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Auction: 4004 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 307

The Forage Cap of a Royal Scots Greys VC Winner The blue cap of Lt Col Geoffrey Keyes, with white "Vandyke" band and welt, the leather internal headband pierced with initials G.C.T.K (maker's name illegible); together with a copy of GEOFFREY KEYES VC OF THE ROMMEL RAID by his sister, the Hon. Elizabeth Keyes (signed by the author); and a folder containing a photograph (9in. x 61/4in.) of the portrait of Geoffrey Keyes by Sidney Kendrick, with a label attached to the cover in Miss Keyes's handwriting, confirming that the cap belonged to Geoffrey Keyes and was presented to the current vendor in 1977 by his brother-in-law, Colonel JR Johnston OBE DSO MC, of the Royal Welch Fusiliers (3) Estimate £ 800-1,200 Note: Geoffrey Keyes was the son of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Keyes, best known as commander of the naval forces at Gallipoli. Geoffrey Keyes served with the Royal Scots Greys in Palestine, where, having resisted mechanisation before World War II, they were obliged to remain as a horsed regiment in what most officers regarded as a military backwater. While on leave in the UK in February 1940, Keyes volunteered for special service and joined the Narvik Expeditionary Force in April of that year. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his services as a liaison officer with the French Chasseurs Alpins in Norway. He then joined the newly-formed Commandos, and early in 1941 was posted to the Middle East as second-in-command of No 11 (Scottish) Commando. In June, the Commando took part in the Litani River action against the Vichy French. Keyes's detachment was landed on the wrong side of the river, and had to cross the river in daylight under heavy fire in order to capture their objective. Keyes was recommended for the DSO for his part in the action but was awarded the MC. His CO was killed in the Litani battle and Keyes took command, becoming probably the youngest Lieutenant Colonel in the army. His posthumous Victoria Cross was won in a spectacularly audacious raid on Rommel's Headquarters, intended to kill or capture the German commander. Keyes's party was landed from two submarines, two hundred and fifty miles behind the German front line, crossed the jebel to the German headquarters and gained access to the house where Rommel was believed to be. Unfortunately the alarm was raised and the assault-group, consisting of Keyes and two others, encountered fierce resistance. Keyes was shot dead, and the officer with him was wounded and taken prisoner. It subsequently transpired that Keyes's gallant death had been in vain, since the plan had been based on out-of-date intelligence, and Rommel was no longer living at that headquarters.

Sold for
£750