During the Pacific War, he served as head of the China Theatre of the Special Operations Executive, Britain's wartime secret service.
He was also Chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Council during the crises leading to the Pacific War, stepping down in May 1941 to be replaced by John Hellyer Liddell.
[1] On 23 January 1941, at a meeting of 3,000 rate-payers on the Shanghai Racecourse, Keswick was shot twice by Yukichi Hayashi, chairman of the Japanese Street Union Association.
The shooting occurred after the meeting rejected an amendment proposed by Hayashi, which opposed the imposition of higher taxes and instead recommended acceptance of a loan from an unnamed Japanese bank.
Early on in the war, Keswick was appointed chief of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) based in London.