{{Short description|British Army general (1875–1955)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Use British English|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = Lieutenant-General | name = Sir Ronald Charles | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB|CMG|DSO}} | image = Sir James Ronald Edmondston Charles.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Sir Ronald Charles by Bassano Ltd, 1930 | nickname = | birth_date = {{birth date|1875|06|26|df=yes}}<ref name="times"/> | birth_place = Calcutta, British India | death_date = {{death date and age|1955|12|24|1875|06|26|df=yes}} | death_place = Somerset, England | burial_place = | allegiance = United Kingdom | branch = British Army | service_years = 1894–1934 | rank = Lieutenant-General | unit = Royal Engineers | commands = Royal Military Academy, Woolwich<br/>Waziristan Force<br/>25th Division | battles = Second Boer War<br/>First 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 | relations = | other_work = }} Lieutenant-General '''Sir James Ronald Edmondston Charles''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=,|KCB|CMG|DSO}} (26 June 1875 – 24 December 1955) was a senior British Army officer in the Royal Engineers.<ref name="times">{{cite news |title= Obituary: Lt.-Gen. Sir Ronald Charles |work=The Times |date=28 December 1955 |page= 11}}</ref>
==Family== Charles was born in Calcutta, British India, the son of Thomas Edmondston Charles, later honorary physician to King Edward VII,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Addison |first1=Henry Robert |last2=Oakes |first2=Charles Henry |last3=Lawson |first3=William John |last4=Sladen |first4=Douglas Brooke Wheelton |title=Who's who |date=1906 |publisher=A. & C. Black |page=317 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7khLAAAAMAAJ&q=James+Ronald+Edmondston+Charles&pg=PA317 |accessdate=7 May 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Deaths in the Services |journal=The Lancet |date=10 March 1906 |page=702 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8wJBAQAAMAAJ&q=dr+T+Edmondston+Charles&pg=PA702 |publisher=J. Onwhyn |language=en |doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(01)80307-x |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and Ada Henrietta Charles.<ref name=":1">{{Cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-63129|title=Charles, Ethel Mary (1871–1962), architect|year=2004|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/63129|access-date=2020-08-23|last1=Walker|first1=Lynne}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Ethel">{{cite web |title=Ethel Charles nomination papers |url=https://www.architecture.com/explore-architecture/inside-the-riba-collections/ethel-charles-nomination-papers |website=Architecture.com |access-date=17 September 2021}}</ref>
==Military career== Charles was educated at Winchester College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst,<ref name="times"/> and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1894.<ref name=lh>[http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/CHARLES.shtml Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives]</ref> He served in the Second Boer War (1899–1901), was mentioned in despatches (31 March 1900),<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27282 |pages=844–846 | date=8 February 1901}}</ref> and received the Distinguished Service Order in November 1900.<ref>{{London Gazette | issue=27359 | date=27 September 1901 |page=6309}}</ref> He was part of the Bazar Valley and Mohmand Field Forces in 1908.<ref name=lh/>
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.<ref name=birm>[http://www.firstworldwar.bham.ac.uk/nicknames/charles.htm Centre for First World War Studies]</ref> He was appointed commander of the Waziristan Force in India in 1923 and then became commandant of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in 1924.<ref name=lh/> He was Director of Military Operations and Intelligence at the War Office from 1926 and Master-General of the Ordnance from 1931.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33785|supp=y|page=3|date=29 December 1931}}</ref> He retired in 1934.<ref name=lh/>
Charles' nickname among the troops was 'Don Carlos', deriving from his commanding personality and his height of 6’ 4".<ref name=birm/> He was also commandant of the Royal Engineers from 1931 to 1945 and Chief Royal Engineer from 1940 to 1946.<ref name=lh/>
==Civilian roles== From 1934 to 1953, Charles was a director of British Aluminium Company,<ref name="BACo">{{cite web |title=Appendix: Background of key BACo Top Management Team |url=http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/209017/2/209017Suppl.pdf |website=Glasgow University |access-date=17 September 2021}}</ref> appointed for his high level connections and knowledge of defence procurement procedures gained at the War Office and as Master General of the Ordnance.<ref name=Perchard>Perchard, Andrew (2010) ''[https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/35168/1/media_168497_en.pdf Land and Empire: Politics and the British Aluminium Company]''. University of Strathclyde. Retrieved: 17 September 2021.</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=Webb Gillman}} {{s-ttl|title=Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Woolwich|years=1924–1926}} {{s-aft|after=Hugo de Pree}} |- {{s-bef|before=John Burnett-Stuart}} {{s-ttl|title=Director of Military Operations and Intelligence|years=1926–1931}} {{s-aft|after=William Bartholomew}} |- {{s-bef|before=Sir Webb Gillman}} {{s-ttl|title=Master-General of the Ordnance|years=1931–1934}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Hugh Elles}} |- {{s-hon}} {{s-bef|before=Sir Bindon Blood}} {{s-ttl|title=Chief Royal Engineer|years=1946–1951}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Guy Williams}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Ronald}} Category:1875 births Category:1955 deaths Category:British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Category:People educated at Winchester College Category:British Army generals of World War I Category:British Army personnel of World War II Category:British Army lieutenant generals Category:Commandants of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Category:Royal Engineers officers Category:British people in British India {{UK-army-bio-stub}} Category:Military personnel from Kolkata