Early in the Boxer Rebellion, he led a mission to capture a flotilla of four Chinese destroyers moored to a wharf on the Peiho River.

Wearing full uniform in the House of Commons, he played an important role in the Norway Debate which led to the resignation of Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister.

[2] After being brought up in India and then the United Kingdom, where he attended preparatory school at Margate, he joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in the training ship HMS Britannia on 15 July 1885.

He went ashore, leading half the landing party, and, while HMS Fame fired on the besiegers, he led the charge which routed the Chinese and freed the troops.

[6] In June 1900, early in the Boxer Rebellion, Keyes led a mission to capture a flotilla of four Chinese destroyers moored to a wharf on the Peiho River.

[1] Shortly thereafter he led a mission to capture the heavily fortified fort at Hsi-cheng: he loaded HMS Fame with a landing party of 32 men, armed with rifles, pistols, cutlasses and explosives.

[8] Keyes later recalled about the sack of Beijing: "Every Chinaman ... was treated as a Boxer by the Russian and French troops, and the slaughter of men, women, and children in retaliation was revolting".

[3] He proposed, planned and took part in the first Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914 flying his broad pendant in the destroyer HMS Lurcher.

[3] He went alongside the sinking German cruiser SMS Mainz and picked up 220 survivors, including the son of Grand-Admiral Tirpitz, for which he was mentioned in dispatches.

Writing to his wife, Keyes expressed frustration at the lack of imagination of his new superior, Vice-Admiral John de Robeck, arguing that "We must have a clear channel through the minefield for the ships to close to decisive range to hammer the forts and then land men to destroy the guns.

[24] Prior to Keyes, the Dover Patrol had been commanded by Admiral Reginald Bacon and had succeeded in sinking two German U-boats in the English Channel in the previous two years, but out of 88,000 crossings by ships only five had been torpedoed and one sunk by gunfire.

[26] In April 1918 Keyes planned and led the famous raids on the German submarine pens in the Belgian ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend.

[35] In January 1928 at a dance on the quarterdeck of the battleship HMS Royal Oak, Rear Admiral Bernard Collard, Second-in-command of the 1st Battle Squadron, openly lambasted Royal Marine Bandmaster, Percy Barnacle, and allegedly said "I won't have a bugger like that in my ship" in the presence of ship's officers and guests.

[40] He was opposed to the Munich Agreement, which Neville Chamberlain had reached with Adolf Hitler in 1938 and, along with Winston Churchill, was one of the few who withheld support from the Government on that issue.

He sought an interview with Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty; submitted an outline plan to seize the city; and offered to lead the expedition.

German destroyers dominated the fjord, no airfields were seized to provide air cover and troops earmarked for the centre prong were never landed.

Making a dramatic entrance in the full uniform of an Admiral of the Fleet, including medals, Keyes defended the navy and strongly criticised the government.

One hundred and forty years ago, Nelson said, "I am of the opinion that the boldest measures are the safest," and that still holds good to-day.Chamberlain's government fell two days later, and Churchill became prime minister.

[40] When Germany invaded the Low Countries in May 1940, Churchill appointed Keyes liaison officer to Leopold III, King of the Belgians.

During his visit to the amphibious warfare ship USS Appalachian he suffered smoke inhalation following an attack by Japanese aircraft and never fully recovered.