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Chris Keeble

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Chris Keeble
Born (1941-11-14) 14 November 1941 (age 82)
Quetta, British India
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service / branch British Army
Years of service1963–1987
RankLieutenant colonel
UnitRoyal Leicestershire Regiment
Royal Anglian Regiment
Parachute Regiment
Commands2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment
Battles / warsFalklands War
AwardsDistinguished Service Order

Christopher Patrick Benedict Keeble, DSO, MSc, FCMI (born 14 November 1941) is a former British Army officer, who fought in the Falklands War.

Early life

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Keeble was born in Quetta, British India, and received his early formal education at the Benedictine Douai School (for both prep school at Ditcham Park and the senior school),[1] and at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

Military career

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In February 1964 he received a commission into the British Army's Royal Leicestershire Regiment, which was amalgamated into The Royal Anglian Regiment seven months later.[2][3] He joined the Parachute Regiment in 1972,[4] and was promoted to major serving with 10 Para in 1975.[5][6]

On 28–29 May 1982, at the Battle of Goose Green during the Falklands War, Keeble assumed command of the 2nd Battalion of The Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) after its commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel H. Jones, had been killed in action. A devout Christian, Keeble, then a major, took over the leadership of the battalion at a point when its attack upon the Argentine Army position had broken down, having lost 16% of its strength as casualties; it was short of ammunition, had been without sleep for 40 hours, and was in a debilitated condition to face the unknown potential of a counter-attack from the Argentine forces present in the vicinity.[7] After kneeling alone in prayer amongst the burning gorse seeking guidance as to what to do, Keeble conceived the idea of refraining from more attacks to try a psychological ploy, subsequently releasing several captured Argentine prisoners of war in the direction of their Goose Green garrison, carrying messages into it requiring its surrender or threatening it with a fictitious large-scale assault by the British forces, supported by artillery. The Argentine commander, Lieutenant Colonel Ítalo Piaggi, subsequently surrendered the garrison to the Parachute Regiment without further fighting.[8]

After the battle, despite popular sentiment among the soldiers of 2 PARA for him to remain in command, he was replaced by Lt. Col. David Chaundler,[9] who was flown in from the United Kingdom to take command of the battalion. At the end of the conflict Keeble was decorated with the Distinguished Service Order.[10]

He then commanded 15th Bn Parachute Regiment, a Territorial Army battalion based in Scotland, with its HQ in Glasgow. Keeble finished his military career with the rank of lieutenant colonel on 27 September 1987,[11] his final appointment having been a staff officer grade 1 at Allied Forces Central Europe in the Netherlands.

Post-military life

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After retiring from the British Army he set up a management consultancy, providing instruction on balancing the "Ethic of business transformation with the Ethic of peoples' flourishing". He is a supernumerary fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford University.[12]

Notes

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  1. ^ "Pupils of the Schools at Paris, Douai and Woolhampton" (PDF). Douai Abbey. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Keeble, Christopher Patrick Benedict – DSO MSc FCMI". Royal Tigers' Association.
  3. ^ "No. 43241". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 February 1964. p. 1263.
  4. ^ "No. 45575". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 January 1972. p. 649.
  5. ^ Military profile of Keeble, 'Paradata' website (2019). https://www.paradata.org.uk/people/chris-p-b-keeble
  6. ^ "No. 46469". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 January 1975. p. 865.
  7. ^ "Books blog: The inspiring Catholics who strived for peace amid war". The Catholic Herald. 30 November 2015. Archived from the original on 28 April 2016.
  8. ^ "Forgiveness Out of War". For A Change. Initiatives of Change. 4 April 2007. Archived from the original on 3 August 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ "No. 49194". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 December 1982. p. 16124.
  10. ^ "No. 49134". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 October 1982. p. 12844.
  11. ^ "No. 51074". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 September 1987. p. 12060.
  12. ^ "Fellows & Staff – Supernumerary Fellows". hmc.ox.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016.

References

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