Charles Hamilton Boucher

Major-General Sir Charles Hamilton Boucher KBE CB DSO and bar (1898–1951) was an officer in the British Indian Army during World War II.

Military career
Boucher was born 26 October 1898 the son of Lieutenant-Colonel C. H. Boucher, DSO Hants regiment and was educated at Wellington College from 1912-1915, after which he attended Wellington Cadet College in India.

He was commissioned into the Unattached List for the Indian Army 14 November 1916 and was appointed to the Indian Army 1 December 1916, attached to 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) although he was later to transfer to the 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles in 1919.

He was promoted to Lieutenant 14 November 1917 He saw service against the Marris in India 1 March to 8 April 1918, then saw service in Palestine in October 1918.

After the war he returned to India and saw action on the North West Frontier in Waziristan during the period 1919-21 and 1921-24. He was Mentioned in Dispatches. He was promoted Captain 14 November 1920.

Attended the Staff College, Camberley in 1931-32.

In April 1933 he was appointed for a spell as a General Staff Officer Grade III. In November 1934 he relinquished the staff post and was promoted to major to take up a field appointment as a brigade major. In 1936 for "distinguished services rendered in the field in connection with the Mohmand Operations, North West Frontier of India, during the period 15th/16 August to 15th/16 October 1935" he was made a companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). He was appointed an Instructor at the Staff College, Quetta in 1938 with the local rank of lieutenant-colonel.

He served in World War II, initially as a General Staff Officer, before being made a Brigadier on the General Staff of Paiforce in Iraq in 1941.

In 1942 he was appointed Commander of 10th Indian Infantry Brigade in North Africa. Whilst commanding the brigade he was captured on 6 June 1942 during the fighting in the Knightsbridge Cauldron when his headquarters were overrun. He was held as a POW in Italy until the Italian Armistice with Italy in September 1943 when he made his way back to the Allied lines in southern Italy. During his confinement his substantive rank was advanced from major to lieutenant-colonel (while his temporary rank remained as brigadier) and he was also made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1943 "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Iraq, Syria and Persia during the period April 1941 to February 1942".

In February 1944 he assumed command of 17th Indian Infantry Brigade, leading them through the final Battle of Monte Cassino, the advance north of Rome and the fighting on the Gothic Line. For his service in Italy he was awarded a Bar to the previously awarded DSO and made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1945. He was also mentioned in despatches.

In January 1945, in the rank of acting major-general, Boucher took command of Indian 4th Infantry Division which had been sent to Greece in November 1944 to help stabilise the country after the Axis withdrawal. For his "gallant and distinguished services in the field" he was mentioned in despatches in 1946.

Leaving Greece after a year he trained as a parachutist in Britain in order to take command of Indian 2nd Airborne Division in Karachi early in 1946. His temporary major-general's rank was made permanent in 1947 and in 1948 he became General Officer Commanding Malaya District as well as Major-General Commanding the Brigade of Gurkhas in Malaya. For his service in Malaya he was knighted KBE in 1949, an unusual distinction for an officer of major-general rank and was mentioned in despatches. He retired in March 1951 through ill health and died on the 14 November 1951.

Family
He married Edith Margaret, daughter of M. F. Ramsey, J.P. of Lee Priory, Littlebourne, Kent in 1926. He had one son and one daughter.