General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir Charles Carmichael Monro, 1st Baronet (15 June 1860 – 7 December 1929), was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

General in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He held the post of

Commander-in-Chief, India During the period of the Company and Crown rule in India, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the Indian Army from 1833 to 1947. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...

, in 1916–1920. From 1923 to 1928 he was the

Governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of ...

Early military career

He was the youngest son of Henry Monro and Catherine Power. Educated at

Sherborne School Sherborne School is a full-boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18 located beside Sherborne Abbey in the Dorset town of Sherborne. The school has been in continuous operation on the same site for over 1,300 years. It was founded in 705 AD by Ald ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

, Monro was commissioned into the 2nd Regiment of Foot as a second lieutenant on 13 August 1879. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 15 May 1881 and to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 24 July 1889. He attended the

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

, from 1889 to 1890, and promoted to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on 23 February 1898, he served as a brigade major until he was appointed a deputy assistant adjutant general on 15 April 1899. He vacated that appointment in February 1900, as he went to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

to serve in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, where he was present at the

Battle of Paardeberg The Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg ("Horse Mountain", 18–27 February 1900) was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near ''Paardeberg Ford (crossing), Drift'' on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free St ...

in 1900. Promoted to temporary lieutenant-colonel in 1900, he was brevetted to lieutenant-colonel on 29 November 1900. On 28 March 1903, he was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant colonel and appointed commandant of the School of Musketry. Promoted to colonel in 1906, the same year he was made a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

(CB) in the 1906 Birthday Honours, he was succeeded Henry Merrick Lawson as

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of the 13th Infantry Brigade in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

on 12 May 1907, with the temporary rank of brigadier general. Promoted to major general on 31 October 1910, on 31 March 1912 he became

general officer commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

(GOC) 2nd London Division, a formation of the recently established

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 in ...

(TF), taking over from Major General Vesey John Dawson.

First World War

In the early days of the

on 5 August 1914, Monro was deployed to France as General Officer Commanding 2nd Division, which played an important part in the

First Battle of Ypres The First Battle of Ypres (, , – was a battle of the First World War, fought on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front around Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium. The battle was part of the First Battle of Flanders, in which German A ...

. He led with what a subordinate described as "the gift of personal magnetism". On 27 December 1914 he became General Officer Commanding I Corps, with the temporary rank of

lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

. In February 1915 he was made a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(KCB), "in connection with Operations in the Field". He was made General Officer Commanding Third Army on 15 July 1915 with the temporary rank of general. He was promoted to the permanent rank of lieutenant-general on 28 October. Haig Monro Gough Percival 1914 IWM Q 54992

Haig Monro Gough Percival 1914 IWM Q 54992

In October 1915, the seventh month of the Gallipoli campaign, General Sir Ian Hamilton was dismissed as commander-in-chief (C-in-C) of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. Charles Monro was sent to evaluate what had been achieved and to recommend the next steps for the campaign. The Allied position had been drastically altered by the entry of

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

into the war and the Central Powers' subsequent swift conquest of Serbia, which opened the railway from Germany to Constantinople for transporting heavy guns and ammunition. After three days conferring and inspecting the three beachheads, Monro cabled Secretary of State for War Herbert Kitchener to recommend evacuating "the mere fringe of the coast-line" that had been secured. Kitchener would not authorize a withdrawal, which was strongly opposed by the Navy, instead, he came to the Middle East to see for himself. After arriving on 9 November 1915 he and Monro toured the fronts, landing on open beaches since there were no ports. Then they visited the Allied lines in Greek

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, where reinforcements were badly needed. On 17 November 1915, Kitchener agreed to evacuate and put Monro in control as Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean. The architect of the Dardanelles campaign,

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

, resigned from the government in protest. He later memorably described Monro's stance as "He came, he saw, he capitulated" (a parody of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

's line '' veni, vidi, vici''). The War Committee dithered, finally on 7 December agreeing to evacuate two of the bridgeheads ( ANZAC Cove and

Suvla Bay View of Suvla from Battleship Hill Suvla () is a bay on the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in European Turkey, south of the Gulf of Saros. On 6 August 1915, it was the site for the Landing at Suvla Bay by the British IX Corps as ...

). Their reluctance was understandable: Ottoman guns were able to strike the landing zones on all three beachheads, so evacuation casualties were estimated at thirty to forty per cent – Monro requested fifty-six hospital ships. On 19–20 December, the two beachheads were evacuated without a single casualty, leaving behind only some spiked artillery and slaughtered mules. It was a masterly display by the commanders of the beachheads and their staff. After further pressure from Monro, the evacuation of the remaining beachhead at Cape Helles was authorized on 28 December with the agreement of the French who had troops there. It was skillfully executed on the night of 8–9 January 1916, again astonishingly without casualties. They had taken off 83,048 men, 4,695 horses and mules, 1,718 vehicles, and 186 heavy guns. Sir Charles Monro in 1915

In 1916 Monro commanded the British First Army in France before becoming Commander-in-Chief India later that year. He was a fine choice, because his "Standard was whether a man was an Empire-builder." One of his responsibilities was the campaign in Mesopotamia. On 1 August 1916 the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), General Sir William Robertson, ordered him to "keep up a good show" in Mesopotamia but not to make any further attempts to take

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

– this restriction was overruled on the War Committee by Curzon and Chamberlain. On his way to India Monro inspected the forces in Mesopotamia commanded by General Maude. After receiving Monro's favourable report on 18 September 1916 the War Committee authorized Maude to attack. On 1 October 1916, Monro was promoted to the substantive rank of general. Baghdad was taken on 11 March 1917. In off hours Monro continued to charm with his "whimsical, almost fantastic type of humour."

Later life

In October 1920 he was appointed colonel of the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment. In May 1921, Monro was created a Baronet, of Bearcrofts in the Shire of Stirling. In September 1923 Monro was appointed

governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of ...

. In 1915, he married Mary Caroline O'Hagan, youngest daughter of Thomas O'Hagan, 1st Baron O'Hagan, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and his second wife Alice Towneley: they had no children. Mary, Lady Monro, was named a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1919. Sir Charles Monro died of cancer in December 1929. He was buried at

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

in London.

Honours

British

* Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (GCMG): 1 January 1916 * Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(GCB): 1 January 1919 (KCB: 18 February 1915; CB: 1906 Birthday Honours) * Knight Grand Commander of the

Order of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander ( GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointments ...

(GCSI): 3 June 1919 * Baronet of Bearcrofts in the Shire of Stirling: 12 May 1921

Others

* Grand Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

of France: 10 September 1915 * Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

of the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

: 17 May 1919