Ronald Charles
British Army general
Lieutenant-General Sir James Ronald Edmondston Charles, (26 June 1875 – 24 December 1955) was a senior British Army officer in the Royal Engineers.
Family
Charles was born in Calcutta, British India, the son of Thomas Edmondston Charles, later honorary physician to King Edward VII, and Ada Henrietta Charles. 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.
Military career
Charles was educated at Winchester College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1894. He served in the Second Boer War (1899–1901), was mentioned in despatches (31 March 1900), and received the Distinguished Service Order in November 1900. He was part of the Bazar Valley and Mohmand Field Forces in 1908.
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. He was promoted to major general on 3 January 1923, appointed commander of the Waziristan Force in India in 1923 and then became commandant of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, in 1924. He was Director of Military Operations and Intelligence at the War Office from 1926 and Master-General of the Ordnance from 1931. He retired in 1934.
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