Major General Charles George Baker V.C.
Major General and Lewa Pasha Charles George Baker V.C. was a British Merchant Navy officer, a Bengal Army officer, a Turkish Army officer, and head of the Egyptian Police. He joined Bulwer Lodge of Cairo on 3rd March 1888 aged 58 years. He was initi ated into True Friendship Lodge, No. 218, in Calcutta on 13th August 1855
He was born in Noacol, Bengal, British India on 8 December 1830 to John and Lydia Baker from Suffolk. John Baker was a Doctor in the East India Company's Medical Service. The young Baker was sent to England to be educated, attending schools in Halesworth and Lowestoft in Suffolk .
While an employee of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company in 1854, Baker was serving as Second Officer aboard the Douro, a passenger vessel. As the ship was sailing near the Paracel Islands it struck the north shoal and was wrecked. On 26 May, accompanied by seven volunteers, Baker took a Jolly boat and set out for Hainan which he estimated was 123 miles away. According to the log he kept, on arrival at the island of Hainan they were unable to locate signs of habitation, so the decision was made by him to head for Hong Kong. The first vessels they encountered on their journey turned out to be pirates who refused food, water and other assistance unless the crew allowed themselves to be stripped of all valuables. The boat was able to escape, facing adverse weather conditions and taking on water. After a journey totalling over 500 miles, the boat reached Hong Kong on the morning of 3 June. Baker reported the wreck, and was successful in securing rescue for the passengers and crew of the Douro, with the Steamships Malta, Tartar, and Pekin arriving at the site of the wreck on 5, 6 and 8 June respectively. The only loss of life from this incident was a member of the ship's crew who had fallen overboard.
Shortly afterwards Baker found employment in the East India Company's Bengal Army, eventually joining the Bengal Military Police Battalion under then-Captain Thomas Rattray. He was appointed as Second in Command of the Bengal Military Police Battalion on its formation, on 15 April 1856, while simultaneously holding the positions within the unit of Commandant of Cavalry and Officiating Commandant.[5] Baker served with them through the Indian Mutiny
He was 27 years old, and a lieutenant during September 1858 when he was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallant conduct on the occasion of an attack on the rebels at Suhejnee, near Peroo, on the 27th September, 1858 . The cavalry portion of the Bengal Military Police Battalion was assigned to the Field Force commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel William West Turner CB, then responsible for the security of the Grand Trunk Road.
After the Mutiny, Baker continued to serve with the Bengal Military Police Battalion, and took part in an 1861 Expedition to Sikkim.[12] In 1863 he was appointed as Officiating Deputy Inspector-General of Military Police for the Dacca Circle of Bengal. After leaving India, he served in the forces of Sultan Abdul Hamid II under Valentine Baker in the Balkan theatre during the Russo-Turkish War, and was taken prisoner by the Russians. As a reward from the Sultan for his service in Turkey, Baker was given the rank of Major General and appointed Lewa Pasha. Baker then went with Valentine Baker to Egypt, working un der him and eventually succeeding him as head of the Egyptian police force. He went on to become Chief of the Public Security Department of the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior, holding that post until his retirement in 1895. After retiring from service with the Egyptian government, Major General Baker moved to Southbourne with his wife Charlotte, residing in the South Cliff Hotel on Belle Vue Road.[14] He died on 19 February 1906 in Southbourne, and was laid to rest in Christchurch Cemetery in Dorset.