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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Arthur Reginald Chater
|birth_date= {{birth date|1896|2|7|df=y}}
|death_date= {{death date and age|1979|1|3|1896|2|7|df=y}}
|birth_place= [[Kensington]], [[London]], England<ref>{{cite web | url=https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/6890081 | title=Life story: Arthur Reginald Chater | Lives of the First World War }}</ref>
|death_place= [[Colchester]], [[Essex]], England
|image= Major General A. R. Chater.jpg
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{flag|United Kingdom}}
|serviceyears= 1913–1948
|rank= [[Major general (United Kingdom)|Major General]]
|branch= [[File:RoyalMarineBadge.svg|23px]] [[Royal Marines]]
|unit=
|commands= Chatham Group Royal Marines (1946–48) Portsmouth Division Royal Marines (1943–44) [[Somaliland Camel Corps]] (1937–40) [[Sudan Defence Force|Sudan Camel Corps]] (1927–30)
|battles= [[First World War]] [[Second World War]]
|awards= Companion of the [[Order of the Bath]] [[Commander of the Royal Victorian Order]] [[Distinguished Service Order]] [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Mentioned in Despatches]] [[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de guerre]] (France)
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
[[Major general (United Kingdom)|Major General]] '''Arthur Reginald Chater''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CB|CVO|DSO|OBE}} (7 February 1896 – 3 January 1979)<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=l8ohAQAAIAAJ&q=Major+General+Arthur+Reginald+Chater+1896 Profile of Arthur Reginald Chater]</ref> was an officer in the [[Royal Marines]] during the [[First World War]], the [[Interwar period|interwar years]], and [[Second World War]].

==Military career==
Chater was commissioned into the [[Royal Marines Light Infantry]] in 1913. He served in the [[First World War]] and [[Siege of Antwerp (1914)|saw action at Antwerp]] with the Chatham Battalion of the Royal Marine Brigade in 1914.<ref name=lh>[http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/CHATER.shtml Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives]</ref> He [[Battle of Gallipoli|fought on the Gallipoli Peninsula]] in Turkey from 28 April to 12 May 1915, and in March 1918 he participated in the [[Zeebrugge Raid|Allied raid on Zeebrugge]].<ref name=lh/> He was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO) in July 1918, the citation for which appeared in ''[[The Edinburgh Gazette]]'' and reads as follows:

{{Quote|Was of the greatest assistance in keeping up communication between the various units of the battalion, and carried out his duties in a calm manner, which greatly contributed to the success of the operations. Gave great assistance in the preparation of the plan for the assault.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=13294|page=2578|date=25 July 1918|city=e}}</ref>}}

During the [[interwar period]] Chater served with the [[Egyptian Army]] and the [[Sudan Defence Force|Sudan Camel Corps]].<ref name=lh/> He became Commanding Officer of the Sudan Camel Corps in 1927, Commander of military operations in [[Kordofan]] in [[Sudan]] in 1929 and Senior Royal Marines Officer at the [[East Indies Station]] in 1931.<ref name=lh/> He served in the [[Second World War]] as Military-Governor of [[British Somaliland]] from 1941, whose evacuation he oversaw following the [[Battle of Tug Argan]], as Commander of the Portsmouth Division of the Royal Marines from 1943 and as Director of Combined Operations for India and South East Asia from 1944.<ref name=lh/>

Papers related to his service are held in the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, [[King's College London]], and comprise notes on [[Operation Lightning (Burma)|Operation Lightning]] for the capture of [[Akyab Island]], Burma, on 3 January 1945; photographs of [[amphibious landings]] by 15 Indian Corps at [[Kangaw]], Burma, January 1945; and notes on [[combined operations]] training of allied forces for [[Operation Zipper]], the planned [[invasion of Malaya]], August 1945.<ref name=kcl>[http://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/archivespec/documents/archivesdocs/FarEast02.pdf ''Research Guide Far East''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023005837/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/library/archivespec/documents/archivesdocs/FarEast02.pdf |date=23 October 2016 }} Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London, 2005. p. 3.</ref>

Having been made a Companion of the Order of the Distinguished Service Order, he became Commander of the Chatham Group of Royal Marines in 1946 and retired in 1948.<ref name=lh/>

A road on the site of the former Royal Marine Infirmary Barracks in Deal, Kent, which was built in 1900 and demolished c.1990 was named Chater Court.

==Honours==
Chater was made a companion of the [[Order of the Bath]], a commander of the [[Royal Victorian Order]], and a member of the [[Order of the British Empire]].<ref>[http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1030007575 Private Papers of Major General A R Chater CB CVO DSO OBE.] Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 15 October 2016.</ref>

==Honours and awards==
* Companion of the [[Order of the Bath]] – January 1941<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35062|supp=y|page=671|date=31 January 1941}}</ref>
* [[Commander of the Royal Victorian Order]] – June 1966<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=44004|supp=y|page=6533|date=3 June 1966}}</ref>
* [[Distinguished Service Order]] – July 1918<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30807|supp=y|page=8588|date=19 July 1918}}</ref>
* [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] – June 1931<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33722|supp=y|page=3629|date=2 June 1931}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://generals.dk/general/Chater/Arthur_Reginald/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]
*[https://www.unithistories.com/officers/RM_officersC.html#Chater_AR Royal Marine Officers 1939−1945]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chater, Arthur}}
[[Category:Governors of British Somaliland]]
[[Category:Somaliland Camel Corps officers]]
[[Category:Sudan Defence Force officers]]
[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:British Somaliland in World War II]]
[[Category:East African campaign (World War II)]]
[[Category:Royal Marines personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Royal Marines generals of World War II]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)]]
[[Category:Collections of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives]]
[[Category:People from Kensington]]
[[Category:Royal Marines major generals]]
[[Category:Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea]]

Arthur Reginald Chater - Revision history

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