Geddes was born in India, the son of Major Malcolm Henry Burdett Geddes,an Indian Army Officer. He soon returned to England with his mother and much later graduated from the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich and joined the Royal Artillery in 1926.
Geddes began his military career in the Army before being seconded to the Royal Air Force in 1928. He trained at Royal Air Force Sealand before joining Number. 4 Squadron Royal Air Force at Royal Air Force Farnborough flying the Bristol F.2 Fighter and later the Armstrong Whitworth Atlas.
In 1932, he rejoined the Royal Artillery but was again seconded to the Royal Air Force in 1935, this time as a Flight Commander with Number.
2 Squadron Royal Air Force at Royal Air Force Manston. By 1938, Geddes was to Squadron Commander.
He had an active role in the planning of Operation Overlord, the Alled invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Shortly after the landing on 6 June 1944, Geddes flew a Mustang over the invasion beaches taking some of the first pictures of the invasion.
Although Geddes retained his Army commission (reaching the rank of Major in 1943), he spent all of World World War II in the Royal Air Force. He finally fully transferred to the Royal Air Force in 1945.
Operation Manna From 1 April 1943 until VE-Day Air Commodore Geddes was responsible for the Operations and Plans of the Second Tactical Air Force Royal Air Force. In the spring of 1945 he was responsible for the organising of Operation Manna. The dropping of food and other essentials to the starving Dutch population still the occupied areas of the Netherlands. The first food drops began on 29 April 1945, even though no formal treaty had been signed between the Allies and Germans.
That day over 240 Lancaster"s flew at low level to drop 535 tons of food at six designated places in the west of the Netherlands agreed with Germans.
In case the Allies were trying to use the drop for military purposes (for example dropping paratroopers or arms for partisans), the Germans sent anti-aircraft guns to four of the locations. Local Dutch organising committees then set up a plan to collect the air drops and distribute the food.
Geddes retired from the Royal Air Force on 29 September 1954 with the rank of Air Commodore and worked in local government.
