Charles Harvey-Kelly


Charles Hamilton Grant Hume Harvey-Kelly, was a British Indian Army officer who served as Military Attaché to Kabul. He was brother to H.D. Harvey-Kelly, the first Royal Flying Corps pilot to land in France in the First World War.

Early life and career

Harvey-Kelly was educated at Bedford Modern School and Sandhurst. He was commissioned in 1905 and appointed to the British Indian Army in 1906 where he served in East Africa between 1908 and 1910. Harvey-Kelly served with the Indian Contingent at the Coronation of King George VI in 1911.

During the First World War Harvey-Kelly fought on the North West frontier. He was mentioned in despatches three times, made a brevet major and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in June 1919. In 1926 Harvey-Kelly was awarded the MacGregor Memorial Medal for military reconnaissances and journeys of exploration. His papers concerning the expedition to Afghan Turkestan are held in the national archive.

Military career

1905: Commissioned a 2nd lieutenant on 18 January 1905
1906: Posted to the 127th Baluch Light Infantry and becomes a Double Company Officer, part of the Indian Army
1907: Promoted to lieutenant on 19 April 1907
1911: Company officer & adjutant
1914: Promoted to captain on 18 January 1914
1917: becomes a brevet major on 3 June 1917
1919: Awarded the Distinguished Service Order
1920: Promoted to major on 18 January 1920
1928: retires the Indian Army, and promoted lieutenant colonel on retirement

Later life

Harvey-Kelly later retired to his native Ireland, eventually settling in Clonhugh, County Westmeath where he died in 1982.