Charles Edmund Carrington, MC (21 April 1897 – 21 June 1990) was a scholar, Professor of History at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, Educational Secretary to

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and a historian specializing in the British Empire and Commonwealth, a Professor of Commonwealth Relations at the

Royal Institute of International Affairs Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

and the author of a number of books academic, learned and biographical. He was a decorated volunteer

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officer, in

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and again in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Personal life

Carrington was born in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, ...

, then part of

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

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. He moved to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

with his family where his father C. W. Carrington became Dean of Christchurch. His son married 1. Cecil Grace MacGregor 1932 (dissolved in 1954) 2. Maysie Cuthbert Robertson 1955.

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

1975 He is remembered on the Imperial War Museums
We remember Charles Edward Carrington
site.

Education

He was educated at Christ's College, New Zealand and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

( BA 1921; MA 1929).

First World War

When the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out in August 1914 Carrington was in England preparing for university entrance examinations and enlisted in the

Royal Warwickshire Regiment The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War ...

, although he was under age. In February 1915 an uncle obtained for him a commission as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

into the 9th (Service) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, a

Kitchener's Army The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, as Kitchener's Mob, was an (initially) all-volunteer portion of the British Army formed in the United Kingdom from 1914 onwards following the outbreak of hostilities in the Fi ...

unit, part of the 70th Brigade of the 23rd Division, where his job was to train his

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range ...

. In August 1915 he was deemed too young to join the

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

in France. Carrington desperately wanted to fight after spending more than a year training in England. He managed to obtain a transfer to the 1/5th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, a

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

battalion assigned to the 143rd (1/1st Warwickshire) Brigade of the

48th (South Midland) Division The 48th (South Midland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army. Part of the Territorial Force (TF) and raised in 1908, the division was originally called the South Midland Division, and was redesignated as the 48th (South Midland ...

, and sailed to France in December. He spent six months in the trenches in a relatively quiet sector of the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

at Gommecourt before being transferred to the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

in July 1916. He was promoted to Captain 1917. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

. He can be heard recounting some of his First World War experiences in

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

's film

They Shall Not Grow Old ''They Shall Not Grow Old'' is a 2018 documentary film directed and produced by Peter Jackson. The film was created using original footage of the First World War from the Imperial War Museum's archives, most previously unseen, all over 100 year ...

. He also features in the BBC film clip, ″The voices behind They Shall Not Grow Old″

Career

After being demobilised in 1919, he finished his education at

, studying history. He became assistant master of the public school, Haileybury (1921–24 and 1926–29). Lecturer at

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

(1924–25). From 1929-1954 he was Educational Secretary to the

. He rejoined the British Army in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, serving as a liaison officer with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and as Lt. Col.

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

(1941–45). Carrington left Cambridge in 1954 to become Professor of Commonwealth Relations at the

(the RIIA - Chatham House), a post he held until 1962. During that time he was also the Chatham House organiser responsible for the Commonwealth Relations conferences in New Zealand in 1959 and in Nigeria in 1962 He also sat on the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

Education Committee; the Classical Association Council; the

Publishers' Association The Publishers Association (PA) is the trade organisation serving book, journal and electronic publishers in the United Kingdom, established in 1896. Its mission is to strengthen the trading environment for UK publishers by providing a strong voice ...

Educational Group; The

Royal Commonwealth Society The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) is a non-governmental organisation with a mission to promote the value of the Commonwealth and the values upon which it is based. The Society upholds the values of the Commonwealth Charter, promoting confli ...

Council; The Inter-University Council; The Overseas Migration Board; and the Islington Society, and was Chairman of Shoreditch Housing Association.

Books on his wartime experiences

From his experiences in the First World War he wrote the first book of his memoirs of his time as an officer on the

which in 1929 was published as ''A Subaltern's War'' under the pseudonym Charles Edmonds. He had written it ten years previously. In 1964 he recounted his experiences of the Great War to the BBC in a series of interviews for their project ''The Great War''. These were broadcast in 2014 and again in 2016 as part of the commemorations for the centenary of the war. In ''A Subaltern's War'' Carrington sought to counter the widespread view that there was no other type of men who served in the war than "Prussian militarists" and "disillusioned pessimists": "No corrupt sergeant majors stole my rations or accepted my bribes. No incompetent colonels failed to give me food or lodging. No casual staff officers ordered me to certain death, indifferent to my fate". He wrote of his Second World War experiences in ''Soldier at Bomber Command'', published in 1987. In 1965 he provided a wider picture of both the First World War and his role in it in ''Soldier from the Wars Returning''. Carrington argued that Britain's involvement in the First World War was just and that there was no alternative to persevering until victory was won. Britain had reason to be proud of the Army's achievement.

Brian Bond Brian James Bond (born 17 April 1936) is a British military historian and professor emeritus of military history at King's College London. Early life and education The son of Edward Herbert Bond and his wife, Olive Bessie Sartin, Bond was born i ...

, ''Survivors of a Kind: Memoirs of the Western Front'' (London: Continuum, 2008, p. 13 He wrote positively of the effect of Army training on recruits When the 1960s saw a more critical attitude of the War, expressed in

Alan Clark Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Tra ...

's book ''The Donkeys'' and Joan Littlewood's play ''

Oh, What a Lovely War! ''Oh, What a Lovely War!'' is an epic musical developed by Joan Littlewood and her ensemble at the Theatre Workshop in 1963. It is a satire on World War I, and by extension on war in general. The title is derived from the "somewhat satirical" ...

'', Carrington praised the historian John Terraine's defence of

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

Sir Douglas Haig Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War, he commanded the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front from late 1915 until ...

, Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front, and the record of the British Army.

Rudyard Kipling Biography

When in 1955

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published Carrington's biography of

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

praised it as "A very good biography - we are not left, as we so often are when we have closed an official life, with the thought "here is a quarry where other men in the future may dig more profitably". Mr Carrington has dug with effect. The quarry is closed". Peter Quennell claimed the book was "sound, scholarly, yet never for a moment dull".

List of his Books

*''A Subaltern's War'', Charles Edmonds .e. C. E. Carrington Peter Davies Ltd. (1929). *''History of England Part II, 1485-1714'', C. E. Carrington and J. Hamden Jackson,

, (1932) *''T.E.Lawrence'' by Charles Edmonds .e. C. E. Carrington Peter Davies, London (1935) *''An Exposition of Empire'', C.E. Carrington, Cambridge University Press (1947) *''The British Overseas: exploits of a nation of shopkeepers'', C.E. Carrington, Cambridge University Press, (1950) *''John Robert Godley of Canterbury'', C.E. Carrington, Cambridge University Press. (1951) *''Rudyard Kipling: His Life and Work'', C.E. Carrington,

, London (1955). *''The Cambridge History of the British Empire; Vol 3,The Empire - Commonwealth'' with L.E.Benians, Sir James Butler and C.E. Carrington (editors), Cambridge University Press (1959) *''Chatham House and its Neighbours : A Historical Sketch'', C.E. Carrington, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1959. With additions republished as ''Chatham House; Its History and Inhabitants'', C.E. Carrington, Revised and updated by Mary Bone, Royal institute of International Affairs, 2004. *''The Liquidation of the British Empire: The Reid Lectures of Acadia University 1959 '', C.E. Carrington, George G. Harrap & Co, London (1961). *''Soldier from the Wars Returning'', C.E. Carrington, Hutchison (1965). *''Soldier at Bomber Command'', C.E. Carrington, L. Cooper, London (1987). * Contributor to An African Survey (1957) Surveys of international Affairs (1957–58 and !959-60), published by Chatham House

and publishers

Notes

References

, ''Survivors of a Kind: Memoirs of the Western Front'' (London: Continuum, 2008).

External links

* http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01td104 BBC Great War Interview {{DEFAULTSORT:Carrington, Charles 1897 births 1990 deaths British Army personnel of World War I Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers York and Lancaster Regiment officers English biographers People from West Bromwich 20th-century English historians Chatham House people People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Military personnel from Staffordshire British Army personnel of World War II Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers soldiers