HERO of the MONTH

Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Charles Tasker Keyes VC, MC

THE BUILDING KNOWN AS ROMMEL'S 'DUG-OUT' THAT WAS THE TARGET IN ONE THE BRAVEST DEEDS OF THE WAR
IWM K 4394

“Keyes served in Palestine but, while on leave in February 1940, he volunteered for special service just as some senior officers were seeing the benefits of using small, highly specialised units to launch hit-and-run raids”

Geoffrey Keyes was awarded the VC for one of the most daring actions of World War Two. As someone who has admired courage for more than half a century, and as the privileged custodian of the Keyes medal group, I am loathe to describe anyone as “too brave” because it implies criticism – and how can you fault someone who has given his all for King and country However, the raid that cost Keyes his life was, with the benefit of hindsight, hopelessly misguided.

Geoffrey Charles Tasker Keyes was born in Aberdour, Fife, Scotland, on May 18, 1917, the son of Lord Keyes, the Admiral of the Fleet. Keyes Jnr was educated at King’s Mead School, Seaford, Sussex, then at Eton College. He had hoped to follow his father into the Royal Navy, but failed the eyesight test. Instead, he attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and was commissioned into the Royal Scots Greys as a second lieutenant.

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