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Auction: 26001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 211

A unusual 'Mediterranean 1918' D.S.C., 1907 Royal Humane Society Bronze Medal and Japanese Order of the Sacred Treasure group of nine awarded to Captain H. P. Keeley, Royal Navy - late Royal Australian Navy

An Officer of the British Tanker Company, he served at the Battle of Jutland, who saw destroyer service in the Mediterranean and later returned to the fold during the Second World War

Distinguished Service Cross, G.V.R., engraved to the reverse 'Lieut. H. P. Keeley, R.N. 1918', hallmarked for 1919; 1914-15 Star (Lieut. H. P. Keeley, R.N.); British War Medal 1914-20 (Lieut. H. P. Keeley. R.N.); Victory Medal 1914-1919 (Lieut. H. P. Keeley. D.S.C. R.N.); Italy Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Japan, Imperial, Order of the Sacred Treasure, 4th class, silver and enamel, engraved to the reverse 'Lieut H P Keeley. R.N. 1918', sold together with the recipient's Royal Humane Society Bronze Medal (Harold P. Keeley, Nov. 12. 1907), the Victory Medal a somewhat later replacement, the British awards mounted as worn, minor pitting and contact wear, slight cracking to the enamel on eighth, overall good very fine (9)

D.S.C. London Gazette 15 May 1918.

Order of the Sacred Treasure 4th Class London Gazette 5 April 1918.

R.H.S. Medal as per Case No. 35835:

'On the 12th November 1907, a coolie, on entering the hold of the SS Lindula at Rangoon, was overcome by foul gas. Mr E. Boyce and J. H. Kenny followed each other down, but were also overcome. Keeley went down with a rope, but, becoming unconscious, had to be drawn up. George Kinloch and D. J. McCorkindale with lines and boathooks, then got all the men up, but Kenny and the coolie had succumbed.' (Testimonials on vellum to Kinloch and McCorkindale; "In Memoriam" to relatives of Kenny.)

Harold Percy Keeley was born at West Bromwich, Staffordshire on 26 January 1884, the son of James and Annie Keeley. His father died while Keeley was still young and the family appears on the 1891 census living at Newchurch, Ise of Wight with his mother ‘living on own means’ with her five children and a sister. Keeley was not to remain with his family for long however, being appointed Midshipman on 28 December 1901 with the Royal Naval Reserve.

Lifesaving

During this time he appears to have been working with the Maritime Marine, several of his R.N.R. training courses taking place as far afield as Calcutta. The incident for which he won his Royal Humane Society award took place aboard the S.S. Lindula at Rangoon, Burma when a coolie was overwhelmed by gas and had to be rescued. Keeley took part in the effort to do so although was overcome by the gas himself and had to be rescued in turn. Commissioned Sub-Lieutenant the next year on 2 January 1908 and further advanced Lieutenant on 12 August 1912, he joined the Royal Navy in that rank the next year on 1 September.

Great War

Joining the Torpedo School at Vernon on 14 November, Keeley was still there on the outbreak of the Great War in August 1914. Remaining there for the opening of the war he requested a posting to active duty with a destroyer in July 1915 and this was finally accepted the next year when he joined H.M.S. Attack on 17 February 1916. Serving as Second in Command of this vessel, he was with her during the Battle of Jutland when she formed part of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla.

This formation was tasked with escorting the 5th Battle Squadron, part of Beatty’s Battlecruiser Fleet. During the Run to the South the formation formed an anti-submarine screen before this unit, although their slow pace prevented them from drawing too far ahead. After the Run to the North they formed on the unengaged side of the Grand Fleet and saw no further action.

After the battle, Keeley was posted to command TB6, previously H.M.S. Gadfly, but was soon moved on with concerns that ‘he should not be allowed to become stagnant’ cited. Given command of the river-class Ribble on 16 December 1916 he remained with her on the Smyrna Patrol for the next year and half. It was for this command that he was awarded the D.S.C., with his service papers noting ‘… for services on the Mediterranean Station’.

H.M.A.S. Torrens

Seconded to the Australian Navy on 11 September 1918, Keeley was placed in command of the HMAS Torrens at Brindisi. This ship had been part of the Otranto Patrol but was soon ordered Black Sea where she closed out the war. He returned with this ship to Sydney but left but in August 1919 and returned to Britain by September.

Return to Civilian Life

Briefly placed in command of H.M.S. Hind and later H.M.S. Palsey, Keeley requested permission to return to the Mercantile Marine which was approved on 2 July 1920. He was promoted Lieutenant-Commander (retired) on 1 September 1921 and further advanced Commander (retired) on 26 January 1924. Joining the staff of the British Tanker Company, the tanker fleet of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, Keeley was listed at one stage as in command of the S.S. British Holly. Still serving with them on the 1939 census as a nautical advisor while he was living in Kensington with his wife.

Naval Control Services Officer

As Europe drifted closer to war Keeley offered his services to the Admiralty in 1938 and was mobilised again in 1940, being posted first to Caroline, the command centre for most of the warships escorting convoys over the Atlantic. Keeley would hold various appointments ashore throughout 1941, including a post in West Africa at H.M.S. Freetown before being posted for duty with the Naval Control Services Officer at Clyde on 18 April 1942.

This role related to the planning and manoeuvring of convoys and Keeley was clearly suited to this task as he was posted to Hannibal, the shore base in Algiers and later Taranto, to perform it himself in September 1943. Posted from there to Egypt he was appointed to perform the same role at Alexandria on the staff of H.M.S. Nile with the rank of Captain. Notably Keeley is entitled to the Italy Star but not the 1939-45 Star as a result of his service on shore bases around the Mediterranean.

Keeley retired again in 1945 to Battle, Sussex where he died on 2 February 1966; sold together with copied research comprising service records, census data and Maritime Marine Documentation as well as a London Gazette extract, correspondence relating to the recipient’s career and handwritten notes.

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Estimate
£2,000 to £2,400

Starting price
£1600