Highly decorated senior US Army officer (1888-1967) who served with distinction under George S. Patton during World War II. Archive of four war-dated letters by Lt. General Geoffrey Keyes to his wife, mentioning Patton and Army football, plus three pieces of V-Mail and four photographs. Letters include:
ALS in ink and pencil, signed “Geoff,” four pages, October 3, 1945, in part: “I also learned (the pen is no good so ‘scuse the pencil) the news that was announced last night about Gen. Patton. I suppose it was inevitable but it seems to me it could have been avoided or at least handled differently. Have tried to get down to see him but between weather, inspections, and his absences I couldn’t make it. I did talk to him on the phone yesterday and am going to see him in a few days.” On October 2nd, the New York Times had reported that General Patton had been relieved of his duties.
ALS signed “Geoff,” four pages, Headquarters Seventh Army letterhead, October 14, [1945], in part: “I had hoped to fly up to see Gen Patton in his new place.” Excerpts: “Got your Oct 2nd letter, sweetheart—the one with the news of the end of V mail (which we have no knowledge of!!)…It is a foggy dismal kind of a day which disappoints me no end as I had hoped to fly up to see Gen. Patton in his new place…Last night I searched the radio dials for the Army-Michigan game and finally got it in the 4th quarter just as Davis made his long run. Did you and Les go to the game?”
ALS signed “Geoff,” two pages, Headquarters Seventh Army letterhead, November 8, 1945, in part: “Day before yesterday I drove up to Bad Naudheim and spent the night with Gen. Patton…Had a fine visit.”
ALS signed “Geoff,” three pages, November 19, [1945], in part: “All your excitement over the articles on the army getting out of Germany is for nothing—they were talking about getting out of Military Govt—we still stay here as an occupation force. Of course when we do turn Mil. Govt over to the civilians, that is, the State Dept, nine tenths of the dirty work will have been completed…Hope the board of generals you spoke of found some way of keeping Davis and Blanchard another 4 or 5 years!…Tomorrow I go to a meeting at Gen. Patton’s hq and will spend the night with him.” Keyes references Army fullback Doc Blanchard and running back Glenn Davis, both of whom would go on to win the Heisman Trophy.
Also includes three V-Mails from Keyes to his wife, each one page, 4.25 x 5.25, March-August 1945. V-Mail was a process used to copy soldiers’ letters to microfilm and reproduce them on small paper at their destination, which conserved precious cargo space on planes. Excerpts include: March 14, 1945, “Just now the list of new 4 Star generals and am terribly disappointed not to see GS Patton there”; August 23, 1945, “Well I certainly had a nice time yesterday. Gen. Patton came down and we drove over to have lunch and see a wonderful horse show put on by professional riders from the Vienna Spanish Riders Academy—7 riders and about 15 horses all white…At the end GSP rode a beautiful white horse that Hitler was having trained to be a gift to Hirohito!”; August 25, 1945, “I was told yesterday I am to succeed Ham Haislip in the 7th Army with headquarters at Heidleberg…I flew up to Frankfort yesterday to get the news and Gen. Patton phoned me last night to find out what it was all about.” Includes three original mailing envelopes and four original candid photographs of groups of officers and soldiers. In overall fine condition.
