Brigadier Charles Wilbraham Watson Ford (1896-1972) was a senior officer in the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

during

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 ...

. He was educated at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and appointed to the Unattached List for appointment to the Indian Army on 16 December 1914. Ford was appointed to the

35th Sikhs The 35th Sikhs were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1887, when they were raised as the 35th (Sikh) Bengal Infantry. The regiment took part in the Siege of Malakand in 1897 and World War I. During ...

on 11 February 1915. He served in Mesopotamia from 2 October 1916 to 26 January 1918 and from 24 June 1918 to 19 January 1919. He was Mentioned in the Dispatches London Gazette on 27 August 1918. He served during the Afghanistan, North West Frontier 1919 operations and was wounded. Ford transferred to the 5th battalion

11th Sikh Regiment The 11th Sikh Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1922, when after World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments.S ...

on 1 February 1922 and rose to be appointed Lieut-Colonel commanding on 2 May 1938. He was appointed acting then temporary Colonel from 9 May 1941 to 1 November 1943. He was also appointed acting then temporary Brigadier from 9 May 1941. He was a Brigade commander from 9 May 1941 to 29 July 1942. As part of Paiforce (formerly

Iraqforce Iraqforce was a British and Commonwealth formation that came together in the Kingdom of Iraq. The formation fought in the Middle East during World War II. Background During World War I, the British Army defeated the Ottoman Army in the Middle Eas ...

), Ford commanded the

19th Indian Infantry Brigade The 19th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in October, 1940 at Old Delhi in British Raj, India and assigned to the 8th Infantry Division (India), 8th Indian Infantry Di ...

of the

Indian 8th Infantry Division The 8th Mountain Division was raised as the 8th Indian Infantry division of the British Indian Army. It is now part of the Indian Army and specialises in mountain warfare. The 8th Indian Infantry Division was formed as an infantry division in M ...

during the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Persia. He was Mentioned in the Dispatches London Gazette on 17 December 1942 for gallant and distinguished services in Waziristan as Lt-Col. Ford was promoted to colonel on 2 November 1943 with seniority from 2 May 1941. He retired colonel (honorary brigadier) on 1 September 1947.London Gazette 10 October 1947 He died in

Battle, Sussex Battle is a small town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the local government district of Rother District, Rother in East Sussex, England. It lies south-east of London, east of Brighton and east of Lewes. Hastings is to the sout ...

, on 13 October 1972.

Command history

* 1938–1940: Commanding officer, 5th battalion 11th Sikh regiment,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

* 1941–1942: Commanding officer, 19th Indian Brigade,

and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

References

1896 births 1972 deaths Indian Army personnel of World War II British Indian Army officers People educated at Cheltenham College People from Staindrop Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Military personnel from County Durham {{UK-army-bio-stub

Command history

See also

References