https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Charles_Aitchison_SmithCharles Aitchison Smith - Revision history2026-07-31T10:29:25ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Charles_Aitchison_Smith&diff=450791&oldid=prevAdvAcademy01 at 19:29, 29 January 20262026-01-29T19:29:08Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|British Army and Indian Army officer and administrator}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}<br />
Lieutenant-Colonel '''Charles Aitchison Smith''' [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]] (12 September 1871 &ndash; 26 January 1940) was a [[British Army]] and [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] officer and administrator in [[India]].<br />
<br />
Smith was born in [[Leith]], the son of [[George Smith (1833–1919)|George Smith]], a well-known writer on India. His brothers were [[George Adam Smith|Sir George Adam Smith]] and [[James Dunlop Smith|Sir James Dunlop Smith]]. His sister was the mother of the politician [[Rab Butler]]. Smith was educated at the [[Royal High School, Edinburgh]], the [[University of Edinburgh]], and the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]].<br />
<br />
Smith was commissioned into the [[Essex Regiment]] in November 1891 and was posted to the 2nd Battalion, serving in [[Cyprus]] and then India, where he transferred to the [[Indian Staff Corps]] in January 1896 and served in the [[Tirah Campaign]] of 1897. He was promoted [[Captain (land)|captain]] in October 1901. He joined the [[Indian Political Department]] in 1902 and served in the remote areas of [[Gilgit]], [[Chilas]], [[Chitral]], and the [[Tochi Valley|Tochi]], all in the [[Himalayas]]. He was promoted [[Major (rank)|major]] in November 1909.<br />
<br />
In the [[First World War]], he served in the [[Indian Expeditionary Force]] in France and Flanders with [[Hodson's Horse]], fighting at [[Battle of Mons|Mons]]. He later transferred to [[Fane's Horse]], and also served as an intelligence officer.<br />
<br />
Returning to India in 1917, he served as Political Officer at Gilgit until 1920, although also serving in the [[Third Afghan War]] in 1919. He was then appointed Political Agent at [[Quetta]] until his retirement in 1923.<br />
<br />
Returning to the [[United Kingdom]], he was appointed publicity secretary of the Public Schools Cadet Association in 1926 and secretary of the British National Cadet Association in 1931, holding both posts until his death.<br />
<br />
He was appointed [[Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire]] (CIE) in the 1920 New Year Honours.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31712 |date=30 December 1919 |page=5 |supp=y}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Footnotes==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
*Obituary, ''[[The Times]]'', 21 August 1930<br />
<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Charles}}<br />
[[Category:1871 births]]<br />
[[Category:1940 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:People from Leith]]<br />
[[Category:People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh]]<br />
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]<br />
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]<br />
[[Category:Essex Regiment officers]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]]<br />
[[Category:British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Afghan War]]<br />
[[Category:British military personnel of the Tirah campaign]]<br />
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Political Service officers]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Staff Corps officers]]<br />
[[Category:Military personnel from Edinburgh]]<br />
[[Category:British people in British India]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century British Army personnel]]</div>AdvAcademy01