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Biography of Charles Henry Carmichael Major Charlie Carmichael 1941 - 2008 Charles Henry Carmichael was born on 9 January 1941 in Boston, Massachusetts where his mother Joan, née Garratt, was working in the British Consulate General. An only child, he was educated at The Dragon School, Oxford, Rugby School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Charles followed his uncle, Brigadier Stanley Garratt, and was commissioned into XX The Lancashire Fusiliers, joining the 1st Battalion in Osnabruck in 1963. Regimental duty as a young officer saw Charles return from BAOR to Norton Barracks in Worcester, from where the battalion embarked on a nine months unaccompanied tour to British Guiana in January 1965 to relieve the Devon and Dorsets. There they formed part of the two battalion internal security force required to maintain order against a background of racial unrest between the Afro-Caribbean and Asian population. He married Penny Ormsby in 1966 when he was Regimental Signals Officer at Weeton Camp, near Preston in Lancashire. In June of that year he went to Malaya as an instructor at the Royal Military College, Sungei Besi, and in the following April was seconded to 2 Malaysian Rangers (2 Renjer Malaysia) with whom he operated against the remnants of the communist terrorists still active in the jungle. Penny and Charles had four delightful daughters, Diana who was born in Kuala Lumpur in February 1967, Victoria born in Hong Kong in 1968, Sophy born in England in 1969 and Elizabeth who was also born in England in 1971. David Lloyd-Jones had selected Charles to be his adjutant when he took command of 1st Battalion XX The Lancashire Fusiliers for the tour in Hong Kong and to steer it through the transition to the 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. This was done with consummate skill and success at a memorable Vesting Day Trooping the Colour parade followed later by an evening pageant and Beating Retreat in Gun Club Hill Barracks, Kowloon. A very keen swimmer, he represented the Battalion in the highly successful water polo team and also played hockey. A notable achievement was his participation in the Hong Kong Harbour Race, a daunting stretch of highly insalubrious open water between Kowloon and Hong Kong island. The 4th Battalion returned to the United Kingdom in 1969 for a period in limbo before being removed from the army orbat later that year. Whilst his fellow officers were assigned to the other three battalions of the regiment, Charles was selected for a post as an instructor at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. Two weeks before the start of his first term, he was suddenly posted to Belfast for six months as the army was committed in support of the Royal Ulster Constabulary at the onset of the sectarian troubles in the Province. Returning to take up his appointment at Sandhurst, he completed a very successful tour as a highly respected instructor, influencing at least one young cadet to become a Fusilier. This was followed by a one year Grade 3 staff appointment at Headquarters, North West District at Cuerden Hall in Bamber Bridge near Preston in Lancashire prior to the Staff College. Having successfully completed the Army Staff Course, he was appointed to a Grade 2 staff appointment at Headquarters, West Midland District in Shrewsbury for the next two years. Returning to regimental duty, he commanded W Company in the 1st Battalion. Following an Operation Banner tour in Northern Ireland, he chose to retire and embarked on a second career in civilian life. On the sporting front, Charles had been Field Master of the working section of the Beagle Club in the 1980s. Initially, he took a job managing a lime works in Bedfordshire, and then became the assistant emergency planning officer with the Greater London Council. After the demise of the GLC he became the Emergency Planning Officer with Northamptonshire County Council before retiring again to become a self employed consultant and moving to Criccieth in Wales. By now, Charles was dogged by increasingly incapacitating arthritis and was forced to retire completely after moving to North Devon in 2003. The marriage to Penny was dissolved in 1987 and he subsequently married Jill Garratt, the widow of his cousin Peter who had also served briefly as a Lancashire Fusilier. There were four stepchildren, Virginia, Jonathan, Victoria and Alexandra (Boo). Jill died in October 2004. Charles Carmichael died after a period of sustained ill health on 15 August 2008 and is survived by his four daughters and four stepchildren. |