Charles Coleman

Lieutenant-General Sir Cyril Frederick Charles Coleman, (16 April 1903 – 17 June 1974) was a senior British Army officer.

Early life Charles Coleman was born in Stonehouse, Plymouth, Devon, in 1903, the son of Albert Edward Coleman of Downderry, Cornwall, and Adelaide Maxwell Moore, of Seaforth, Lancashire. He was educated at Plymouth College and at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Welch Regiment in 1923. He was appointed adjutant of the 2nd Battalion of his regiment from 1932 to 1935. As his brigade major wrote after his death, the respect the men of the brigade had for him "probably gave him as much pleasure and satisfaction as any of his later achievements". Certainly he wrote very warmly of the achievements of the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division, of which his brigade formed a part, in his preface to the history of its part in the Second World War, published in 1955, and as its author makes clear, he made a considerable contribution to this account.

In 1945, Coleman briefly served as the acting General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 53rd Division. In 1946 he attended the Staff College, Camberley before returning to command the 160th Brigade from 1947 to 1948.

Coleman retired from the army in 1959, but he was appointed to serve as the Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Guernsey from 1964 to 1969.

Coleman played hockey for Wales and was a keen shot. He married Margaret Mary, daughter of Bruce Petrie of Singapore, in 1935. They had three daughters.

Coleman died on 17 June 1974 in the Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot and was buried at St Mary's Church, Bentworth. He was survived by his wife.