Page 29 - They Also Served

7Charles Warren 1856.
The son of a colonel in the 5th Regiment
of Foot, Charles Warren was born
in Bangor, Wales, on 7th February
1840. Educated at grammar schools at
Bridgnorth and Wem in Shropshire, he
entered Sandhurst in 1854 at the age of
14 years and 5 months. Unusually, he
completed almost two years of training
and was awarded a Decoration of Merit
for his studies before transferring to the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich,
from where he was commissioned into
the Royal Engineers in 1857. From 1861 to 1865, he was stationed in Gibraltar and surveyed the rock, eventually producing two eight-metre models that depicted every contour, street and building. After a spell instructing at the Royal Engineer Survey school at Chatham, he was recruited to conduct archaeological surveys in the Holy Land. One of Warren’s first achievements was a major excavation of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, heralding a new age of biblical archaeology. His most notable discovery was of the ancient watercourse, part of which is now called Warren’s Shaft. He also carried out the first excavation of Tell es-Sultan, the ancient city of Jericho, and published five books about his discoveries, including The Land of Promise and Underground Jerusalem.
Between 1876 and 1879, Warren served in South Africa, initially as a surveyor and later as a commander in the Transkei war (1877–78), during which time he was wounded, MiD, promoted to lieutenant-colonel and awarded the CMG. The settlement of Warrenton in Northern Cape Province is named after him. From 1880 to 1884, Warren returned to be chief instructor of surveying at the School of Military Engineering. However, in 1882, the posting was interrupted when he was sent to Sinai to discover the fate of Edward Palmer’s expedition. Warren discovered that the party had been murdered by tribesmen and brought the killers to justice. He was knighted for his services and elected a fellow of the Royal Society.
In 1884, Warren was back in South Africa leading an expedition against Boer cattle raiders, which saw the first use of observation balloons by the British Army.
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