Lieutenant Albany Kennett Charlesworth, MC

Albany Kennett Charlesworth MC

• Born 1892 Chelsea
• Son of Albany Hawke Charlesworth and Eleanor C. Bayley
• Died Feb 1 1945 - Barney was killed in an air accident when on his way to the Yalta Conference on February 1st 1945.
• a.k.a. as “Barney”
• Educated at Eton and matriculated in 1911
• He joined the 6th Dragoon Guards [Carabiniers] and was gazetted a Lieutenant on April 16th 1915.
• He was awarded the Military Cross.
• Married Diana [Marjorie N] daughter of the Hon. Rupert Beckett at St. George’s, Hanover Square in the summer of 1923. They had one child, David, born in 1926. They lived at Grinton Lodge near Richmond, Yorkshire.
• On September 2nd 1939, he was gazetted “ Lt. Albany Kennett Charlesworth M.C., Reserve of Officers to be Hon. Colonel.”
• He served with the Royal Armoured Corps 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards). For much of the war, he was aide de camp to Field Marshal Alan Brooke. [1st Viscount Alanbrooke]
• He is buried in the Imtarfa Military Cemetery Joint grave 1. 1C. 6.
• Commemorated on the MCC Roll of Honour and on the Memorial at St. Andrew’s Church, Dinton.

On June 2nd 1946, his son, David who was a Lieutenant with the 3rd Battalion, the Grenadier Guards was killed in a motor accident in Palestine and is buried in the Khayat Beach War Cemetery Plot C. C. 4.

In 1946, Diana Charlesworth sold Grinton Lodge which had been owned by the Charlesworth family since the 1870’s, originally as a shooting lodge. She donated “Off to the Pub” by Walter Sickert to the Leeds City Art Gallery.

She married Lord George Cholmondeley in 1948 and died in 1965.

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The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held from February 4 to 11, 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Premier Joseph Stalin, respectively, for the purpose of discussing Europe's post-war reorganization. The conference convened in the Livadia Palace near Yalta in Crimea. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yalta_Conference

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From https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk (subscription needed)

• First Name: Albany Kennett
• Surname: Charlesworth
• Rank: Lieutenant
• Gallantry Awards: Military Cross

• This decoration was awarded to Albany Kennett Charlesworth for an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy.
  
• Gazette Info: Gazette Issue No. 30780 – M.C. - With reference to the awards conferred as announced in the London Gazette dated 4th February, 1918, the following are the statements of service for which the decorations were conferred. For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When the enemy had broken through our line he was sent to obtain information as to the situation in a village. In spite of heavy rifle and machine gun fire he led his patrol right through the village and located the enemy's positions. He collected some small parties of men and with them maintained a footing in the village until a counter-attack had driven the enemy back. He showed splendid gallantry and initiative.
  
• Gazette Date: 02/07/1918
  
• Gazette Page: 7900
  * Service: British Army

• Regiment: Dragoon Guards

CHARLESWORTH, ALBANY KENNETT

• Rank: Captain
• Service No: 59123
• Date of Death: 01/02/1945
• Age: 52
• Regiment/Service: Royal Armoured Corps 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards).
• Awards: M C Grave Reference:
• Joint grave 1. 1C. 6. Cemetery: IMTARFA MILITARY CEMETERY
• Additional Information: Son of Albany Hawke Charlesworth and Eleanor C. Charlesworth; husband of Diana Charlesworth, of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.
• http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1705552/CHARLESWORTH,%20...

Reference and Sources

• http://willswales1.webspace.virginmedia.com/Grinton%20Parish%20hist...
• http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/cathedral/memorials/WW2/albany-charlesworth
• http://wakefieldfhs.org.uk/genealogyjunction/Yorkshire/Grinton,%20R...