{{Short description|British Army general (1881–1973)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{EngvarB|date=February 2020}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = General | name = Sir Clement Armitage | honorific_suffix = KCB CMG DSO & Bar DL | image = Clement Armitage.jpg | image_size = 200px | alt = | caption = Lieutenant General Clement Armitage in 1937 | nickname = | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1881|12|12}} | birth_place = Honley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1973|12|15|1881|12|12}} | death_place = Lechlade, Gloucestershire, England | burial_place = | allegiance = United Kingdom | branch = British Army | service_years = 1900–1942 | rank = General | service_number = 1446 | unit = Royal Artillery | commands = 1st Infantry Division (1936–1938)<br/>Staff College, Camberley (1934–1936)<br/>7th Infantry Brigade (1929–1932)<br/>Royal School of Artillery (1926–1929) | battles = Second Boer War<br/>First World War<br/>Arab revolt in Palestine<br/>Second World War | awards = Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath<br/>Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George<br/>Distinguished Service Order<br/>Mentioned in Despatches | children = Charles Armitage (son) | relations = | other_work = }} General '''Sir Charles Clement Armitage''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=,|KCB|CMG|DSO|DL}} (12 December 1881 – 15 December 1973) was a British Army officer who commanded 1st Division during the 1930s.
==Early life== The son of Charles Ingram Armitage, Armitage was born in Honley, West Riding of Yorkshire.<ref name=times>The Times obituaries December 1973 General Sir Clement Armitage</ref> His family were historically mill-owners who lived at Milnsbridge House, Huddersfield.<ref name=times/>
==Military career== Armitage was commissioned into the Royal Artillery as a second lieutenant on 6 January 1900, as the army expanded due to the ongoing Second Boer War in South Africa, where he was sent. He was promoted to lieutenant on 3 April 1901, while still in South Africa.<ref>Hart's Army list, 1903</ref> After the end of this war in June 1902, Armitage was attached to the 74th Battalion, Royal Field Artillery, which left Durban for British India in October 1902, and was stationed at Lucknow, Bengal Presidency.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Army in South Africa – Troops returning home |date=6 November 1902 |page=9 |issue=36918| }}</ref>
He later fought in the First World War, serving in France and Belgium.<ref name=lh>{{cite web|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/ARMITAGE1.shtml |title=Sir (Charles) Clement Armitage|publisher=Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070731053216/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/ARMITAGE1.shtml|archive-date=31 July 2007}}</ref>
He was promoted in July 1922 to brevet colonel<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32725|page=4924|date=30 June 1922}}</ref> and appointed chief gunnery instructor at the School of Artillery in 1925, the same year he was promoted to colonel (with seniority dated back to January 1921),<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33057|page=4031|date=16 June 1925}}</ref> commandant of the Royal School of Artillery in 1927 and commander of the 7th Infantry Brigade in 1929.<ref name=lh/> He went on to be commandant of the Staff College, Camberley, in 1934, general officer commanding (GOC) the 1st Infantry Division. The division was sent to Palestine during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt. He was aided throughout this difficult period by his General Staff Officer Grade 1 (GSO1), Thomas Hutton. After handing over command of the division to Major General The Hon. Sir Harold Alexander in early 1938, Armitage was master general of the Ordnance in India in 1938, in which role he served in the Second World War before retiring in 1942.<ref name=lh/>
Armitage lived at Downington House in Lechlade,<ref>[http://thepeerage.com/p29968.htm The Peerage.com]</ref> and served as deputy lieutenant for the county of Gloucestershire.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Law|first1=Edward|title=Huddesfield & District history connections with titled classes in modern times|url=http://homepage.eircom.net/~lawedd/TITLESA-L.htm}}</ref>
==Family== In 1915, Armitage married Hilda Hirst of Meltham Hall, and they had three sons, Charles, Robert and Johnny, and a daughter Mary.<ref name=times/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== *{{cite book| first=Nick| last=Smart| title=Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War| isbn=1844150496| year=2005| location=Barnesley| publisher=Pen & Sword}}
==External links== *[https://generals.dk/general/Armitage/Charles_Clement/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=William Stirling}} {{s-ttl|title=Commandant of the School of Artillery, Larkhill|years=1926–1929}} {{s-aft|after=Alan Brooke}} |- {{s-bef|before=John Dill}} {{s-ttl|title=Commandant of the Staff College, Camberley|years=1934–1936}} {{s-aft|after=Viscount Gort}} |- {{s-bef|before=John Kennedy}} {{s-ttl|title=GOC 1st Infantry Division|years=1936–1938}} {{s-aft|after=The Hon. Harold Alexander}} |- {{s-bef|before=Henry ap Rhys Pryce}} {{s-ttl|title=Master-General of the Ordnance (India)|years=1938−1942}} {{s-aft|after=Clarence Bird}} {{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armitage, Clement}} Category:1881 births Category:1973 deaths Category:British Army generals Category:British Army generals of World War II Category:British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:British military personnel of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine Category:Commandants of the Staff College, Camberley Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Category:Deputy lieutenants of Gloucestershire Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Category:People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Category:People from Honley Category:Military personnel from West Yorkshire Category:Royal Artillery officers Category:British people in British India