Lionel Charlton
Encyclopedia
Air Commodore
Lionel Evelyn Oswald Charlton CB
, CMG
, DSO
, RAF
(7 July 1879 – 18 April 1958) was a British infantry officer who served in the Second Boer War
. During World War I
, Charlton held several command and staff posts in the Royal Flying Corps
, finishing the war as a brigadier-general. Transferring to the Royal Air Force
on its creation, Charlton served in several air officer
posts until his retirement from the air force in 1928. Most notably, Charlton resigned his position as the RAF's Chief Staff Officer in Iraq as he objected to the bombing of Iraqi villages.
in London
. He was educated at Brighton College
and entered the Lancashire Fusiliers
in 1898.
he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps
, becoming one of its first brigadier-generals in 1917.
During the First World War, Charlton served in the Royal Flying Corps, initially as a flight commander on No. 3 Squadron
and later as the first Officer Commanding of No. 8 Squadron. On 15 April 1915 when No. 8 Squadron was grouped with No. 13 Squadron
to form the new 5th Wing of the RFC, Charlton temporarily took command until he travelled to France.
. It was at this time that the RAF employed the bombing of Iraq
i villages with the intent of pacifying tribal opposition. Charlton opposed this policy and he went on to openly criticize such bombing action. Within a year of his arrival, Charlton resigned from his post in Iraq. His opposition to the bombing policy is said to have started with a visit to the local hospital in Diwaniya, where he witnessed horribly mangled civilians, including women and children, who were among the victims of a British air raid.
On his return to Great Britain, Charlton expected to be summoned to see the Chief of the Air Staff, Hugh Trenchard
. When the summons did not come, Charlton requested an interview with Trenchard. Trenchard asked Charlton why he has requested the interview and the following exchange took place:
Although Charlton was barred from further postings in Iraq, he went on to serve as Air Officer Commanding
No 3 Group
. Charlton requested early retirement, which he was granted.
In 1938, he published "The Air Defence of Britain", a reasoned analysis and prediction of the then-impending Second World War, correctly emphasizing the crucial importance which bombing civilian populations would have.
Commentator Mike Marqusee
in The Guardian
expressed the opinion that Charlton should have had a monument erected in his honour at London, rather than his fellow RAF commander Arthur "Bomber" Harris who conducted the bombings of Iraq without compunction and went on to bomb the German cities in World War II
.
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Air Commodore
Air commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Lionel Evelyn Oswald Charlton CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, CMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
(7 July 1879 – 18 April 1958) was a British infantry officer who served in the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Charlton held several command and staff posts in the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
, finishing the war as a brigadier-general. Transferring to the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
on its creation, Charlton served in several air officer
Air Officer
An air officer is a Royal Air Force officer of the rank of air commodore or higher. Such officers may be termed "officers of air rank". The term is also used by many Commonwealth nations who have a similar rank structure to the RAF....
posts until his retirement from the air force in 1928. Most notably, Charlton resigned his position as the RAF's Chief Staff Officer in Iraq as he objected to the bombing of Iraqi villages.
Early life
Lionel Charlton was born on 7 July 1879 at PiccadillyPiccadilly
Piccadilly is a major street in central London, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He was educated at Brighton College
Brighton College
Brighton College is an institution divided between a Senior School known simply as Brighton College, the Prep School and the Pre-Prep School. All of these schools are co-educational independent schools in Brighton, England, sited immediately next to each another. The Senior School caters for...
and entered the Lancashire Fusiliers
Lancashire Fusiliers
The Lancashire Fusiliers was a British infantry regiment that was amalgamated with other Fusilier regiments in 1968 to form the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.- Formation and early history:...
in 1898.
World War I
Shortly before World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
, becoming one of its first brigadier-generals in 1917.
During the First World War, Charlton served in the Royal Flying Corps, initially as a flight commander on No. 3 Squadron
No. 3 Squadron RAF
No 3 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Typhoon F2, FGR4 and T3 from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire.No 3 Squadron, which celebrated its 95th anniversary over the weekend of 11-13 May 2007, is unique in the RAF for having two official crests....
and later as the first Officer Commanding of No. 8 Squadron. On 15 April 1915 when No. 8 Squadron was grouped with No. 13 Squadron
No. XIII Squadron RAF
No. 13 or XIII Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force formed on 10 January 1915 and most recently disbanded on 13 May 2011. It is expected to be reformed in 2012 flying the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle from RAF Waddington....
to form the new 5th Wing of the RFC, Charlton temporarily took command until he travelled to France.
Iraq
On 2 February 1923, Air Commodore Charlton took up the post of Chief Staff Officer at the headquarters of the RAF's Iraq CommandRAF Iraq Command
Iraq Command was the RAF commanded inter-service command in charge of British forces in Iraq in the 1920s and early 1930s, during the period of the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. It continued as British Forces in Iraq until 1941 when it was replaced by AHQ Iraq...
. It was at this time that the RAF employed the bombing of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i villages with the intent of pacifying tribal opposition. Charlton opposed this policy and he went on to openly criticize such bombing action. Within a year of his arrival, Charlton resigned from his post in Iraq. His opposition to the bombing policy is said to have started with a visit to the local hospital in Diwaniya, where he witnessed horribly mangled civilians, including women and children, who were among the victims of a British air raid.
On his return to Great Britain, Charlton expected to be summoned to see the Chief of the Air Staff, Hugh Trenchard
Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard GCB OM GCVO DSO was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force...
. When the summons did not come, Charlton requested an interview with Trenchard. Trenchard asked Charlton why he has requested the interview and the following exchange took place:
- Charlton: "About my reasons for resigning."
- Trenchard: "Look here, Charlton. You resigned, and I accept your resignation. There's nothing more to be said."
- Charlton: "Won't there be an official enquiry, then?"
- Trenchard: "An inquiry into what? Your conscience? Certainly not."
Although Charlton was barred from further postings in Iraq, he went on to serve as Air Officer Commanding
Air Officer Commanding
Air Officer Commanding is a title given in the air forces of Commonwealth nations to an air officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, an air vice marshal might be the AOC 38 Group...
No 3 Group
No. 3 Group RAF
Number 3 Group of the Royal Air Force was an RAF group first active in 1918, again in 1923-26, part of RAF Bomber Command from 1936 to 1967, and part of RAF Strike Command from 2000 until it disbanded on 1 April 2006.-The 1930s and World War II:...
. Charlton requested early retirement, which he was granted.
Later life
In retirement, he became a successful author of adventure fiction for children. At this time he also wrote "Charlton an autobiography", published by Penguin Books no 163 (1938); this work was rather candid, and was written in the third person singular.In 1938, he published "The Air Defence of Britain", a reasoned analysis and prediction of the then-impending Second World War, correctly emphasizing the crucial importance which bombing civilian populations would have.
Legacy
In recent years, the memory of Charlton was taken up by opponents of the present war in Iraq, and specifically by British opponents of their country's involvement in that war (see http://www.richardneville.com.au/Satire/Satire200307.html), who hold him up as an example to be emulated by present-day officers.Commentator Mike Marqusee
Mike Marqusee
Mike Marqusee is an American-born writer, journalist and political activist in London. His partner is the barrister Liz Davies.Marqusee, who describes himself as a "deracinated New York Marxist Jew" has lived in Britain since 1971...
in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
expressed the opinion that Charlton should have had a monument erected in his honour at London, rather than his fellow RAF commander Arthur "Bomber" Harris who conducted the bombings of Iraq without compunction and went on to bomb the German cities in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Honours and awards
- Companion of The Most Honourable Order of the BathOrder of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
- 1 January 1919 - Companion of the Order of St Michael and St GeorgeOrder of St Michael and St GeorgeThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
- 3 Jun 1916 - Distinguished Service OrderDistinguished Service OrderThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
- 29 Nov 1900 - Knight of the Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
- 3 Nov 1914, Officer - 5 Apr 1919 - Mentioned in Despatches - 20 May 1918, 31 Dec 1918, 11 Jul 1919
External links
- Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Air Cdre Charlton
- Dictionary of National Biography - Charlton, Lionel Evelyn Oswald (requires login)
- Airminded - Air Power and British Society 1908 - 1939 - L E O Charlton
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