Ronald Charles

Lieutenant General Sir James Ronald Edmondston Charles, KCB, CMG, DSO (26 June 1875 – 24 December 1955) was a senior British Army officer in the Royal Engineers.[1]

Sir Ronald Charles
Sir Ronald Charles by Bassano Ltd, 1930
Born(1875-06-26)26 June 1875[1]
Calcutta, British India
Died24 December 1955(1955-12-24) (aged 80)
Somerset, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
Years of service1894–1934
RankLieutenant General
Commands heldRoyal Military Academy, Woolwich
Waziristan Force
25th Division
Battles/warsSecond Boer War
First World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Distinguished Service Order
Mentioned in Despatches

Family

Charles was born in Calcutta, British India, the son of Thomas Edmondston Charles, later honorary physician to King Edward VII,[2][3] and Ada Henrietta Charles.[4] He had two older sisters, Bessie and Ethel, who both studied architecture and became the first women members of the Royal Institute of British Architects.[5]

Military career

Charles was educated at Winchester College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst,[1] and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1894.[6] He served in the Second Boer War (1899–1901), was mentioned in despatches (31 March 1900),[7] and received the Distinguished Service Order in November 1900.[8] He was part of the Bazar Valley and Mohmand Field Forces in 1908.[6]

Charles spent most of the First World War in the General Staff until being promoted to command a re-constituted 25th Division in August 1918.[9] He was appointed commander of the Waziristan Force in India in 1923 and then became commandant of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in 1924.[6] He was Director of Military Operations and Intelligence at the War Office from 1926 and Master-General of the Ordnance from 1931.[10] He retired in 1934.[6]

Charles' nickname among the troops was 'Don Carlos', deriving from his commanding personality and his height of 6’ 4".[9] He was also commandant of the Royal Engineers from 1931 to 1945 and Chief Royal Engineer from 1940 to 1946.[6]

Civilian roles

From 1934 to 1953, Charles was a director of British Aluminium Company,[11] appointed for his high level connections and knowledge of defence procurement procedures gained at the War Office and as Master General of the Ordnance.[12]

References
  1. "Obituary: Lt.-Gen. Sir Ronald Charles". The Times. 28 December 1955. p. 11.
  2. Addison, Henry Robert; Oakes, Charles Henry; Lawson, William John; Sladen, Douglas Brooke Wheelton (1906). Who's who. A. & C. Black. p. 317. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  3. "Deaths in the Services". The Lancet. J. Onwhyn: 702. 10 March 1906. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(01)80307-x.
  4. Walker, Lynne (2004). "Charles, Ethel Mary (1871–1962), architect". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63129. Retrieved 23 August 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. "Ethel Charles nomination papers". Architecture.com. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  6. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  7. "No. 27282". The London Gazette. 8 February 1901. pp. 844–846.
  8. "No. 27359". The London Gazette. 27 September 1901. p. 6309.
  9. Centre for First World War Studies
  10. "No. 33785". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1931. p. 3.
  11. "Appendix: Background of key BACo Top Management Team" (PDF). Glasgow University. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  12. Perchard, Andrew (2010) Land and Empire: Politics and the British Aluminium Company. University of Strathclyde. Retrieved: 17 September 2021.
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