Sir Charles Leslie Richardson | |
|---|---|
 Lieutenant General Charles Richardson in 1962 | |
| Born | 11 August 1908 Guernsey |
| Died | 7 February 1994 (aged 85) Redhill, Surrey, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1928–1971 |
| Rank | General |
| Service number | 40407 |
| Unit | Royal Engineers |
| Commands | Northern Command Singapore District Royal Military College of Science 61st Infantry Brigade |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in Despatches (2) Officer of the Legion of Merit (US) |
General Sir Charles Leslie Richardson, GCB, CBE, DSO (11 August 1908 – 7 February 1994) was a senior British Army officer who saw service in the Second World War and reached high office in the 1950s.
A 1928 graduate of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Richardson was commissioned into the Royal Engineers. He served in British India between 1931 and 1938. During the Second World War he graduated from the Staff College, Camberley, and served on the staff of the 4th Infantry Division in the Battle of France. He then went to the Middle East, where he was an instructor in logistics at the Staff College, Haifa, and a staff officer with the Special Operations Executive (SOE). He became the staff officer for plans the headquarters of the Eighth Army in June 1942 and was responsible for planning the deception operation codenamed Operation Bertram. Promoted to the acting rank of brigadier, he served on the staff of the Eighth Army in the Tunisian campaign and the Allied invasion of Sicily, on that of the US Fifth Army in the Italian campaign, and with that of the 21st Army Group in the campaign in North West Europe in 1944–1945.
After the war Richardson was with the British Control Commission in Berlin from 1945 to 1946 and the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) from 1947 to 1948. He was appointed Commandant of the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham in 1955 and the General Officer Commanding of the Singapore District in 1958. He went on to become the first 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. In 1963 he became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command and in 1965 the Quartermaster-General to the Forces. His final appointment was as Master-General of the Ordnance in 1966 before he retired in 1971. He was Chief Royal Engineer from 1972 to 1977.