Charles Leslie Richardson
General Sir Charles Leslie Richardson GCB CBE DSO (11 August 1908 – 7 February 1994) was a senior British Army officer who saw service in World War II and later reached high office in the 1950s.
Sir Charles Richardson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 11 August 1908 |
| Died | 7 February 1994 (aged 85) Betchworth, Surrey, England |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1928–1971 |
| Rank | General |
| Service number | 40407 |
| Unit | Royal Engineers |
| Commands held | 61st Infantry Brigade Royal Military College of Science Singapore District Northern Command |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in dispatches (2) |
Military career
Educated at St. Ronan's School[1] and Clare College, Cambridge, Richardson entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Royal Engineers on 30 August 1928.[2][3] He was promoted to lieutenant on 30 August 1931, to captain on 1 August 1938, and to the acting rank of major on 27 April 1940, by which time the Second World War had begun.[3]
He served in the war as a General Staff Officer (GSO) for the Plans Headquarters of the British Eighth Army from 1942.[2][4] Richardson played a significant role in the Battle of El Alamein and was responsible for planning the deception operation codenamed Operation Bertram in particular. Promoted to the acting rank of brigadier on 1 May 1943,[3] he was Deputy Chief of Staff for Mark Clark's U.S. Fifth Army from 1943 and as a BGS (Plans) for 21st Army Group from 1944.[2][3][4]
After the War he was with the British Control Commission in Berlin from 1945 to 1946 and then with the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) from 1947 to 1948.[2] He held various staff appointments in the UK and Egypt between 1949 and 1952.[2][4]
He was appointed Commandant of the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham in 1955 and then General Officer Commanding for Singapore District in 1958.[2] He went on to be Director of Combat Development at the War Office in 1960 and Director General of Military Training in 1961.[2] In this latter role he was credited with recognising the significance of the Special Air Service which hitherto had been treated as little more than a 'private army of ill-disciplined mavericks'.[5]
In 1963 he became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command and in 1965 he became Quartermaster-General to the Forces.[2] His final appointment was as Master-General of the Ordnance in 1966: he retired in 1971.[2]
He was Chief Royal Engineer from 1972 to 1977.[2]
His banner as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath hangs in St Michael's Church at Betchworth in Surrey.[6]
References
- "St. Ronan's School". Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
- Sir Charles Leslie Richardson Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- "British Army officer histories". Unit Histories. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
- "Biography of General Sir Charles Leslie Richardson (1908−1994), Great Britain". generals.dk.
- U. S. Counter-Terrorist Forces By Fred J. Pushies, Terry Griswold, D. M. Giangreco, S. F. Tomajczyk, Page 153 Motorbooks, 2002, ISBN 978-0-7603-1363-3
- St Michael's Church, Betchworth Archived 23 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
Bibliography
- Flashback: a soldier's story by Sir Charles Richardson GCB CBE DSO, Kimber, 1985, ISBN 978-0-7183-0567-3
- Send for Freddie: Story of Montgomery's Chief of Staff Major-General Sir Francis De Guingand by Sir Charles Richardson GCB CBE DSO, Kimber, 1987, ISBN 978-0-7183-0641-0
- From Churchill's secret circle to the BBC: the biography of Lieutenant General Sir Ian Jacob GBE CB DL by Sir Charles Richardson GCB CBE DSO, Elsevier, 1991, ISBN 978-0-08-037692-9