Charles Jocelyn Hambro
Sir Charles Jocelyn Hambro | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 October 1897 Kensington, London |
| Died | 28 August 1963 (aged 65)[1] Regent's Park, London |
| Rank | Air Commodore |
| Unit | Coldstream Guards Special Operations Executive |
| Commands held | Head of the Special Operations Executive |
| Battles/wars | First World War Second World War |
| Awards |
|
| Relations | Sir Eric Hambro (father) (son)Charles Hambro, Baron Hambro |
| Other work | Merchant Banker |
Life
Hambro was born into a banking family of Danish Jewish origin which had settled in
Between 1910 and 1915, he was educated at Eton College, joining the cricket team in 1914 and becoming the Captain in 1915. After leaving Eton he immediately went to the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, being made an ensign in the Coldstream Guards on 22 December 1915.[2] He was immediately posted to the Western Front, serving for two years as an officer until demobilisation. Promoted to lieutenant on 10 July 1916 (back-dated to 9 June 1916),[3][4] he was awarded the Military Cross on 26 September 1917 for conspicuous bravery in action.[5][6] His citation reads as follows:
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. Accompanied by a private, he crossed to the enemy's side of a canal and rescued two wounded men, one of whom was unable to walk, from close under the enemy's parapet. Later in the day, he went forward in charge of the leading patrol of an advance, personally accounting for four of the enemy with his revolver and capturing several prisoners with his party. On reaching his objective, he sent back correct and valuable information, and has at all times displayed the utmost coolness and gallantry.
Hambro resigned his commission on 12 August 1919, receiving a regular commission as a reserve officer from the same date.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Hambro was placed in charge of activities in Scandinavia, arranging smuggling, intelligence networks and sabotage operations. After the fall of France in June 1940, Hambro was made a colonel on the General Staff and was asked by Ronald Cross to join the Ministry of Economic Warfare, a cover organisation for the Special Operations Executive (SOE).[9] The SOE was charged with creating "a spirit of resistance in occupied territories".[9] Through his contact with Ebbe Munck, an anti-Nazi journalist, Hambro linked up with the Danish resistance, and was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his work in 1941. Hambro refused to accept any wages for his military work during wartime.[1]
Between December 1940 and November 1941, Hambro was also in charge of overseeing the French, Belgian, German and Dutch sections of the SOE, and from November 1941 he was deputy leader of SOE for 5 months. In 1942 he succeeded in persuading the British and Norwegian organisations to form a planning commission, which was instrumental in devising
For the rest of the war he acted as head of the "British raw materials mission" in Washington; a cover for exchanging information and technology between Britain and the United States which led to the detonation of the first
After the war Hambro returned to the city, assuming responsibility for the companies with which Hambros were associated. On the death of his uncle, Olaf Hambro, in 1961 he became chairman of Hambros Bank. Whilst maintaining close connection to commerce in Scandinavia, he extended the Bank's interests to Africa and Asia.
Family
In 1919, Hambro married Pamela Cobbold, daughter of John Dupuis Cobbold (1861–1929), grandson of John Chevalier Cobbold (1797–1882); and Zainab Cobbold.
Together they had four children:
- Cynthia Hambro (1921–1986), married Maj. Michael Ian Leslie-Melville in 1943
- Diana Hambro (b. 1922), married David Gibson-Watt, Baron Gibson-Watt in 1942
- Pamela Hambro (b. 1925), married Capt. Robin William Lowe in 1945 (divorced 1951), married Andrew Gibson-Watt (brother of David, above) in 1951
- Charles Hambro, Baron Hambro (1930–2002)
The family settled at Delcombe Manor near Milton Abbey. Pamela died in 1932, of infection following a hunting accident.[10] In 1934, Hambro built the village hall for Winterborne Stickland to replace its Reading Room, which had been sold off with the rest of the Milton Abbey estate, and named it after his late wife.
In 1936, Hambro remarried: his second wife was Dorothy Helen Mackay: her first husband had been Marcus Wallenberg Jr. They went on to have a daughter, Sally, thus a half-sibling of Peter Wallenberg Sr. and Marc Wallenberg. She is the second wife and widow of the late Anthony Brand, 6th Viscount Hampden.[11]
A relative, Carl Joachim Hambro, (the younger) was a politician and civil servant in Norway and in exile during World War II in Sweden. He served as President of the Parliament at the time of the German invasion.[12]
References
- ^ a b c "Sir Charles Hambro – Notable Merchant Banker". The Times. 28 August 1963. p. 10.
- ^ "No. 29409". The London Gazette. 21 December 1915. p. 12692.
- ^ "No. 29674". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 July 1916. p. 7200.
- ^ "No. 29693". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 August 1916. p. 7656.
- ^ a b ONDB: Hambro, Charles Jocelyn
- ^ "No. 30466". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 January 1918. p. 612.
- ^ "No. 31500". The London Gazette. 8 August 1919. p. 10203.
- ^ "No. 31500". The London Gazette. 8 August 1919. p. 10206.
- ^ a b "Obituary: Sir Charles Hambro". The Times. No. 55792. 29 August 1963. p. 10.
- ^ Dismore, Jane. "Pamela Hambro and the lost world of Milton Abbey". Dorset Life.
- ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage: 107th Edition. Burke's Peerage. 2003. p. 1755.
- ^ C. J. Hambro Archived 15 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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