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{{Short description|British Indian Army general (1873–1951)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Sir Charles Godwin
|birth_name= Charles Alexander Campbell Godwin
|honorific_suffix ={{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB|CMG|DSO|size=100%}}
|birth_date= 28 October 1873
|death_date= 18 July 1951 (age 77)
|birth_place=[[Agra]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], British India<ref name="birth">''India, Select Births and Baptisms, 1786–1947''</ref>
|death_place=[[Melrose, Roxburghshire]], Scotland
|placeofburial=
|image=
|caption=
|alt=
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{UK}}
|branch= [[File:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Indian Army]]
|serviceyears=
|rank=[[Lieutenant-General]]
|commands=[[6th Mounted Brigade]] [[10th Cavalry Brigade (British Indian Army)|10th Cavalry Brigade]] [[4th (Secunderabad) Cavalry Brigade|5th Indian Cavalry Brigade]] [[Secunderabad|Secunderabad Garrison]] [[Pakistan Command and Staff College|Staff College, Quertta]] [[Peshawar|Peshawar District]]
|unit= [[Madras Lancers]] [[23rd Cavalry (Frontier Force)]]
|battles=[[Military history of the North-West Frontier|North West Frontier]] 1901-1902 Mahsud Blockade 1902 [[First World War]] North West Frontier 1930
|awards=[[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] [[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]] [[Companion of the Distinguished Service Order]]
|laterwork=
}}

[[Lieutenant-General]] '''Sir Charles Alexander Campbell Godwin''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB|CMG|DSO*}} (28 October 1873 – 18 July 1951) was a [[cavalry]] officer in the [[British Indian Army]].<ref name="times">{{cite news |title= Obituary: Lieut.-Gen. Sir Charles Godwin |work=[[The Times]] |date=19 July 1951 |page= 8}}</ref>

Godwin was born in [[Agra]], the son of Colonel Charles Henry Young Godwin, an Army surgeon, and Grace Mitilda Campbell. He initially joined the [[Madras Lancers]], then transferred to the [[11th Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry (Frontier Force)#23rd Punjab Cavalry (Frontier Force)|23rd Cavalry]] a [[Frontier Force (disambiguation)|Frontier Force]] [[regiment]]. He fought in operations in India, on the [[Military history of the North-West Frontier|North West Frontier]] and in the [[World War I|First World War]], commanding Indian cavalry brigades, garrisons, and districts. He was also appointed an [[Aide-de-Camp]] to King [[George V]].

==Career==

===Early service===
Charles Alexander Campbell Godwin graduated from the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]], as a Queen's Cadet in January 1895.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=15 January 1895 |issue=26589 |page=272}}</ref>
Not being attached to any particular [[regiment]], as a junior [[second-lieutenant]], he initially spent time seconded to the [[Suffolk Regiment]] and the [[Welch Regiment]] in [[Secunderabad]] India.<ref name=kings>{{cite web|access-date=20 September 2013|publisher=King's College London|title=Charles Godwin|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/GODWIN.shtml}}</ref> He then joined the [[Madras Lancers]] in 1895, but transferred to the [[3rd Punjab Cavalry]] (later known as the 23rd Punjab Cavalry (Frontier Force)) in 1898.<ref name=kings/> In April 1897 he was promoted to [[lieutenant]],<ref>{{London Gazette|date=18 June 1897 |issue=26863 |page=3377}}</ref> to [[Captain (armed forces)|captain]] in April 1904,<ref>{{London Gazette|date=1 April 1904 |issue=26863 |page=3377}}</ref>
and to [[major]] in March 1913.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=14 March 1913 |issue=28699 |page=1965}}</ref>

During that time he became the regimental [[Adjutant]] in 1900, assisted in raising the [[Waziristan|North Waziristan Militia]] and served in operation on the [[Military history of the North-West Frontier|North West Frontier]] between 1901–190 and during the [[Mahsud]] Blockade of 1902. In 1908 he attended the Indian Army's [[Staff College, Quetta]]. Graduating the following year he was appointed the [[Brigade Major]] for the [[Meerut Cavalry Brigade]] in 1911. Until 1913, when he became a [[General Staff]] officer Grade 2 (GSO2).<ref name=kings/><ref>{{London Gazette|date=4 April 1913 |issue=28707 |page=2465}}</ref>

===First World War===
With the outbreak of the [[First World War]] Godwin, in December 1914, returned to being a Brigade Major and his brigade was sent to the [[Western Front (World War One)|Western Front]]. The following year he returned to the General Staff as GSO1, with the rank of temporary [[lieutenant-colonel]] a position he held until 1917.<ref name=kings/><ref>{{London Gazette|date=19 February 1915 |issue=29078 |page=1810 |supp=y}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|date=10 September 1915 |issue=29290 |page=8988}}</ref> In January 1916, he was promoted to a [[brevet (military)|brevet]] lieutenant-colonel.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=11 January 1916 |issue=29438 |supp=y |page=569}}</ref>

In 1917 Godwin was sent to the [[Middle East]] to fight in the [[Sinai and Palestine campaign]], giving command of the British [[yeomanry]] [[6th Mounted Brigade]], with the temporary rank of [[brigadier-general]] that September.<ref name=kings/><ref>{{London Gazette|date=22 January 1918 |issue=30491 |supp=y |page=1169}}</ref> In December he was awarded a [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO),<ref>{{London Gazette|date=28 December 1917 |issue=30450 |supp=y |page=17}}</ref> The commendation for the award read; "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He attacked and captured an enemy position in the face of heavy shell, machinegun and rifle fire. Later, he directed the attack by his brigade on a strong enemy position, and by his skill and determination contributed largely to the success of the operation".<ref>{{London Gazette|date=13 August 1918 |issue=30845 |page=9559}}</ref> He was also awarded a [[medal bar|bar]] to the DSO in January 1918.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=1 March 1918 |issue=30555 |supp=y |page=2727}}</ref> He was soon after in May 1918, promoted to brevet [[colonel]] but still a temporary brigadier-general.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=31 May 1918 |issue=30717 |supp=y |page=6488}}</ref> In May 1918 he was made a Companion of the [[Order of St Michael and St George]],<ref>{{London Gazette|date=30 May 1918 |issue=31371 |supp=y |page=6922}}</ref> and returned to the General Staff that October.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=4 October 1918 |issue=30938 |supp=y |page=11803}}</ref> During the campaign Godwin's brigade had taken part in the [[Battle of Jerusalem|advance on Jerusalem]], the [[capture of Damascus]] and the [[Battle of Aleppo (1918)|battle of Aleppo]].<ref name=kings/>

===Post war===
With the end of the war Godwin and his troops remained in Syria attached to North Force until 1920.<ref name=kings/> He was then once again assigned to the General Staff GSO1, and reverted to his brevet rank of colonel in February 1920.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=2 March 1920 |issue=31803 |page=2565}}</ref> However he was promoted to substantive colonel in April that year.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=8 October 1920 |issue=32080 |supp=y |page=9877}}</ref>

He returned to India in January 1921 and, with the rank of colonel commandant, was again given his own command, the [[4th (Secunderabad) Cavalry Brigade|5th Indian Cavalry Brigade]] and the [[Secunderabad]] Garrison.<ref name=kings/><ref>{{London Gazette|date=28 June 1921 |issue=32375 |supp=y |page=5218}}</ref> That August he was also appointed as [[Aide-de-camp]] to King [[George V]].<ref>{{London Gazette|date=19 August 1921 |issue=32431 |page=6656 |supp=y}}</ref> In December 1923, he was promoted to [[major-general]],<ref>{{London Gazette|date=4 January 1924 |issue=32895 |page=156}}</ref> and in December the next year made Major-General Cavalry attached to the Indian Army Headquarters.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=19 March 1924 |issue=32918 |page=2236}}</ref> In April 1924 the King approved Godwin's appointment as Colonel of the [[11th Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry (Frontier Force)]] which had been formed in 1921, by the amalgamation of his old regiment the 23rd Cavalry with the [[21st Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry (Frontier Force) (Daly's Horse)]].<ref>{{London Gazette|date=10 April 1924 |issue=32928 |page=3214}}</ref> His next appointment was in January 1927, was he became the Commandant of the Indian Army's [[Staff College, Quetta]].<ref>{{London Gazette|date=9 March 1928 |issue=33264 |page=2314}}</ref> He was given command of the [[Peshwar]] District in 1927,<ref name=kings/> with promotion to [[lieutenant-general]] in December 1929.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=20 December 1929 |issue=33562 |page=8298}}</ref> He was transferred to the unemployed list in December 1930.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=26 December 1930 |issue=33673 |page=8328}}</ref> For operations on the North West Frontier in between 23 April and 12 September 1930, he was mentioned in dispatches by the then [[Commander-in-Chief]] of the Indian Army [[Field Marshal]] [[William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood|William Birdwood]].<ref>{{London Gazette|date=10 April 1931 |issue=33706 |page=2335}}</ref>

Sir Charles retired from the army in 1932.<ref name=kings/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Godwin, Charles}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1951 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Army cavalry generals of World War I]]
[[Category:Companions 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:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]

Charles Godwin - Revision history

Bot at 18:07, 4 March 2022