Arthur Reginald Chater
| Arthur Reginald Chater | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1896 |
| Died | 1979 |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |
 Royal Marines |
| Years of service | 1913–1948 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Commands held |
Chatham Group Royal Marines (1946–48) Portsmouth Division Royal Marines (1943–44) Somaliland Camel Corps (1937–40) Sudan Camel Corps (1927–30) |
| Battles/wars |
First World War Second World War |
| Awards |
Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Distinguished Service Order Officer of the Order of the British Empire Mentioned in Despatches Croix de guerre (France) |
Major General Arthur Reginald Chater CB, CVO, DSO, OBE (1896–1979) was an officer in the Royal Marines during the First World War, the interwar years, and Second World War.
Military career
Chater was commissioned into the Royal Marines in 1913 in served in the First World War and saw action with the Chatham Battalion of the Royal Marine Brigade at Antwerp in Belgium in 1914.[2] He fought on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey from 28 April to 12 May 1915, and in March 1918 he participated in the Allied raid on Zeebrugge.[2]
During the inter-war period Chater served with the Egyptian Army and the Sudan Camel Corps.[2] He became Commanding Officer of the Sudan Camel Corps in 1927, Commander of military operations in Kordofan in Sudan in 1929 and Senior Royal Marines Officer at the East Indies Station in 1931.[2] He served in the Second World War as Military-Governor of British Somaliland from 1941, as Commander of the Portsmouth Division of the Royal Marines from 1943 and as Director of Combined Operations for India and South East Asia from 1944.[2]
Papers related to his service are held in the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London, and comprise notes on Operation Lightning for the capture of Akyab Island, Burma, on 3 January 1945; photographs of amphibious landings by 15 Indian Corps at Kangaw, Burma, January 1945; and notes on combined operations training of allied forces for Operation Zipper, the planned invasion of Malaya, August 1945.[3]
He was made a companion of the Distinguished Service Order. He became Commander of the Chatham Group of Royal Marines in 1946 and retired in 1948.[2]
Honours
Chater was made a companion of the Order of the Bath, a commander of the Royal Victorian Order, and a member of the Order of the British Empire.[4]
Honours and awards
- Companion of the Order of the Bath – January 1941[5]
- Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
- Distinguished Service Order – July 1918[6]
- Officer of the Order of the British Empire – June 1931[7]
References
- ↑ Major General A. R. Chater, CB, CVO, DSO, OBE (1896–1979). Art UK. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- ↑ Research Guide Far East Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London, 2005. p. 3.
- ↑ Private Papers of Major General A R Chater CB CVO DSO OBE. Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 35062. p. 671. 31 January 1941. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30807. p. 8588. 19 July 1918. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 33722. p. 3629. 2 June 1931. Retrieved 9 February 2013.