View source for Geoffrey Keyes

{{Short description|American general and football coach (1888–1967)}}
{{For|the British Army officer who died in the raid on Erwin Rommel's HQ|Geoffrey Keyes (VC)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Geoffrey Keyes
|image= File:Geoffrey Keyes.jpg
|image_size= 
|alt= 
|caption= 
|nickname= "Geoff"{{sfn|Taaffe|2013|p=101}}
|birth_date= {{Birth date|1888|10|30}}
|birth_place= [[Fort Bayard, New Mexico]], U.S.
|death_date= {{Death date and age|1967|9|17|1888|10|30}}
|death_place= [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
|placeofburial= [[West Point Cemetery]], [[West Point, New York]], U.S.
|allegiance= {{flag|United States}}
|branch= {{army|United States}}
|serviceyears= 1913–1950
|rank= [[File:US-O9 insignia.svg|25px]] [[Lieutenant general (United States)|Lieutenant General]]
|servicenumber= 0-3561
|unit= [[File:ArmyCAVBranchPlaque.gif|25px]] [[United States Cavalry|Cavalry Branch]]
|commands= [[United States Army Central|Third United States Army]]<br/>[[Seventh United States Army]]<br/>[[II Corps (United States)|II Corps]]<br/>[[I Armored Corps (United States)|I Armored Corps]]<br/>[[9th Armored Division (United States)|9th Armored Division]]
|battles= [[Pancho Villa Expedition]]<br/>[[World War I]]<br/>[[World War II]]
|awards= [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]]<br/>[[Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army)|Army Distinguished Service Medal]] (3)<br/>[[Silver Star]] (2)<br/>[[Legion of Merit]]<br/>[[Bronze Star Medal]]
|relations= 
|laterwork= 
}}
'''Geoffrey Keyes''' (October 30, 1888 – September 17, 1967) was a highly decorated senior [[United States Army]] [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]] who served with distinction in [[Allied invasion of Sicily|Sicily]] and [[Italian campaign (World War II)|Italy]] during [[World War II]].

==Early life==
[[File:Geoffrey Keyes (1888–1967) at West Point in 1913.png|thumb|left|150px|At West Point in 1913]]

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 [[Officer (armed forces)|commissioned]] as a [[second lieutenant]], into the [[United States Cavalry|Cavalry Branch]] of the United States Army. His first assignment was with the [[6th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|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 period|interwar service]] included duty with the [[Panama Canal Division]] as an Assistant Chief of Staff ([[Staff (military)|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 [[United States Department of War|War Department]]. He attended the [[United States Army Command and General Staff College|United States Army Command and General Staff School]] from August 1925 until June 1926<ref>{{cite web | url=https://usmalibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16919coll3/id/23306 | title=VOLUME_7_Cullum 992 }}</ref> 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 (United States)|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 [[Armoured warfare|armored warfare]]. Patton was to think highly of Keyes, later stating that he "had the best tactical mind of any officer I know."

[[File:Gen. Bernard Law Montgomery and Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.,.jpg|thumb|left|General [[Bernard Montgomery|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 [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] on December 7, 1941, and the subsequent [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[German declaration of war against the United States (1941)|declaration of war on the United States]], on December 11, Keyes, promoted to the [[one-star rank|one-star]] [[general officer]] rank of [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] on January 15,<ref name="Generals of World War II">{{cite web|url=https://generals.dk/general/Keyes/Geoffrey/USA.html|title=Biography of Lieutenant General Geoffrey Keyes (1888−1967), USA|website=generals.dk}}</ref> assumed command of [[Combat command|Combat Command 'B']] (CCB) of the [[3rd Armored Division (United States)|3rd Armored Division]]. In July, now a [[two-star rank|two-star]] major general (having been promoted on June 22),<ref name="Generals of World War II"/> he raised the [[9th Armored Division (United States)|9th Armored Division]] and, in September, relinquished command of the division to Major General [[John W. Leonard]], before going to North Africa as Deputy Commander of the [[I Armored Corps (United States)|I Armored Corps]], commanded by Patton, which was later redesignated the [[Seventh United States Army]] for the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]].

[[File:MG Geoffrey Keyes, Gen. A.L. Collier and general Alphonse Juin in Pompei.jpg|thumb|right|From left to right: Major General Geoffrey Keyes, British Major General [[Angus Lyell Collier]] and French General [[Alphonse Juin]] in [[Pompeii]], pictured here between 1943 and 1945]]

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 the [[2nd Armored Division (United States)|2nd Armored Division]], the [[3rd Infantry Division (United States)|3rd Infantry Division]] and the [[82nd Airborne Division]], along with two [[United States Army Rangers|United States Army Ranger]] battalions, and supporting units. Advancing 125 miles in five days, through difficult mountainous terrain, the corps captured most of Western Sicily, including [[Palermo]], the Sicilian capital, along with some 53,000 [[Axis powers|Axis]] 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 the [[Army Distinguished Service Medal]]. General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], the [[Supreme Allied Commander]] in the [[Mediterranean Theater of Operations]] (MTO) wrote to General [[George C. Marshall]], the [[Chief 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 the [[II Corps (United States)|II Corps]] from Major General [[John P. Lucas]] and commanded it throughout the [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italian Campaign]], landing in Italy in mid-November and serving under Lieutenant General [[Mark W. Clark]]'s [[United 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 the [[Battle of San Pietro Infine]] and later, with Major General [[Fred L. Walker]]'s [[36th Infantry Division (United States)|36th Infantry Division]] under command, his corps took part in the controversial [[Battle of Rapido River]], part of the first [[Battle of Monte Cassino]]. The corps sustained heavy losses in the battle. The corps was then involved in [[Operation Diadem]], the fighting on the [[Gothic Line]] and the [[Spring 1945 offensive in Italy]], which ended the fighting in Italy.  Keyes was promoted to the rank of [[Lieutenant general (United States)|lieutenant general]] on 17 April 1945, three weeks before the surrender of Germany on 8 May 1945.

===Postwar===
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 the [[United 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, at [[Walter Reed Army Medical Center|Walter Reed Hospital]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], just a few weeks short of his 79th birthday.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Geoffrey Keyes, Combat Leader; Commanding General of 2d Corps in Italy Dies at 78 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1967/09/19/93873795.pdf |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=September 19, 1967 |access-date=August 10, 2011 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> He is interred at [[West Point Cemetery]].

==Decorations==
Lieutenant General Keyes's ribbon bar:

{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|{{Ribbon devices|number=2|type=oak|ribbon=U.S. Army Distinguished Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=1|type=oak|ribbon=Silver Star Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Legion of Merit ribbon.svg|width=106}} 
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Bronze Star Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Mexican Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=World War I Victory Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=American Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=7|type=service-star|ribbon=European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Army of Occupation ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=National Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Order of the Bath (ribbon).svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=Legion Honneur Commandeur ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Croix de guerre 1939-1945 with palm (France) - ribbon bar.png|width=106}}
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=MAR Order of the Ouissam Alaouite - Grand Officer (1913-1956) BAR.png|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Grande ufficiale SSML Regno BAR.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Valor militare silver medal BAR.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=TCH CS Vojensky Rad Bileho Lva 2st (1945) BAR.svg|width=106}}
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Czechoslovak War Cross 1939-1945 Ribbon.png|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Ufficiale_OMS_BAR.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Nastro_Croce_Lateranense.png|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Legion_Honneur_Officier_ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|} 
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
!1st Row
|colspan="4"|[[Army Distinguished Service Medal]] w/ two [[Oak Leaf Cluster]]s
|colspan="4"|[[Silver Star]] w/ Oak Leaf Cluster
|colspan="4"|[[Legion of Merit]]
|-
!2nd Row
|colspan="4"|[[Bronze Star Medal]]
|colspan="4"|[[Mexican Service Medal]]
|colspan="4"|[[World War I Victory Medal (United States)|World War I Victory Medal]] 
|colspan="4"|[[American Defense Service Medal]]
|-
!3rd Row
|colspan="4"|[[American Campaign Medal]]
|colspan="4"|[[European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]] w/ one silver and two bronze service stars
|colspan="4"|[[World War II Victory Medal (United States)|World War II Victory Medal]]
|colspan="4"|[[Army of Occupation Medal]]
|-
!4th Row
|colspan="4"|[[National Defense Service Medal]]
|colspan="4"|[[Order of the Bath|Honorary Companion of the Order of the Bath]] (United Kingdom)
|colspan="4"|[[Legion of Honour|Commandeur of the Legion of Honour]]
|colspan="4"|[[Croix de guerre 1939–1945 (France)|French Croix de guerre 1939–1945 w/ palm]]
|-
!5th Row
|colspan="4"|[[Order of Ouissam Alaouite|Grand Officer of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite]]
|colspan="4"|[[Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus|Grand Officer of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]] ([[Italy]])
|colspan="4"|[[Silver Medal of Military Valor]] ([[Italy]])
|colspan="4"|[[Military Order of the White Lion|Grand Officer of the Military Order of the White Lion]]
|-
!6th Row
|colspan="4"|[[Czechoslovak War Cross 1939-1945]]
|colspan="3"|[[Military Order of Savoy]] ([[Italy]])
|colspan="3"|[[Papal Lateran Cross]] ([[Holy See|Vatican]])
|colspan="3"|[[Legion of Honour|Officer of the Legion of Honour]]
|-
|}

==Head coaching record==
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Army Black Knights football|Army Cadets]]
 | conf      = Independent
 | startyear = 1917
 | endyear   = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1917 college football season|1917]]
 | name         = [[1917 Army Cadets football team|Army]]
 | overall      = 7–1
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Army
 | overall    = 7–1
 | confrecord = 
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
 | overall  = 7–1
 | bowls    = no
 | poll     = no
 | polltype = 
 | legend   = no
}}

==Bibliography==
*{{Cite book|title=Bloody River: The Real Tragedy of the Rapido|url=https://archive.org/details/bloodyriverrealt00blum|url-access=registration|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|year=1970|oclc=1020217216}}
*{{cite book| first=Martin| last=Blumenson| title=Bloody River: The Real Tragedy of the Rapido| author-link=Martin Blumenson | isbn=9780890968529| year=1998| publisher=Texas A&M University Press}}
*{{cite book|last=Taaffe|first=Stephen R.|title=Marshall and His Generals: U.S. Army Commanders in World War II|year=2013|location=Lawrence, Kansas|publisher=University Press of Kansas|isbn=978-0-7006-1942-9|oclc=840162019}}
*[
https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Patton_s_Tactician.html?id=w8mrEAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gb_mobile_entity&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&gboemv=1&gl=GB&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://www.unithistories.com/officers/US_Army_officers_K01.html#Keyes_G United States Army Officers 1939−1945]

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=Newly activated organization}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[9th Armored Division (United States)|Commanding General 9th Armored Division]]|years=June–September 1942}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John W. Leonard]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[John P. Lucas]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[II Corps (United States)|Commanding General II Corps]]|years=1943–1945}}
{{s-non|reason=Post deactivated}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Wade H. Haislip]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Seventh United States Army|Commanding General Seventh Army]]|years=1945–1946}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Oscar Griswold]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Lucian Truscott]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[United States Army Central|Commanding General Third United States Army]]|years=1946–1947}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ernest N. Harmon]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Army Black Knights football coach navbox}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keyes, Geoffrey}}
[[Category:1888 births]]
[[Category:1967 deaths]]
[[Category:United States Army Cavalry Branch personnel]]
[[Category:United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni]]
[[Category:Army Black Knights football coaches]]
[[Category:Burials at West Point Cemetery]]
[[Category:People from Grant County, New Mexico]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Silver Star]]
[[Category:United States Army War College alumni]]
[[Category:United States Military Academy alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:United States Army generals of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Army generals]]
[[Category:United States Military Academy faculty]]
[[Category:Military personnel from New Mexico]]