Lieutenant-Colonel T.G.L. Charles
5th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment
Soon after landing and during the unsettled first few days, he had the machinery of comd excellently organised and fully under control, being quite indifferent to and in no way allowing enemy action or movements to interfere with the arrangements. The same zeal and marked efficiency characterised all Lt-Col Charles’ work when he too over comd of 5 E Yorks.
(D.S.O. citation, 21 Jun 1945)
Born on 12 November 1909 Eastbourne, Sussex, Thomas Leslie Gwyther Charles was commissioned into the Essex Regiment in 1930, and served in India and the Middle East. In July 1936, he was injured in a RAF bomber crash in Egypt that killed seven. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he mobilized as adjutant in the 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment.
World War Graphic History 