Ronald Charles

Sir

Ronald Charles

KCB CMG DSO
Sir; Ronald Charles; KCB CMG DSO
	Sir Ronald Charles by Bassano Ltd, 1930
Born	26 June 1875; Calcutta, British India
Died	24 December 1955 (aged 80); Somerset, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1894–1934
Rank	Lieutenant General
Unit	Royal Engineers
Commands held	Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; Waziristan Force; 25th Division
Battles/wars	Second Boer War; First World War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath; Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George; Distinguished Service Order; Mentioned in Despatches

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]

Family[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c "Obituary: Lt.-Gen. Sir Ronald Charles". The Times. 28 December 1955. p. 11.
^ 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.
^ "Deaths in the Services". The Lancet. J. Onwhyn: 702. 10 March 1906. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(01)80307-x.
^ 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.)
^ "Ethel Charles nomination papers". Architecture.com. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
^ "No. 27282". The London Gazette. 8 February 1901. pp. 844–846.
^ "No. 27359". The London Gazette. 27 September 1901. p. 6309.
^ ^a ^b Centre for First World War Studies
^ "No. 33785". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1931. p. 3.
^ "Appendix: Background of key BACo Top Management Team" (PDF). Glasgow University. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
^ Perchard, Andrew (2010) Land and Empire: Politics and the British Aluminium Company. University of Strathclyde. Retrieved: 17 September 2021.

Military offices
Preceded by Webb Gillman	Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Woolwich 1924–1926	Succeeded by Hugo de Pree
Preceded by John Burnett-Stuart	Director of Military Operations and Intelligence 1926–1931	Succeeded by William Bartholomew
Preceded by Sir Webb Gillman	Master-General of the Ordnance 1931–1934	Succeeded by Sir Hugh Elles
Honorary titles
Preceded by Sir Bindon Blood	Chief Royal Engineer 1946–1951	Succeeded by Sir Guy Williams

This biographical article related to the British Army is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[times-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.

[:1-4] 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.)

[Ethel-5] "Ethel Charles nomination papers". Architecture.com. Retrieved 17 September 2021.

[lh-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.

[birm-9] Centre for First World War Studies

[10] "No. 33785". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1931. p. 3.

[BACo-11] "Appendix: Background of key BACo Top Management Team" (PDF). Glasgow University. Retrieved 17 September 2021.

[Perchard-12] Perchard, Andrew (2010) Land and Empire: Politics and the British Aluminium Company. University of Strathclyde. Retrieved: 17 September 2021.

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