Charles Hamilton Boucher Major - General Sir Charles Hamilton Boucher KBE CB DSO and bar ( 1898 – 1951 ) was an officer in the British Indian Army during World War II . Military career . Boucher was born 26 October 1898 the son of Lieutenant - Colonel C . H . Boucher , DSO Hants regiment and was educated at Wellington College from 1912 - 1915 , after which he attended Wellington Cadet College in India . He was commissioned into the Unattached List for the Indian Army 14 November 1916 and was appointed to the Indian Army 1 December 1916 , attached to 2nd King Edward VII ' s Own Gurkha Rifles ( The Sirmoor Rifles ) although he was later to transfer to the 3rd Queen Alexandra ' s Own Gurkha Rifles in 1919 . He was promoted to Lieutenant 14 November 1917 He saw service against the Marris in India 1 March to 8 April 1918 , then saw service in Palestine in October 1918 . After the war he returned to India and saw action on the North West Frontier in Waziristan during the period 1919 - 21 and 1921 - 24 . He was Mentioned in Dispatches . He was promoted Captain 14 November 1920 . Attended the Staff College , Camberley in 1931 - 32 . In April 1933 he was appointed for a spell as a General Staff Officer Grade III . In November 1934 he relinquished the staff post and was promoted to major to take up a field appointment as a brigade major . In 1936 for " distinguished services rendered in the field in connection with the Mohmand Operations , North West Frontier of India , during the period 15th / 16 August to 15th / 16 October 1935 " he was made a companion of the Distinguished Service Order ( DSO ) . He was appointed an Instructor at the Staff College , Quetta in 1938 with the local rank of lieutenant - colonel . He served in World War II , initially as a General Staff Officer , before being made a Brigadier on the General Staff of Paiforce in Iraq in 1941 . In 1942 he was appointed Commander of 10th Indian Infantry Brigade in North Africa . Whilst commanding the brigade he was captured on 6 June 1942 during the fighting in the " Knightsbridge Cauldron " when his headquarters were overrun . He was held as a POW in Italy until the Italian Armistice with Italy in September 1943 when he made his way back to the Allied lines in southern Italy . During his confinement his substantive rank was advanced from major to lieutenant - colonel ( while his temporary rank remained as brigadier ) and he was also made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire ( CBE ) in 1943 " in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Iraq , Syria and Persia during the period April 1941 to February 1942 " . In February 1944 he assumed command of 17th Indian Infantry Brigade , leading them through the final Battle of Monte Cassino , the advance north of Rome and the fighting on the Gothic Line . For his service in Italy he was awarded a Bar to the previously awarded DSO and made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1945 . He was also mentioned in despatches . In January 1945 , in the rank of acting major - general , Boucher took command of Indian 4th Infantry Division which had been sent to Greece in November 1944 to help stabilise the country after the Axis withdrawal . For his " gallant and distinguished services in the field " he was mentioned in despatches in 1946 . Leaving Greece after a year he trained as a parachutist in Britain in order to take command of Indian 2nd Airborne Division in Karachi early in 1946 . His temporary major - general ' s rank was made permanent in 1947 and in 1948 he became General Officer Commanding Malaya District as well as Major - General Commanding the Brigade of Gurkhas in Malaya . For his service in Malaya he was knighted KBE in 1949 , an unusual distinction for an officer of major - general rank and was mentioned in despatches . He retired in March 1951 through ill health and died on the 14 November 1951 . Family . He married Edith Margaret , daughter of M . F . Ramsey , J . P . of Lee Priory , Littlebourne , Kent in 1926 . He had one son and one daughter .