Percy Noble is occupied with Atlantic preparations, and Andrew Cunningham is fighting in the Mediterranean. The army's strongest officers and formations are needed in North Africa and Britain, while the small Far East RAF establishment lacks a candidate of comparable standing. Keyes brings parliamentary experience, personal access to Churchill, Curtin's trust, and work across the services at Combined Operations. His proposal to seize Trondheim with old battleships shows his appetite for direct solutions. His presence aboard an American landing ship when it was bombed by Japan in 1944, after his formal retirement, offers another example of how close he stayed to combat. His forceful temperament and relationships with allied governments make him the proposed supreme commander. Louis Mountbatten was due to replace him at Combined Operations later in 1941, so an April transfer is plausible. Sending an admiral of the fleet would also signal British commitment to partners who doubted how seriously London took the region's defence.
Notable Point · 3:37-8:45
Why Roger Keyes is chosen to command
Roger Keyes combines political credibility, energy, and experience coordinating British, Australian, Dutch, and American interests.