commanding General 9th Armored Division June–September 1942 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commanding General II Corps 1943–1945 | Post deactivated |
| Preceded by | Commanding General Seventh Army 1945–1946 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commanding General Third United States Army 1946–1947 | Succeeded by |
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