Charles Leslie Richardson

Sir Charles Richardson
Born	11 August 1908
Died	7 February 1994
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	General
Commands held	Singapore District Northern Command
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order

General Sir Charles Leslie Richardson GCB CBE DSO (11 August 1908 – 7 February 1994) was a British Army general who reached high office in the 1950s.

Military career

Educated at St. Ronan's School and Clare College, Cambridge, Richardson was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1928. He served in World War II as a General Staff Officer for the Plans Headquarters of the 8th Army from 1942.

Richardson played a significant role in the Battle of El Alamein and was responsible for planning the deception operation codenamed Operation Bertram in particular. He was Deputy Chief of Staff for the 5th US Army from 1943 and as a Brigadier for 21st Army Group from 1944.

After the War he was with the British Control Commission in Berlin from 1945 to 1946 and then with the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) from 1947 to 1948. He held various staff appointments in the UK and Egypt between 1949 and 1952.

He was appointed Commandant of the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham in 1955 and then General Officer Commanding for Singapore District in 1958. He went on to be Director of Combat Development at the War Office in 1960 and Director General of Military Training in 1961. In this latter role he was credited with recognising the significance of the Special Air Service which hitherto had been treated as little more than a 'private army of ill-disciplined mavericks'.

In 1963 he became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command and in 1965 he became Quartermaster-General to the Forces. His final appointment was as Master-General of the Ordnance in 1966: he retired in 1971.

He was Chief Royal Engineer from 1972 to 1977.

His banner as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath hangs in St Michael's Church at Betchworth in Surrey.

Bibliography

• Flashback: a soldier's story by Sir Charles Richardson GCB CBE DSO, Kimber, 1985, ISBN 978-0-7183-0567-3
• Send for Freddie: Story of Montgomery's Chief of Staff Major-General Sir Francis De Guingand by Sir Charles Richardson GCB CBE DSO, Kimber, 1987, ISBN 978-0-7183-0641-0
• From Churchill's secret circle to the BBC: the biography of Lieutenant General Sir Ian Jacob GBE CB DL by Sir Charles Richardson GCB CBE DSO, Elsevier, 1991, ISBN 978-0-08-037692-9

Military offices
Preceded by Sir Charles Jones	GOC-in-C Northern Command 1963–1964	Succeeded by Sir Geoffrey Musson
Preceded by Sir Gerald Lathbury	Quartermaster-General to the Forces 1965–1966	Succeeded by Sir Alan Jolly
Preceded by Sir Charles Jones	Master-General of the Ordnance 1966–1971	Succeeded by Sir Noel Thomas
Honorary titles
Preceded by Sir Charles Jones	Chief Royal Engineer 1972–1977	Succeeded by Sir David Willison