Geoffrey Keyes

Geoffrey Keyes (October 30, 1888 – September 17, 1967) was a highly decorated senior United States Army officer who served with distinction in Sicily and Italy during World War II.

Early life

Keyes was born on October 30, 1888, in Fort Bayard, New Mexico, the son of Captain Alexander S. B. Keyes, a United States Army officer, and his wife, Virginia Maxwell Keyes. Like his father, Geoffrey enrolled as a cadet at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, on March 2, 1908, and graduated, 38 in a class of 93, on June 12, 1913, being commissioned as a second lieutenant, into the Cavalry Branch of the United States Army. His first assignment was with the 6th Cavalry Regiment, where he served until October 1916 and participated in the Pancho Villa Expedition.

Military career Keyes' next assignment was at the USMA, where he served as an instructor of French language. He was also head football coach for one season in 1917, compiling a record of 7–1.

Keyes' interwar service included duty with the Panama Canal Division as an Assistant Chief of Staff (G-3), instructor at the USMA and the United States Army Cavalry School at Fort Riley, Kansas, and Chief of Supply of Supply Division within War Department. He attended the United States Army Command and General Staff School from August 1925 until June 1926 and the United States Army War College, which he attended from 1936 to 1937. His classmates there included Matthew Ridgway, Mark W. Clark, Edward H. Brooks, and Walter Bedell Smith, all of whom would rise to high rank in the years to follow.

World War II In 1940, during World War II, Keyes was chief of staff of the 2nd Armored Division, which was then commanded by Major General George S. Patton who, like Keyes, was a fellow cavalryman who had served with distinction in World War I and had taken a significant interest in armored warfare. Patton was to think highly of Keyes, later stating that he "had the best tactical mind of any officer I know."

General Sir Bernard Montgomery shakes hands with Lieutenant General George S. Patton at an airport at Palermo, Sicily, July 28, 1943. Major General Geoffrey Keyes, deputy commander of Patton's Seventh Army, is stood to the far left of the picture.

In January 1942, a month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the subsequent German declaration of war on the United States, on December 11, Keyes, promoted to the one-star general officer rank of brigadier general on January 15, assumed command of Combat Command 'B' (CCB) of the 3rd Armored Division. In July, now a two-star major general (having been promoted on June 22), He is interred at West Point Cemetery.

Decorations Lieutenant General Keyes's ribbon bar:

Head coaching record