Charles Gwynn

Major-General Sir Charles William Gwynn, KCB, CMG, DSO, FRGS (4 February 1870 – 12 February 1963) was an Irish-born British Army officer, geographer, explorer and author of works on military history and theory.

Birth and education

Charles William Gwynn was the fourth son of John Gwynn (1827–1917), Regius Professor of Divinity at Trinity College, Dublin, and his wife, Lucy Josephine (1840–1907) daughter of the Irish nationalist William Smith O'Brien. He was born at Ramelton, County Donegal, while his father was rector of the local church. He was educated at St. Columba's College, Dublin and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.

Military career

Gwynn was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 15 February 1889.

Promoted to lieutenant on 15 February 1892, he saw active service in West Africa 1893–94 in operations against the Sofas, and in 1897 joined the geographical section of the Intelligence Branch of the War Office. received a brevet promotion to major on the following day, and was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for his survey work determining the Ethiopia-Sudan controversial border. He was promoted to major on 1 October 1908.

In June 1911, he was detailed to Australia as an instructor at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, During much of his time there he acted as commandant while the head of the college, Brigadier General William Bridges, was away on tour.

Gwynn was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1918. During the Great War, he was mentioned in dispatches six times, received the brevet ranks of lieutenant-colonel and colonel, and was awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre and the French Légion d'honneur.

Upon his retirement in 1931, covering the doctrine, legal principles, and operational case studies of how the British Army handled civil unrest, rebellions, and internal security duties across the British Empire during the interwar period. It is now regarded as a classic in the field of low intensity conflict and small wars.

Family In 1904 Gwynn married Mary ("Molly") Armstrong, widow of Lieutenant Lowry Armstrong of the Royal Navy. Molly Gwynn had a daughter by her first husband, named Margery Armstrong. Charles Gwynn had no children. Molly Gwynn died in 1951. Charles Gwynn spent his final years in Dublin, where he died in 1963 at the age of 93.

Publications by Charles Gwynn

The Frontiers of Abyssinia: a retrospect Journal of the Royal African Society, Vol. 36, No. 143 (Apr. 1937), pp. 150–161 Imperial Policing London: Macmillan, 1934 The Second Great War: A Standard History (9 volumes, The Waverley Book Company Ltd in association with The Amalgamated Press, 1939–1946, edited by Sir John Hammerton), as Military Editor.

Photographs