Beschreibung:

A superb Great War C.B.E., Gallipoli ‘Y’ Beach D.S.O. group of six awarded to Commander A. St. V. Keyes, Royal Navy: the brother of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Keyes, his other claims to fame included service as a pioneer submariner in the Edwardian era, command of the Royal Canadian Navy’s first ever submarine flotilla in 1914, and the successful beaching of the ‘Q’ ship “Mavis” after she had been torpedoed in June 1917 The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, C.B.E. (Military) Commander’s 1st type neck badge, silver-gilt and enamels; Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamels; 1914-15 Star (Lt. Commr., D.S.O., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (Capt., R.N.); Coronation 1911, good very fine and better (6) £6000-8000 Footnote C.B.E. London Gazette 11 June 1919. D.S.O. London Gazette 16 August 1915: ‘In recognition of services as mentioned in the foregoing despatch.’ The despatch referred to was that of Vice-Admiral Sir John de Robeck, describing the landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25-26 April 1915, and included General Sir Ian Hamilton’s report, which stated that ‘Lieutenant-Commander Keyes showed great coolness, gallantry and ability. The success of the landing on ‘Y’ Beach was largely due to his good service. When circumstances compelled the force landed there to re-embark, this officer showed exceptional resource and leadership in successfully conducting that difficult operation.’ Adrian St. Vincent Keyes was born in Secunderabad, India in December 1882, the son of General Sir Charles Keyes, G.C.B., and was appointed a Midshipman in May 1898 on passing out of the R.N. College Britannia. Advanced to Sub. Lieutenant in December 1901, and to Lieutenant in the following year, he joined the Royal Navy’s fledgling submarine branch in May 1903, in which trade he served more or less continuously until 1909, latterly with his own command - although his service record does note that he incurred their Lordships displeasure at the end of 1905 for some damage caused to the engine of H.M. submarine B3. Having survived this undoubtedly hazardous stint of “underwater service”, young Keyes returned to more regular seagoing duties, and in 1910, the year in which he was advanced to Lieutenant-Commander, he was appointed captain of the destroyer H.M.S. Fawn. According to a contemporary, although blessed with a ‘quick and brilliant brain’, Keyes was fortunate to squeeze through his destroyer C.O’s course - worse for wear as the result of a bad hangover, he bought a copy of The Daily Mail on his way to his final examination, and quickly memorised ‘the time of moon-rise, sunrise, high-water at Tower Bridge, and any other meteorological data the paper propounded’, thereby impressing their Lordships with his remarkably up-to-date knowledge. Interestingly, it was about this time that his brother, Roger, then a Captain, R.N., became senior officer of the submarine branch, an appointment that would act as the springboard to his rapid advancement in the Great War. For his own part, after another seagoing command, the Basilisk, Adrian Keyes was placed on the Retired List in June 1912. The outbreak of hostilities found him out in Canada, where he was quickly appointed to the command of the Royal Canadian Navy’s first submarine flotilla, at Shearwater Island, in the rank of Lieutenant-Commander, the force comprising a brace of Holland-type submarines that had just been purchased by the somewhat eccentric Sir Richard McBride, K.C.M.G., the conservative premier of British Columbia - they had originally been built for the Chilean Navy in 1913. Duly christened the CC1 and CC2, Keyes took command of the former, while the latter went to another retired R.N. Officer, Lieutenant Bertram Jones. They were interesting days, not least since all of the labels and instructions in the two submarines were in Spanish. But Keyes and Jones showed great ingenuity in the face of adversity, even making some wooden torpedoes for battle pra