Sir Charles Keightley | |
|---|---|
 Sir Charles Keightley, pictured here in 1949. | |
| Born | (1901-06-24)24 June 1901 Croydon,London, England |
| Died | 17 June 1974(1974-06-17) (aged 72) Salisbury,Wiltshire, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1921–1957 |
| Rank | General |
| Service number | 14936 |
| Unit | 5th Dragoon Guards 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards |
| Commands | Gibraltar Far East Land Forces British Army of the Rhine V Corps 78th Infantry Division 6th Armoured Division 11th Armoured Division 30th Armoured Brigade |
| Battles / wars | Second World War Suez Crisis |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath[1] Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire[2] Distinguished Service Order[3] Mentioned in Despatches (2)[4][5] Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (France)[6] Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)[7][8] |
| Other work | Governor of Gibraltar (1958–1962) Deputy Lieutenant of the county of Dorset.[9] (29 October 1970 – 17 June 1974) |
GeneralSir Charles Frederic Keightley,GCB, GBE, DSO, DL (24 June 1901 – 17 June 1974) was a seniorBritish Army officer who served during and following theSecond World War. After serving with distinction during the Second World War – becoming, in 1944, the youngest corps commander in the British Army – he had a distinguished postwar career and was theGovernor of Gibraltar from 1958 to 1962.
Since Keightley‘s death, there has been much scrutiny of the methods he employed in 1945 to send thousands of Cossacks and White Russians to their death at the hands of Stalin.
Keightley was born on 24 June 1901 atAnerley nearCroydon, the only surviving son of Rev. Charles Albert Keightley, the local vicar, and his wife, Kathleen Ross. His early education was atMarlborough College.[10]
He graduated from theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst, wascommissioned as asecond lieutenant in December 1921 into the5th Dragoon Guards (Princess Charlotte of Wales's)[11] which through amalgamation with the6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons became the 5th/6th Dragoons the following year, and later the5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. He was promotedlieutenant at the end of 1923[12] andcaptain in April 1932,[13] having served three years as the regiment's adjutant.[14][15] He attended theStaff College, Camberley from 1935[16] to 1936,[17] and after a staff posting was in October 1937 appointed abrigade major of a mechanised cavalry brigade in Egypt.[18] He was able, however, in November to take part in the coronation ofKingGeorge VI in London as a member of the procession accompanying the King and Queen.[19] In September 1938 his brigade became part of the newMobile Division in Egypt commanded by the influentialPercy Hobart.[20]
Keightley was able to benefit from Hobart's tutelage for only a brief period and, having been promoted to the rank ofmajor, he was appointed in December 1938 to be an instructor at the Staff College, Camberley. Accompanying his new position was another promotion, this time to the local rank oflieutenant-colonel.[21][17]
In 1940, during theSecond World War, he was appointed as Assistant Adjutant & Quartermaster General (chief administrative officer) of the1st Armoured Division, then commanded byMajor-GeneralRoger Evans, during that division's deployment to France. After theevacuation from France the division reformed back in England.[20] On 13 May 1941, Keightley, on promotion to theacting rank ofbrigadier, was given command of the30th Armoured Brigade, part of the11th Armoured Division, which by this time was commanded by Major-GeneralPercy Hobart, his former mentor.[17] He was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empire in July 1941.[22]
In late December 1941 he was promoted to acting major-general to become Commandant of theRoyal Armoured Corps Training Establishment.[23] After only five months in this job he was briefly given command on 21 April 1942 of the11th Armoured Division, which was then based in the United Kingdom and then on 19 May 1942 went to command the6th Armoured Division and led it with distinction throughout theTunisian Campaign, elements landing inFrench North Africa in November as part ofOperation Torch. He was made aCompanion of the Order of the Bath for his services in Tunisia and also was awarded theLegion of Merit by the United States government.[24][25] His permanent rank was advanced from major to lieutenant colonel in September 1943[26] and again to colonel in April 1944.[27]
In December 1943 he exchanged commands with Major-GeneralVyvyan Evelegh, theGeneral Officer Commanding (GOC) of the78th Infantry Division, which had fought alongside the 6th Armoured in Tunisia was then serving in Italy, and which became his first infantry command. He was awarded theDistinguished Service Order in August 1944 and his success as a commander of both armoured and infantry divisions led to his promotion in August 1944 to actinglieutenant-general[28] when he was given command of theBritish Eighth Army'sV Corps, succeeding Lieutenant GeneralCharles Allfrey, in Italy. At the age of 43 he was the youngest officer in theBritish Army during the Second World War to command a corps in action.[29]Toby Low, the youngest brigadier in the British Army, was Keightley's Brigadier General Staff (BGS). He commanded this corps duringOperation Olive, the offensive on the Gothic Line in the autumn of 1944, and also during the finalspring offensive in April 1945, when it took a lead role in forcing theArgenta Gap. The corps moved intoAustria with the surrender of theGerman Forces and forces that were fighting on the German side. On 8 May 1945, he signed a demarcation agreement with the BulgarianFirst Army commander, GeneralVladimir Stoychev inKlagenfurt.
InEast Tyrol andCarinthia, Keightley's army received the surrender of the "Lienz Cossacks" under their leadersPeter Krasnov,Kelech Ghirey, andAndrei Shkuro and theXVth SS Cossack Cavalry Corps underHelmuth von Pannwitz. At theYalta Conference, the British committed themselves to return Soviet citizens to theSoviet Union. After consultation withHarold Macmillan Keightley proceeded to hand over these prisoners and their families regardless of their nationality, including people with French, German, Yugoslav orNansen passports. The prisoners were delivered by deceit and force toSMERSH atJudenburg; many were executed immediately, the remainder sent to theGulag.[30]
According toNikolai Tolstoy’sStalin’s Vengeance (2021)
Keightley… concealed the presence of White Russians from his superiors, who had issued repeated orders stipulating that only Soviet nationals should be handed over, and even then only if they did not resist. Through a succession of underhanded moves, Keightley secretly delivered up the leading Cossack commanders to the Soviets, while force of unparalleled brutality was employed to hand over thousands of Cossack men, women, and children to a ghastly fate.[31]
In mid-1945, Keightley was appointedKnight Commander of the Order of the British Empire and nominated to lead a proposed "Commonwealth Corps" during Operation Coronet, the second stage ofOperation Downfall the plan for the invasion of Japan.[32] The corps was to have been made up of infantry divisions from theAustralian, British andCanadian armies. The Australian government objected to the appointment of an officer with no experience fighting the Japanese and the war ended before the details of the corps were finalised.
In 1946, Keightley left Austria and reverted to his permanent rank of major-general (to which he had received promotion in February 1945),[33] to become Director of Military Training at the War Office. In 1948, he became theMilitary Secretary toManny Shinwell, then theSecretary of State for War, gaining the permanent rank of lieutenant-general.[34] On 21 September 1949, he becameCommander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of theBritish Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in Germany[35] relinquishing the role in April 1951.[36] He was appointed aKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath during his time in the post.[37]
In May 1951, he became the C-in-CFar East Land Forces[38] in the rank of general. In September 1953, he was appointed C-in-CMiddle East Land Forces.[39] Also in 1953 Keightley received the honorary appointment ofAide-de-Camp General to the Queen for a three-year tenure.[40][41] His tenure at Middle East Land Forces included the period of theSuez Crisis and Keightley was C-in-C ofOperation Musketeer in 1956.[42] For his services during the period October to December 1956 he was advanced toKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire and also received theLegion of Honour (Grand Officer) from the French government. In January 1957 he relinquished his Middle East Command[43] and retired from the army that August.[44]
From 23 November 1947 to 23 November 1957,[45] he held the honorary post of Colonel of the5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. He also held the honorary post of Colonel Commandant,Royal Armoured Corps, Cavalry Wing until April 1968.[46]
In retirement Keightley was appointedGovernor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar, a post he held from May 1958[47] until October 1962 when he retired from the army a second time since his role as Commander-in-Chief, although not paid for out of the army's budget, had technically returned him to active duty.[48] From 1958 he served a term as Honorary Colonel of theRoyal Gibraltar Regiment.[49]
From 1963 he was appointed Member of theRoyal Patriotic Fund Corporation.[50][51]
He died inSalisbury,Wiltshire, at Salisbury General Infirmary on 17 June 1974, a week before his seventy-third birthday.
Keightley was married to Joan Lydia Smyth-Osbourne ofIddlesleigh in Devon in 1932. They had two sons, of whichRichard was also a senior army officer, becomingCommandant of Sandhurst.[52]
Keightley Way, a road and tunnel in Gibraltar was named in his honour.[53]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | GOC 11th Armoured Division April–May 1942 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | GOC 6th Armoured Division 1942–1943 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | GOC 78th Infantry Division 1943–1944 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | GOC V Corps 1944–1945 | Post disbanded |
| Preceded by | Military Secretary 1948 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | C-in-C British Army of the Rhine 1948–1951 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | C-in-C Far East Land Forces 1951–1953 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | C-in-C Middle East Land Forces 1953–1957 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Gibraltar 1958–1962 | Succeeded by |
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