Charles Bonham-Carter

{{Short description|British Army officer and Governor of Malta (1876–1955)}}

{{Infobox military person

|name= Sir Charles Bonham-Carter

|image=

|image_size=

|alt=

|caption=

|nickname=

|birth_date= {{Birth date|1876|02|25|df=yes}}

|birth_place= Kensington, London, England

|death_date= {{Death date and age|1955|10|21|1876|02|25|df=yes}}

|death_place= Petersfield, Hampshire, England

|placeofburial=

|allegiance= United Kingdom

|branch= British Army

|servicenumber=6465

|serviceyears= 1896–1940

|rank= General

|unit= Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment

|commands= Territorial Army (1933–1936)
4th Infantry Division (1931–1933)
129th Infantry Brigade (1921–1924)
2nd Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers (1919–1921)

|battles= Second Boer War
First World War
Second World War

|awards= Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Distinguished Service Order
Mentioned in Despatches
Army Distinguished Service Medal (United States)
Legion of Honour (France)

|relations=

|laterwork= Governor of Malta (1936–40)

}}

General Sir Charles Bonham-Carter, {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCB|CMG|DSO}} (25 February 1876 – 21 October 1955) was a British Army officer and later Governor of Malta.

Early life

Bonham-Carter was born on 25 February 1876 in Kensington, London, the ninth of eleven children of Henry and Sibella Charlotte Bonham-Carter. His father was a director of an insurance company. He was educated at Clifton College"Clifton College Register" Muirhead, J.A.O. p156: Bristol; J.W Arrowsmith for Old Cliftonian Society; April, 1948 near Bristol and then the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Military career

Bonham-Carter was commissioned into the British Army as a second lieutenant in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment on 29 February 1896, and was promoted to a lieutenant on 16 July 1898.Hart′s Army list, 1900 Serving in the 2nd Battalion of his regiment, he was in early 1900 posted to South Africa for active service in the Second Boer War. Together with 1030 officers and men of the battalion, he left Southampton on the SS Bavarian in March 1900,{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The War – Embarcation of Troops |date=17 March 1900 |page=9 |issue=36092}} and on arriving in South Africa was part of the 17th Brigade, 8th Division. The battalion stayed there until after the end of the war in 1902, and then was posted to Ceylon.

After serving as a brigade major{{London Gazette|issue=28012|page=2505|date=12 April 1907}} he went to the British Army Staff College in Camberley and joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to France as a regimental officer. He held a number of staff posts, including that of GSO2 in May 1915,{{London Gazette|issue=29177|page=5214|date=1 June 1915}} in France and in January 1916 became GSO1 of the 7th Division in place of John Gathorne-Hardy.{{London Gazette|issue=29466|page=1467|date=4 February 1916|supp=y}} Between 1917 and 1918 he was Brigadier General Staff (Training) at the General Headquarters, despite opposition he started programmes to train the men in general and vocational subjects. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the American Distinguished Service Medal for his work and was mentioned in despatches five times.{{cite web|url=https://generals.dk/general/Bonham-Carter/Charles/Great_Britain.html|title=Biography of General Charles Bonham-Carter (1876–1955), Great Britain|website=generals.dk}} He was also appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George{{London Gazette|issue=31370|page=6791|date=30 May 1919}} and in January 1918 was made a brevet colonel.{{London Gazette|issue=30450|page=9|date=28 December 1917|supp=y}}

After the war Bonham-Carter served in Turkey and India, and in 1927 became Director of Staff Duties at the War Office. In June 1931 he moved to become General Officer Commanding the 4th Division{{London Gazette|issue=33723|date=5 June 1931|page=3654}} in Colchester. In October 1933 he was promoted to lieutenant general and became director general of the Territorial Army, taking over from General Sir William Thwaites.{{London Gazette|issue=33983|page=6356|date=3 October 1933}} He held this position until 1936.

Malta

In 1936 Bonham-Carter was appointed Governor and Commander in Chief of Malta following the death of General Sir David Campbell. It was a time of political unrest on the island and a constitutional body was formed to find a more representative form of self-government, the earlier constitution having been suspended. The subsequent changes overseen by Bonham-Carter were to create something more representative and acceptable to the population. Although a strong supporter of the need to defend the islands after war was declared in 1939, by October 1940 he had become ill and had to resign his post, effective 11 October 1940.{{London Gazette|issue=34968|supp=y|page=5993|date=11 October 1940}}

He was appointed Colonel of The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment in 1936, a post he held until 1946.{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org:80/regiments/uk/inf/050QORWK.htm|title=The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment|publisher=regiments.org|accessdate=31 May 2018|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217042927/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/050QORWK.htm|archivedate=17 December 2007}}

Retirement

Bonham-Carter took a number of posts in retirement including chairman of the Royal School, Bath, chairman of the Royal School for Soldier's Daughters in Hampstead. He was also a governor of his old school Clifton College. He died at home in Petersfield, Hampshire, on 21 October 1955.

Family

Bonham-Carter married first, at Drogheda on 22 February 1902, Gladys Beryl Coddington, daughter of Colonel Arthur Blayney Coddington, and they had two sons. Following a divorce in 1909 he married Gabrielle Madge Jeanette Fisher in 1911 and they had a son, Victor Bonham-Carter.[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/victor-bonhamcarter-442126.html Obituary of Victor Bonham Carter, The Independent, 28 March 2007]. Retrieved 14 April 2011. His brothers included Sir Edgar Bonham Carter and Sir Maurice Bonham Carter, the latter of whom is the grandfather of actress Helena Bonham Carter.

Honours

1917 – Distinguished Service Order
14 July 1917 – Brevet Colonel Charles Bonham-Carter, DSO, Royal West Kent Regiment given permission to wear the Croix d'Officer of Légion d'honneur awarded by the President of the French Republic for distinguished service rendered during the course of the campaign.[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/13114/page/1365 The Edinburgh Gazette 17 July 1917 page 1365]
1919 – Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
12 July 1919 – Brevet Colonel (temporary Brigadier-General) Charles Bonham-Carter, CMG, DSO, Royal West Kent Regiment is given permission to wear the American Distinguished Service Medal awarded by the President of the United States for distinguished service rendered during the course of the campaign.
1941 – Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Memorial

There is a memorial to him in St Mary's Church, Buriton.[https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6240246 Geograph]

References

{{Reflist|refs={{Cite newspaper The Times|title=Sir Charles Bonham-Carter Former Governor of Malta|department=Obituaries|date=22 October 1955|page=9|issue=53558|column=A}}

{{London Gazette|issue=31451|date=12 July 1919|page=8937|supp=y}}}}

External links

[https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1426 The Papers of General Sir Charles Bonham-Carter] held at Churchill Archives Centre
[https://generals.dk/general/Bonham-Carter/Charles/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]