12 Facts About Geoffrey Keyes

Geoffrey Keyes was a highly decorated senior United States Army officer who served with distinction in Sicily and Italy during World War II.

Geoffrey Keyes 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.

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.

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, Geoffrey Keyes, promoted to the one-star general officer rank of brigadier general on January 15, assumed command of Combat Command 'B' of the 3rd Armored Division.

Geoffrey Keyes was originally serving as deputy commander of the Seventh Army during the campaign, serving under Patton, in July 1943.

In September 1943 Keyes assumed command of the II Corps from Major General John P Lucas and commanded it throughout the 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 Geoffrey Keyes, had been a fellow student at the United States Army War College in the late 1930s.

Geoffrey Keyes was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general on 17 April 1945, three weeks before the surrender of Germany on 8 May 1945.

In 1947, Geoffrey Keyes was appointed United States High Commissioner on the Allied Council for Austria.

Geoffrey Keyes served as Director, Weapons Systems Evaluation Group from 1951 to 1954.

Geoffrey Keyes retired from the army in 1954, after 41 years of service.

Geoffrey Keyes died on September 17,1967, at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC, just a few weeks short of his 79th birthday.