Orders, Decorations and Medals

The superb Second World War C.G.M., D.F.M. group of six awarded to Squadron Leader G. F. Keen, Royal Air Force, who, having been decorated for his first operational tour, was recommended for the V.C. for his great bravery on the night of 12-13 March 1943, during the raid on the Krupps works at Essen - by his own modest account he was ‘a bit knocked about’ by a direct flak hit that killed his Navigator, while in point of fact his right foot was blown off: one of around just 30 aircrew to be recommended for a V.C. in the entire 1939-45 War, he was ultimately awarded an immediate C.G.M.

Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (Flying), G.VI.R. (923049 F./Sgt. G. F. Keen, R.A.F.), with its original card box of issue; Distinguished Flying Medal, G.VI.R. (923049 Sgt. G.. F. Keen, R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; Defence and War Medals, the last four with their original addressed card forwarding box, the second with edge bruise, otherwise good very fine or better (6) £18000-22000

The rarity of his V.C. recommendation aside, Keen was one of just 11 aircrew to be awarded the combination of a C.G.M. and D.F.M. in the 1939-45 War.

C.G.M. London Gazette 23 April 1943. The original recommendation - for a V.C. - states:

‘Flight Sergeant Keen was the Wireless Operator of an aircraft bombing Essen on 13 March 1943. In the target area the aircraft was hit by heavy flak, the Navigator being killed. Flight Sergeant Keen’s right foot was blown off and he received cuts in both legs. Despite this, he regained his seat in the W./O.P’s cabin from the astro-dome and for over two hours worked to repair his damaged wireless set. He was not in R./T. communication with the rest of the crew owing to damage to the aircraft, but when the Bomb Aimer spoke to him on at least a dozen occasions, he found him still conscious and working on his wireless set or giving directions for the manipulation of various secret installations. He offered to assist in navigating the aircraft and twice, somehow, reached the navigator’s compartment to obtain essential navigational information.’

D.F.M. London Gazette 30 January 1942. The original recommendation states:

‘Sergeant Keen joined the Squadron on 20 April 1941 and quickly qualified as a 1st Wireless Operator. During the many raids in which he took part, some of them of extreme range, he always showed the highest qualities of courage, keenness and determination. His knowledge and capabilities as a Wireless Operator were of a high order and on one occasion after a raid on Stuttgart, his skill and steadiness in obtaining wireless navigational aids was solely responsible for bringing his aircraft back to base after it had become hopelessly lost.’

Geoffrey Frank Keen was born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire in March 1916, the son of a Corporal in the Royal Engineers who was killed in action in June 1917. A talented footballer who represented Maidenhead United pre-war, he joined the Royal Air Force in August 1940. Trained as a Wireless Operator / Air Gunner, he attended No. 10 Operational Training Unit prior to joining No. 51 Squadron, a Whitley unit based at Dishforth, Yorkshire in April 1941. Thus commenced a full tour of operations, commencing with an outing to Kiel on 3 May 1941 - returning from the same target a few nights later, on the 18th, his aircraft crashed on landing back at Dishforth, but all crew survived unscathed; while on returning from Frankfurt on the night of 6 August, he was compelled with his fellow aircrew to bale out over East Dereham as a result of severe icing. These, then, evidence of an eventful tour that encompassed three trips to Cologne and two a piece to Berlin, Bremen, Dortmund, Frankfurt and Hamburg. He was recommended for the D.F.M. on 21 November 1941, by Wing Commander P. C. “Pick” Pickard, having completed 29 sorties and some 200 hours of operational flying time.

“Rested” at an O.T.U., Keen was nonetheless among those called upon for the “Thousand Bomber Raids” against Cologne and Essen in May-July 1942, both of them as a Wireless Operator in Whitleys. Of the raid on Cologne on the night of 1-2 June 1942, his Rear-Gunner later wrote:

‘The whole city was a mass of flames and over the intercomm everyone was using superlatives - ordinary words failed to express our amazement. The northern part of Cologne’s defences were throwing everything but Panzer Divisions into the sky and the searchlights enhanced the already panoramic scene. For about two minutes just before we bombed we were caught in searchlights and subjected to some intense A.A. fire. In the middle of this I distinctly remember Geoff [Keen] calling me up from the front, “How are you doing back there Kidda” - hell was I glad to hear someone talk who was on my side; I thought all the Jerries in Jerryland were firing at me alone ... The skipper did a steep turn to give us all a good view of the inferno before we headed home.’

Having also participated in another large-scale attack against Dusseldorf on the last night of July 1942, Keen returned to a full time operational footing with No. 427 (R.C.A.F.) Squadron, a Wellington unit operating out of Middleton St. George, in January 1943, flying as Wireless Operator in his C.O’s aircraft on a “Gardening” trip on the 3rd. Lorient followed later that month, and twice more in February, followed by a raid on Essen on the 5th March.

And so to the events of the night of 12-13 March 1943, when Keen once again visited Essen in his C.O.’s aircraft, BK. 164. He was, in fact, seated just four feet away from the Navigator, Pilot Officer R. J. Heather, when he was killed outright by a splinter from heavy flak, one of several additional facts made available by an Air Ministry press release:

‘The devotion of a bomber crew - one of whom continued his duties though his foot had been shot off - is described in a moving narrative issued by the Air Ministry.

During the last heavy attack on Essen a shell burst under a Wellington when it was only a few miles from the target. The Canadian Navigator was killed instantly by a splinter. He collapsed on top of the Bomb Aimer, who was lying in the nose adjusting the bomb sight.

Glycol poured over them from a damaged tank, choking fumes filled the front of the aircraft and the oxygen supply began to fall.

In spite of the weight of the dead man, the sickly smell from the oil fumes and the lack of oxygen, the Bomb Aimer calmly continued to give directions to his captain and released his bombs over the target.

“The Oxygen supply seemed to give out completely and we were all on the point of passing out,” said the captain. “I found that the aileron control had been damaged and, after we had bombed, we staggered about the sky, going down to 10,000 feet to get some air.”

It was not until they were able to breathe more freely that the Wireless Operator reported he had been hit.

“His right foot had been shot clean off,” said the captain, “But without complaint he went to his damaged radio set and tried to get it working. Until we reached England he remained at his set, trying to repair it, and even managed to help me with the navigation.”

Inter-communication between the captain and the Rear-Gunner had been cut, and the Rear-Gunner gave directions to his captain, who was able to take evasive action and shake off a Junkers.

The damaged Wellington managed to reach an airfield in the South of England and make a safe landing.’

Keen’s recommendation, written by Wing Commander D. H. Burnside, D.F.C., his Squadron C.O. and pilot, was endorsed by the Group Captain commanding the R.C.A.F. Station, Middleton St. George on the following day:

‘I consider this N.C.O’s superb display of courage and devotion to duty whilst seriously wounded fully merits an award of the Victoria Cross.’

So, too, by Air Vice-Marshal G. E. Brookes, C.B., O.B.E., the A.O.C. of No. 6 Group:

‘This case is considered to be an outstanding example of coolness and tenacity of purpose on the part of this N.C.O. when seriously wounded, and demanding courage of the highest order. An award of the Victoria Cross is recommended.’

At this stage the relevant paperwork came before the R.A.F. Awards Committee, who exchanged memoranda regarding the matter over a three or four day period, one of their number drawing parallels with the V.C. awarded to Pilot Officer Manser, but, in the event, it was agreed the C.G.M. would be a more fitting award for his ‘magnificent display of bravery and determination’ - full details of their deliberations survive in AIR 2/4890. Wing Commander D. H. Burnside, his skipper, received an immediate Bar to his D.F.C., and the Bomb Aimer, Pilot Officer R. J. Hayhurst, and Air Gunner, Pilot Officer D. B. Ross, immediate D.F.Cs.

Keen, who was shortly to be commissioned as a Pilot Officer, was hospitalised for several months, but rejoined No. 427 that summer. He did not, however, return to operations until 1944, when he flew sorties to Le Mans on 7 March, Le Cliton on 18 May, and the Falaise Gap on 14 August, the last two trips in a Halifax piloted by Squadron Leader Gribb. He was released from the Royal Air Force as a Squadron Leader at the end of 1946.

Sold with a quantity of original documentation, including the recipient’s Flying Log Book, covering the period October 1940 to November 1946; “Bomber” Harris postagram for the award of his C.G.M., dated 12 April 1943, a letter from Air Vice-Marshal G. E. Brookes, A.O.C. No. 6 Group, on the same occasion, this dated 19 April 1943 and, similarly, an R.A.F. Message Form with a congratulatory message from his sweetheart, this undated; a handwritten copy of a letter written by Keen’s Rear-Gunner describing “Thousand Bomber Raid” on Cologne in 1942; a good quantity of wartime newspaper cuttings and photographs; and two letters from Keen’s old skipper, Dudley Burnside, dated in 1979 and 1981.