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{{Short description|British Indian army officer during World War 1 & 2}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Sir Charles Hamilton Boucher
|image=
|caption=
|birth_date= {{birth date|1898|10|26|df=yes}}
|death_date= {{death date and age|1951|11|14|1898|10|26|df=yes}}
|birth_place= [[Multan|Mooltan]], India
|death_place= London, England
|placeofburial=
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{flag|United Kingdom}}
|branch= [[British Indian Army]]
|serviceyears=
|rank= [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]]
|commands= [[10th Indian Infantry Brigade]] (1942) [[17th Indian Infantry Brigade]] (1944–45) [[4th Infantry Division (India)|Indian 4th Infantry Division]] (1945) [[Indian 2nd Airborne Division]] (1946–47) [[Malaya Command]] (1948–50)
|unit=
|battles= [[First World War]] [[Military history of the North-West Frontier|North-West Frontier]]
* [[Waziristan campaign (1919–20)|Waziristan campaign]]
* [[Mohmand campaign of 1935|Mohmand campaign]]
[[Second World War]]
* [[Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran]]
* [[Western Desert campaign]]
* [[Battle of Gazala]]
* [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italian Campaign]]
* [[Battle of Monte Cassino]]
|awards= [[Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]<ref name="KBE">{{London Gazette|issue=38782|page=5905| date=9 December 1949|supp=y}}</ref> [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]]<ref name="CB">{{London Gazette|issue=37386|page=6055| date=11 December 1945|supp=y}}</ref> [[Distinguished Service Order]]<ref name="LG34282"/> & [[Medal bar|Bar]]<ref name="DSO2">{{London Gazette|issue=36928|page=795| date=8 February 1945|supp=y}}</ref> [[Mentioned in Despatches]] (5)<ref name="MID1924">{{London Gazette| issue=32940| date=30 May 1924|page=4308}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette| issue=34282| date=8 May 1936|page=2979}}</ref><ref name="MID1945">{{London Gazette| issue=37368| date=27 November 1945| supp=y|pages=5791–5830}}</ref><ref name="MID1946"/><ref name="MID1949">{{London Gazette| issue=38581| date=8 April 1949|page=1759| supp=y}}</ref>
|laterwork= Colonel of the 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles (1946)<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=38598| date=29 April 1949|page=2111}}</ref>
}}
[[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] '''Sir Charles Hamilton Boucher''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KBE|CB|DSO*}} (26 October 1898 – 14 November 1951) was a [[British Indian Army]] officer during the [[World War I|First]] and [[World War II|Second World Wars]].

==Early life and career==
Boucher was born on 26 October 1898, the son of Lieutenant Colonel C. H. Boucher. He was educated at Wellington College from 1912 to 1915,<ref>Wellington College Register p306</ref> after which he attended Wellington Cadet College in India.<ref>London Gazette 6 February 1917 page 1281 - see header on section announcing his commission</ref>

Boucher was [[Commissioned officer|commissioned]] into the Unattached List for the Indian Army on 14 November 1916 and was appointed to the Indian Army on 1 December, attached to [[2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)]]<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=30017|page=3512 |date=13 April 1917 }}</ref> although he was later to transfer to the [[3 Gorkha Rifles|3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles]] in 1919. He was promoted to [[lieutenant]] on 14 November 1917<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=30655|page=5071| date=26 April 1918}}</ref> and saw service against the Marris in India from 1 March to 8 April 1918, then saw service in Palestine in October 1918.<ref name="Indian Army Supplement 1941">Indian Army Supplement 1941</ref>

After the war he returned to India and saw action on the North West Frontier in Waziristan during the period 1919–21 and 1921–24. He was [[Mentioned in Despatches]].<ref name="MID1924"/><ref name="Indian Army Supplement 1941"/> He was promoted captain on 14 November 1920.<ref>Indian Army List April 1923</ref>

Boucher attended the Staff College, Camberley from 1931 to 1932.<ref name="TimesObit">[http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/viewArticle.arc?articleId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1951-11-19-08-020&pageId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1951-11-19-08 Obituary, The Times 19 November 1951]</ref> In April 1933 he was appointed a General Staff Officer Grade III.<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=33952| date=23 June 1933|page=4206}}</ref> In November 1934 he relinquished the staff post and was promoted to major<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=34116| date=21 December 1934|page=8298 }}</ref> to take up a field appointment as a brigade major.<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=34241| date=10 January 1936|page=237}}</ref> In 1936 for "distinguished services rendered in the field in connection with the Mohmand Operations, North West Frontier of India, during the period 15th/16th August to 15th/16th October 1935" he was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO).<ref name="LG34282">{{London Gazette| issue=34282|page=2978| date=8 May 1936}}</ref> He was appointed an instructor at the [[Pakistan Command and Staff College|Staff College, Quetta]] from 21 January 1938 to 21 September 1940 with the local rank of lieutenant colonel.<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=34496| date=25 March 1938|page=2011}}</ref><ref name=dk>[http://www.generals.dk/general/Boucher/Sir_Charles_Hamilton/Great_Britain.html Generals.dk]</ref>

==Second World War==
Boucher served throughout the [[Second World War]], initially as a [[General Staff Officer]] Grade 1,<ref name=dk/> Home Forces from 26 October 1940 to 18 May 1941 before being made a [[brigadier]] on the [[General Staff]] of [[Paiforce]] in [[Iraq]] from 19 May 1941 to 29 March 1942.<ref>Half Yearly Army List January 1946</ref>

In April 1942 he was appointed to command the [[10th Indian Infantry Brigade]] in [[North Africa]]. While commanding the brigade he was captured on 6 June 1942 during the fighting in the [[Battle of Gazala|Knightsbridge Cauldron]] when his [[headquarters]] were overrun. He was held as a [[prisoner of war]] in Italy<ref name=dk/> until the [[Armistice with Italy]] in September 1943,<ref name=dk/> when he made his way back to the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] lines in southern Italy. During his confinement his substantive rank was advanced from major to lieutenant colonel (while his temporary rank remained as brigadier)<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=35974| date=9 April 1943 |page=1645}}</ref> and he was also made a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in 1943 "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Iraq, Syria and Persia during the period April 1941 to February 1942".<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=35862| date=12 January 1943|page=319| supp=y}}</ref>

On 8 February 1944 Boucher assumed command of the [[17th Indian Infantry Brigade]],<ref name=dk/> leading the unit through the final [[Battle of Monte Cassino]], the advance north of Rome and the fighting on the [[Gothic Line]]. For his service in Italy he was awarded a [[medal bar|Bar]] to his DSO<ref name="DSO2"/> and made a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] in 1945.<ref name="CB"/> He was also mentioned in despatches.<ref name="MID1945"/>

On 19 January 1945, with the rank of acting major general,<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=37263| date=14 September 1945|page=4563| supp=y}}</ref> Boucher took command of the [[4th Infantry Division (India)|Indian 4th Infantry Division]],<ref name=dk/> which had been sent to Greece in November 1944 to help stabilise the country after the [[Axis powers|Axis]] withdrawal. For his "gallant and distinguished services in the field" he was mentioned in despatches in 1946.<ref name="MID1946">{{London Gazette| issue=37616| date=18 June 1946|page=3564}}</ref>

Leaving Greece after a year he trained as a parachutist in Britain in order to take command of Indian 2nd Airborne Division in Karachi early in 1946.<ref name="TimesObit"/><ref name=dk/> His temporary major general's rank was made permanent in 1947,<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=38051| date=19 August 1947| supp=y|page=3933}}</ref> and in 1948 he became General Officer Commanding [[Malaya Command|Malaya District]]<ref name=dk/> as well as Major General Commanding the [[Brigade of Gurkhas]] in Malaya.<ref name=dk/> For his service in Malaya he was knighted as a [[Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] in 1949,<ref name="KBE"/> and was mentioned in despatches.<ref name="MID1949"/> He retired in March 1951<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=39201| date=13 April 1951|page=2069}}</ref> through ill health and died on 14 November that year.<ref name="TimesObit"/>

==Family==
He married Edith Margaret, daughter of M. F. Ramsay, J.P. of Lee Priory, Littlebourne, Kent in 1926. He had one son and one daughter.<ref>Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes 1944</ref>

==References==
*{{Cite book | author=Anon| title=One More River: The Story of The Eighth Indian Division| publisher=H.W. Smith, Times of India Press| year=1946 |location=Bombay }}
*{{Cite book | first=Compton|last=Mackenzie |author-link=Compton Mackenzie| title=Eastern Epic| publisher=Chatto & Windus| location=London | year=1951 | oclc=1412578}}
*{{Cite web|url=http://www.ordersofbattle.com/OOBDefault.aspx |title=Orders of Battle.com |access-date=28 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070717145740/http://www.ordersofbattle.com/OOBDefault.aspx |archive-date=17 July 2007 }}
*{{Cite web |url=http://www.unithistories.com/default.asp |title=World War II unit histories and officers |access-date=28 July 2007 |last=Houterman |first=Hans |author2=Koppes, Jeroen |archive-date=3 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203142011/http://www.unithistories.com/default.asp |url-status=dead }}

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://generals.dk/general/Boucher/Charles_Hamilton/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]

{{S-start}}
{{S-mil}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Ashton Wade]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Malaya Command|GOC Malaya District]]|years=1948–1950}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Roy Urquhart]]}}
{{end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boucher, Charles Hamilton}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1951 deaths]]
[[Category:Academics of the Staff College, Quetta]]
[[Category:Indian Army generals of World War II]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Italy]]
[[Category:British World War II prisoners of war]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Second Mohmand Campaign]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley]]
[[Category:People from Multan]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]

Charles Hamilton Boucher - Revision history

Bot at 17:13, 1 July 2022