Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell
Encyclopedia
Field Marshal
Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell GCB
, GCSI
, GCIE
, CMG
, MC
, PC
(5 May 1883 – 24 May 1950) was a British field marshal
and the commander of British Army
forces in the Middle East during the Second World War. He led British forces to victory over the Italians
, only to be defeated by the German army
. He was the penultimate Viceroy of India from 1943 to 1947.
but spent much of his childhood in India
. Wavell's father (Archibald Graham Wavell) was a major-general in the British Army and Wavell followed his father's career choice. Wavell attended the preparatory boarding school Summer Fields
, at Oxford
, Winchester College
, where he was a scholar, seventh on the roll, and Sandhurst
.
, Wavell was commissioned on 8 May 1901 into the Black Watch
and fought in the Second Boer War
. In 1903, he was transferred to India and fought in the Bazar Valley Campaign of February 1908. He was promoted to lieutenant in August 1904 and in January 1909 was seconded from his regiment to be a student at the Staff College
. In 1911, he spent a year as a military observer with the Russian Army
to learn Russian, returning to his regiment in December of that year. In April 1912 he became a Staff Officer Grade 3 (GSO3) in the War Office
. In July, he was granted the temporary rank of captain and became GSO3 at the Directorate of Military Training. In March 1913 Wavell was promoted to captain.
of 9th Infantry Brigade
. He was wounded in the Second Battle of Ypres
of 1915, losing his left eye and winning the Military Cross
. In December 1915, after he had recovered, he was appointed to the General Staff as a GSO2 with the rank of captain. He was promoted to Major in May 1916. In October 1916 Wavell was graded General Staff Officer Grade 1 (GSO1) as an acting lieutenant colonel, and was then assigned as a liaison officer to the Russian Army in the Caucasus
. In June 1917, he was promoted to brevet
lieutenant colonel and continued to work as a staff officer (GSO1), as liaison officer with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force
headquarters. In January 1918 he received a further staff appointment as Assistant Adjutant & Quartermaster General (AA&QMG) working at the Supreme War Council
in Versailles
. In March 1918 Wavell was made a temporary brigadier general and returned to Palestine where he served as the brigadier general of the General Staff (BGGS) with XX Corps, part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force
commanded by Sir Edmund Allenby
, of whom he was later to write a biography.
lieutenant colonel. In December 1921, still a brevet lieutenant colonel, he became an Assistant Adjutant General (AAG) at the War Office
and in July 1923 was once again working as a GSO1, having been promoted full Colonel in July 1922, effective June 1921. Apart from a short period unemployed on half pay in 1926, Wavell continued to hold GSO1 appointments, latterly in the 3rd Infantry Division, until July 1930 when he was once again granted the rank of temporary brigadier and was given command of 6th Infantry Brigade
. In March 1932, he was appointed ADC
to the King, a position he held until October 1933 when he was promoted to major general. However, there was a shortage of jobs for major generals at this time and in January 1934, on relinquishing command of his brigade, he found himself unemployed on half pay once again. By the end of the year, although still on half pay, he had been designated to command 2nd Division and was made CB. In March 1935, he took command of his division. In August 1937 he was transferred to Palestine, where there was growing unrest, to be General Officer Commanding (GOC) British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan and was promoted to lieutenant general in January 1938. In April 1938 he became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Southern Command
in the UK. In July 1939, he was named as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Middle East Command
with the local rank of full general.
) in December 1940 and Eritrea and Ethiopia in January 1941. By February 1941, his Western Desert Force
under Lieutenant General Richard O'Connor
had defeated the Italian Tenth Army at Beda Fomm taking 130,000 prisoners and appeared to be on the verge of overrunning the last Italian forces in Libya
, which would have ended all direct Axis control in North Africa. Furthermore, his troops in East Africa
had the Italians under pressure and at the end of March his forces in Eritrea under William Platt
won the decisive battle of the campaign at Keren
which led to the occupation of the Italian colonies in Ethiopia
and Somaliland
.
However, in February Wavell had been ordered to halt his advance into Libya and send troops to Greece where the Germans and Italians were attacking
. He disagreed with this decision but followed his orders. The result was a disaster. The Germans were given the opportunity to reinforce the Italians in North Africa with the Afrika Korps
and by the end of April the weakened Western Desert Force had been pushed all the way back to the Egyptian border, leaving Tobruk under siege
. In Greece General Wilson's Force W was unable to set up an adequate defence on the Greek mainland and were forced to withdraw to Crete
, suffering 15,000 casualties and leaving behind all their heavy equipment and artillery. Crete was attacked by German airborne forces on 20 May and as in Greece, the British and Commonwealth troops were forced once more to evacuate.
Events in Greece provoked a pro-Axis faction to take over the government of Iraq
. Wavell, hard pressed on his other fronts, was unwilling to divert precious resources to Iraq and so it fell to Claude Auchinleck
's India Command to send troops to Basra
. Winston Churchill
, the British Prime Minister, saw Iraq as vital to Britain's strategic interests and in early May, under heavy pressure from London, Wavell agreed to send a division-sized force across the desert from Palestine to relieve the besieged British air base at Habbaniya
and to assume overall control of troops in Iraq. By the end of May Quinan
's forces in Iraq
had captured Baghdad
and the Anglo-Iraqi War
had ended with troops in Iraq once more reverting to the overall control of GHQ in Delhi. However, Churchill had been unimpressed by Wavell's reluctance to act.
In early June Wavell sent a force under General Wilson to invade Syria
and Lebanon
, responding to the help given by the Vichy France
authorities there to the Iraq Government during the Anglo-Iraqi War
. Initial hopes of a quick victory faded as the French put up a determined defence. Churchill determined to relieve Wavell and after the failure in mid June of Operation Battleaxe
, intended to relieve Tobruk, he told Wavell on 20 June that he was to be replaced by Auchinleck, whose attitude during the Iraq crisis had impressed him. Rommel
rated Wavell highly, despite Wavell's lack of success against him, and he carried an annotated translation of his book Generals and Generalship in his pocket throughout the North Africa Campaign.
Of Wavell, Auchinleck wrote: "In no sense do I wish to infer that I found an unsatisfactory situation on my arrival – far from it. Not only was I greatly impressed by the solid foundations laid by my predecessor, but I was also able the better to appreciate the vastness of the problems with which he had been confronted and the greatness of his achievements, in a command in which some 40 different languages are spoken by the British and Allied Forces."
and a member of the Governor General's Executive Council. Initially his command covered India and Iraq so that within a month of taking charge he launched Iraqforce
to invade Persia in co-operation with the Russians in order to secure the oilfields and secure lines of communication to the Soviet Union
.
Wavell once again had the misfortune of being placed in charge of an undermanned theatre which became a war zone when the Japanese declared war on the United Kingdom in December 1941. He was made Commander-in-Chief of ABDACOM
(American-British-Dutch-Australian Command) covering Burma, Malaya, Dutch East Indies and the Philippines. Wavell, despite his abilities, did not have the resources to defend the territory he was responsible for and was unable to prevent the Japanese from capturing Singapore
and Malaya
.
Late at night on 10 February 1942, Wavell prepared to board a flying boat, to fly from Singapore to Java. He stepped out of a staff car, not noticing (because of his blind left eye) that it was parked at the edge of a pier. He broke two bones in his back when he fell, and this injury affected his temperament for some time.
On 23 February 1942, with Malaya lost and the Allied position in Java
and Sumatra
precarious, ABDACOM was closed down and its headquarters in Java evacuated. Wavell returned to India to resume his position as C-in-C India where his responsibilities now included the defence of Burma.
On 23 February British forces in Burma had suffered a serious setback when Major-General Jackie Smyth's decision to destroy the bridge over the Sittang river to prevent the enemy crossing had resulted in most of his division being trapped on the wrong side of the river. The Viceroy
Lord Linlithgow
sent a signal criticising the conduct of the field commanders to Churchill who forwarded it to Wavell together with an offer to send Harold Alexander, who had commanded the rearguard at Dunkirk. Alexander took command of Allied land forces in Burma in early March with William Slim arriving shortly afterwards from commanding a division in Iraq to take command of its principal formation, Burma Corps
. Nevertheless, the pressure from the Japanese Armies was unstoppable and a withdrawal to India was ordered which was completed by the end of May before the start of the monsoon
season which brought Japanese progress to a halt.
In order to wrest some of the initiative from the Japanese, Wavell ordered the Eastern Army in India to mount an offensive in the Arakan
, which commenced in September. After some initial success the Japanese counter-attacked, and by March 1943 the position was untenable, and the remnants of the attacking force was withdrawn. Wavell relieved the Eastern Army commander, Noel Irwin
, of his command and replaced him with George Giffard
.
(taking the style Viscount Wavell of Cyrenaica and of Winchester, in the county of Southampton) and in September, he was formally named Governor-General
and Viceroy of India. He was also appointed as a Privy Counsellor.
One of his first actions in office was to address the Bengal famine of 1943
by ordering the army to distribute relief supplies to the starving rural Bengalis. He attempted with mixed success to increase the supplies of rice to reduce the prices and make it more affordable.
Although Wavell was initially popular with Indian politicians, pressure mounted concerning the likely structure and timing of an independent India. He attempted to move the debate along but received little support from Churchill (who was against Indian independence), nor from Clement Attlee
, Churchill's successor as Prime Minister. He was also hampered by the differences between the various Indian political factions. At the end of the war, rising Indian expectations continued to be unfulfilled and inter-communal violence became an increasing feature. Eventually, in 1947, Attlee lost confidence in Wavell and replaced him with Lord Mountbatten of Burma
.
. The same year, he was created Earl Wavell
and given the additional title of Viscount Keren of Eritrea and Winchester.
A great lover of literature, Wavell, while Viceroy, compiled and annotated an anthology of great poetry, Other Men's Flowers, which was published in 1944; the last poem in the anthology he wrote himself and described it as a "...little wayside dandelion of my own". He had a great memory for poetry and often quoted it at length. He is depicted in Evelyn Waugh
's novel "Officers and Gentlemen", part of the Sword of Honour
trilogy, reciting a translation of Callimachus
's poetry in public.
Wavell was a member of the Church of England
and a deeply religious man.
Wavell died on 24 May 1950 after a relapse following abdominal surgery on 5 May.
After his death Wavell’s body lay in state at the Tower of London
where he had been Constable. A military funeral was held on 7 June 1950 with the funeral procession travelling along the Thames from the Tower to Westminster Pier and then to Westminster Abbey
for the funeral service. This was the first military funeral by river since that of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
in 1806. The funeral was attended by the then Prime Minister Clement Attlee
, Lord Halifax
, and fellow officers including Field Marshals Alanbrooke
and Montgomery
. Churchill
did not attend the service.
Wavell is buried in the old mediaeval cloister at Winchester College
, next to the Chantry Chapel. His tombstone simply bears the inscription "Wavell". St Andrew's Garrison Church, Aldershot
, an Army church, contains a large wooden plaque dedicated to Lord Wavell.
Wavell Heights
, a suburb in Brisbane
, Queensland, was named in his honour in 1941, after a request by the Brisbane City Council to rename an area which had been previously known as West Nundah. In addition, Wavell Avenue in Colchester, Essex, is named after him.
Children:
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Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell GCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, GCSI
Order of the Star of India
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:# Knight Grand Commander # Knight Commander # Companion...
, GCIE
Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:#Knight Grand Commander #Knight Commander #Companion...
, CMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
, PC
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
(5 May 1883 – 24 May 1950) was a British field marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
and the commander of British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
forces in the Middle East during the Second World War. He led British forces to victory over the Italians
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
, only to be defeated by the German army
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. He was the penultimate Viceroy of India from 1943 to 1947.
Early life
Wavell was born in ColchesterColchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
but spent much of his childhood in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Wavell's father (Archibald Graham Wavell) was a major-general in the British Army and Wavell followed his father's career choice. Wavell attended the preparatory boarding school Summer Fields
Summer Fields School
Summer Fields is a boys' independent preparatory school based in Summertown, Oxford, England.-History:Originally called Summerfield, it became a Boys' Preparatory School in 1864 with seven pupils. Its owner, Archibald Maclaren, was a fencing teacher who ran a gymnasium in Oxford; he himself was...
, at Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
, where he was a scholar, seventh on the roll, and Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
.
Early career
After graduating from the Royal Military Academy SandhurstRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
, Wavell was commissioned on 8 May 1901 into the Black Watch
Black Watch
The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The unit's traditional colours were retired in 2011 in a ceremony led by Queen Elizabeth II....
and fought in the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
. In 1903, he was transferred to India and fought in the Bazar Valley Campaign of February 1908. He was promoted to lieutenant in August 1904 and in January 1909 was seconded from his regiment to be a student at the Staff College
Staff College, Camberley
Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army from 1802 to 1997, with periods of closure during major wars. In 1997 it was merged into the new Joint Services Command and Staff College.-Origins:...
. In 1911, he spent a year as a military observer with the Russian Army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
to learn Russian, returning to his regiment in December of that year. In April 1912 he became a Staff Officer Grade 3 (GSO3) in the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
. In July, he was granted the temporary rank of captain and became GSO3 at the Directorate of Military Training. In March 1913 Wavell was promoted to captain.
First World War
Wavell was working as a staff officer when the First World War began. As a captain, he was sent to France to a posting at GHQ as General Staff Officer Grade 2 (GSO2), but shortly afterwards, in November 1914, was appointed Brigade MajorBrigade Major
In the British Army, a Brigade Major was the Chief of Staff of a brigade. He held the rank of Major and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section directly and oversaw the two other branches, "A - Administration" and "Q - Quartermaster"...
of 9th Infantry Brigade
9th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)
-History:The Brigade together with 8th Infantry Brigade and 185th Infantry Brigade formed the 3rd Infantry Division and participated in the ill-fated British Expeditionary Force, which evacuated from Dunkirk early in World War II....
. He was wounded in the Second Battle of Ypres
Second Battle of Ypres
The Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the Western Front in the First World War and the first time a former colonial force pushed back a major European power on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St...
of 1915, losing his left eye and winning the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
. In December 1915, after he had recovered, he was appointed to the General Staff as a GSO2 with the rank of captain. He was promoted to Major in May 1916. In October 1916 Wavell was graded General Staff Officer Grade 1 (GSO1) as an acting lieutenant colonel, and was then assigned as a liaison officer to the Russian Army in the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
. In June 1917, he was promoted to brevet
Brevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
lieutenant colonel and continued to work as a staff officer (GSO1), as liaison officer with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force
Egyptian Expeditionary Force
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force was formed in March 1916 to command the British and British Empire military forces in Egypt during World War I. Originally known as the 'Force in Egypt' it had been commanded by General Maxwell who was recalled to England...
headquarters. In January 1918 he received a further staff appointment as Assistant Adjutant & Quartermaster General (AA&QMG) working at the Supreme War Council
Supreme War Council
The Supreme War Council was a central command created by British Prime Minister David Lloyd George to coordinate Allied military strategy during World War I. It was founded in 1917, and was based in Versailles...
in Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
. In March 1918 Wavell was made a temporary brigadier general and returned to Palestine where he served as the brigadier general of the General Staff (BGGS) with XX Corps, part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force
Egyptian Expeditionary Force
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force was formed in March 1916 to command the British and British Empire military forces in Egypt during World War I. Originally known as the 'Force in Egypt' it had been commanded by General Maxwell who was recalled to England...
commanded by Sir Edmund Allenby
Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby
Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby GCB, GCMG, GCVO was a British soldier and administrator most famous for his role during the First World War, in which he led the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in the conquest of Palestine and Syria in 1917 and 1918.Allenby, nicknamed...
, of whom he was later to write a biography.
Between the wars
Wavell was given a number of assignments between the wars, though like many officers he had to accept a reduction in rank. In May 1920 he relinquished the temporary rank of brigadier general, reverting to brevetBrevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
lieutenant colonel. In December 1921, still a brevet lieutenant colonel, he became an Assistant Adjutant General (AAG) at the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
and in July 1923 was once again working as a GSO1, having been promoted full Colonel in July 1922, effective June 1921. Apart from a short period unemployed on half pay in 1926, Wavell continued to hold GSO1 appointments, latterly in the 3rd Infantry Division, until July 1930 when he was once again granted the rank of temporary brigadier and was given command of 6th Infantry Brigade
6th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)
- World War I :The brigade was part of 2nd Division. It was composed as follows;*1st Battalion, The King's *2nd Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment*13th Battalion , The Essex Regiment...
. In March 1932, he was appointed ADC
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to the King, a position he held until October 1933 when he was promoted to major general. However, there was a shortage of jobs for major generals at this time and in January 1934, on relinquishing command of his brigade, he found himself unemployed on half pay once again. By the end of the year, although still on half pay, he had been designated to command 2nd Division and was made CB. In March 1935, he took command of his division. In August 1937 he was transferred to Palestine, where there was growing unrest, to be General Officer Commanding (GOC) British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan and was promoted to lieutenant general in January 1938. In April 1938 he became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Southern Command
Southern Command (United Kingdom)
-History:The Command was established in 1905 from the Second Army Corps and was initially based at Tidworth but in 1949 moved to Fugglestone Farm near Wilton in Wiltshire....
in the UK. In July 1939, he was named as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Middle East Command
Middle East Command
The Middle East Command was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to defend British interests in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean region.The...
with the local rank of full general.
Middle East Command
The Middle Eastern theatre was quiet for the first few months of the war until Italy's declaration of war in June 1940. The Italian forces in North and East Africa greatly outnumbered the British and Wavell's policy was therefore one of "flexible containment" to buy time to build up adequate forces to take the offensive. Having fallen back in front of Italian advances from Libya, Eritrea and Ethiopia, Wavell mounted successful offensives into Libya (Operation CompassOperation Compass
Operation Compass was the first major Allied military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during World War II. British and Commonwealth forces attacked Italian forces in western Egypt and eastern Libya in December 1940 to February 1941. The attack was a complete success...
) in December 1940 and Eritrea and Ethiopia in January 1941. By February 1941, his Western Desert Force
Western Desert Force
The Western Desert Force, during World War II, was a British Commonwealth army formation stationed in Egypt.On 17 June 1940, the headquarters of the British 6th Infantry Division was designated as the Western Desert Force. The unit consisted of the 7th Armoured Division and the Indian 4th Infantry...
under Lieutenant General Richard O'Connor
Richard O'Connor
General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor KT, GCB, DSO & Bar, MC, ADC was a British Army general who commanded the Western Desert Force in the early years of World War II...
had defeated the Italian Tenth Army at Beda Fomm taking 130,000 prisoners and appeared to be on the verge of overrunning the last Italian forces in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, which would have ended all direct Axis control in North Africa. Furthermore, his troops in East Africa
East African Campaign (World War II)
The East African Campaign was a series of battles fought in East Africa during World War II by the British Empire, the British Commonwealth of Nations and several allies against the forces of Italy from June 1940 to November 1941....
had the Italians under pressure and at the end of March his forces in Eritrea under William Platt
William Platt
General Sir William Platt GBE, KCB, DSO was an officer in the British Army, the Australian Army, and the New Zealand Army during World War I and World War II.-Early years:...
won the decisive battle of the campaign at Keren
Battle of Keren
The Battle of Keren was fought as part of the East African Campaign during World War II. The Battle of Keren was fought from 5 February-1 April 1941 between the colonial Italian army defending it's colonial possession of Eritrea and the invading British and Commonwealth forces. In 1941, Keren was...
which led to the occupation of the Italian colonies in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
and Somaliland
Somaliland
Somaliland is an unrecognised self-declared sovereign state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia. The government of Somaliland regards itself as the successor state to the British Somaliland protectorate, which was independent for a few days in 1960 as the State of...
.
Battle of Greece
The Battle of Greece is the common name for the invasion and conquest of Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941. Greece was supported by British Commonwealth forces, while the Germans' Axis allies Italy and Bulgaria played secondary roles...
. He disagreed with this decision but followed his orders. The result was a disaster. The Germans were given the opportunity to reinforce the Italians in North Africa with the Afrika Korps
Afrika Korps
The German Africa Corps , or the Afrika Korps as it was popularly called, was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II...
and by the end of April the weakened Western Desert Force had been pushed all the way back to the Egyptian border, leaving Tobruk under siege
Siege of Tobruk
The siege of Tobruk was a confrontation that lasted 240 days between Axis and Allied forces in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War...
. In Greece General Wilson's Force W was unable to set up an adequate defence on the Greek mainland and were forced to withdraw to Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, suffering 15,000 casualties and leaving behind all their heavy equipment and artillery. Crete was attacked by German airborne forces on 20 May and as in Greece, the British and Commonwealth troops were forced once more to evacuate.
Events in Greece provoked a pro-Axis faction to take over the government of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. Wavell, hard pressed on his other fronts, was unwilling to divert precious resources to Iraq and so it fell to Claude Auchinleck
Claude Auchinleck
Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, GCB, GCIE, CSI, DSO, OBE , nicknamed "The Auk", was a British army commander during World War II. He was a career soldier who spent much of his military career in India, where he developed a love of the country and a lasting affinity for the soldiers...
's India Command to send troops to Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
. Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, the British Prime Minister, saw Iraq as vital to Britain's strategic interests and in early May, under heavy pressure from London, Wavell agreed to send a division-sized force across the desert from Palestine to relieve the besieged British air base at Habbaniya
RAF Habbaniya
Royal Air Force Station Habbaniya, more commonly known as RAF Habbaniya, was a Royal Air Force station at Habbaniyah, about west of Baghdad in modern day Iraq, on the banks of the Euphrates near Lake Habbaniyah...
and to assume overall control of troops in Iraq. By the end of May Quinan
Edward Quinan
General Sir Edward Pellew Quinan KCB, KCIE, DSO, OBE was a British army commander during the Second World War. In the early part of his career, he was involved in Indian Army campaigns in Afghanistan and Waziristan on the North West Frontier of the Indian Empire, also known as the British Raj...
's forces in Iraq
Iraqforce
Iraqforce was a British and Commonwealth formation that came together in the Kingdom of Iraq. The formation fought in the Middle East during World War II.-Background:...
had captured Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
and the Anglo-Iraqi War
Anglo-Iraqi War
The Anglo-Iraqi War was the name of the British campaign against the rebel government of Rashid Ali in the Kingdom of Iraq during the Second World War. The war lasted from 2 May to 31 May 1941. The campaign resulted in the re-occupation of Iraq by British armed forces and the return to power of the...
had ended with troops in Iraq once more reverting to the overall control of GHQ in Delhi. However, Churchill had been unimpressed by Wavell's reluctance to act.
In early June Wavell sent a force under General Wilson to invade Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, responding to the help given by the Vichy France
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
authorities there to the Iraq Government during the Anglo-Iraqi War
Anglo-Iraqi War
The Anglo-Iraqi War was the name of the British campaign against the rebel government of Rashid Ali in the Kingdom of Iraq during the Second World War. The war lasted from 2 May to 31 May 1941. The campaign resulted in the re-occupation of Iraq by British armed forces and the return to power of the...
. Initial hopes of a quick victory faded as the French put up a determined defence. Churchill determined to relieve Wavell and after the failure in mid June of Operation Battleaxe
Operation Battleaxe
Operation Battleaxe was a British Army operation during the Second World War in June 1941 with the goal of clearing eastern Cyrenaica of German and Italian forces; one of the main benefits of this would have been the lifting of the Siege of Tobruk....
, intended to relieve Tobruk, he told Wavell on 20 June that he was to be replaced by Auchinleck, whose attitude during the Iraq crisis had impressed him. Rommel
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
rated Wavell highly, despite Wavell's lack of success against him, and he carried an annotated translation of his book Generals and Generalship in his pocket throughout the North Africa Campaign.
Of Wavell, Auchinleck wrote: "In no sense do I wish to infer that I found an unsatisfactory situation on my arrival – far from it. Not only was I greatly impressed by the solid foundations laid by my predecessor, but I was also able the better to appreciate the vastness of the problems with which he had been confronted and the greatness of his achievements, in a command in which some 40 different languages are spoken by the British and Allied Forces."
India Command
Wavell in effect swapped jobs with Auchinleck, transferring to India where he became Commander-in-Chief, IndiaCommander-in-Chief, India
During the period of the British Raj, the Commander-in-Chief, India was the supreme commander of the Indian Army. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his staff were based at General Headquarters, India, and liaised with the civilian Governor-General of India...
and a member of the Governor General's Executive Council. Initially his command covered India and Iraq so that within a month of taking charge he launched Iraqforce
Iraqforce
Iraqforce was a British and Commonwealth formation that came together in the Kingdom of Iraq. The formation fought in the Middle East during World War II.-Background:...
to invade Persia in co-operation with the Russians in order to secure the oilfields and secure lines of communication to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
Wavell once again had the misfortune of being placed in charge of an undermanned theatre which became a war zone when the Japanese declared war on the United Kingdom in December 1941. He was made Commander-in-Chief of ABDACOM
American-British-Dutch-Australian Command
The American-British-Dutch-Australian Command, or ABDACOM, was a short-lived, supreme command for all Allied forces in South East Asia, in early 1942, during the Pacific War in World War II...
(American-British-Dutch-Australian Command) covering Burma, Malaya, Dutch East Indies and the Philippines. Wavell, despite his abilities, did not have the resources to defend the territory he was responsible for and was unable to prevent the Japanese from capturing Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
.
Late at night on 10 February 1942, Wavell prepared to board a flying boat, to fly from Singapore to Java. He stepped out of a staff car, not noticing (because of his blind left eye) that it was parked at the edge of a pier. He broke two bones in his back when he fell, and this injury affected his temperament for some time.
On 23 February 1942, with Malaya lost and the Allied position in Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
and Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
precarious, ABDACOM was closed down and its headquarters in Java evacuated. Wavell returned to India to resume his position as C-in-C India where his responsibilities now included the defence of Burma.
On 23 February British forces in Burma had suffered a serious setback when Major-General Jackie Smyth's decision to destroy the bridge over the Sittang river to prevent the enemy crossing had resulted in most of his division being trapped on the wrong side of the river. The Viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
Lord Linlithgow
Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow
Victor Alexander John Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow KG, KT, GCSI, GCIE, OBE, PC was a British statesman who served as Governor-General and Viceroy of India from 1936 to 1943.-Early life and family:...
sent a signal criticising the conduct of the field commanders to Churchill who forwarded it to Wavell together with an offer to send Harold Alexander, who had commanded the rearguard at Dunkirk. Alexander took command of Allied land forces in Burma in early March with William Slim arriving shortly afterwards from commanding a division in Iraq to take command of its principal formation, Burma Corps
Burma Corps
The Burma Corps was an Army Corps of the Indian Army during World War II.It was formed in Prome, Burma in March 1942, it took part in the Burma Campaign and was disbanded on arrival in India in May 1942.-Formation:*1st Burma Infantry Division...
. Nevertheless, the pressure from the Japanese Armies was unstoppable and a withdrawal to India was ordered which was completed by the end of May before the start of the monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
season which brought Japanese progress to a halt.
In order to wrest some of the initiative from the Japanese, Wavell ordered the Eastern Army in India to mount an offensive in the Arakan
Arakan Campaign 1942–1943
The Arakan Campaign of 1942–1943 was the first tentative Allied attack into Burma, following the Japanese conquest of Burma earlier in 1942...
, which commenced in September. After some initial success the Japanese counter-attacked, and by March 1943 the position was untenable, and the remnants of the attacking force was withdrawn. Wavell relieved the Eastern Army commander, Noel Irwin
Noel Irwin
Lieutenant General Noel Mackintosh Stuart Irwin CB, DSO & Two Bars, MC was a British soldier, who played a prominent role in the British Army after the Dunkirk evacuation, and in the Burma Campaign...
, of his command and replaced him with George Giffard
George Giffard
General Sir George Giffard GCB DSO was a British military officer, who had a distinguished career in command of African troops in World War I, rising to command an Army Group in South East Asia in World War II.-Early career:...
.
Viceroy of India
In January 1943 Wavell had been promoted to Field Marshal. When Linlinthgow retired as viceroy in the summer of 1943, Wavell was chosen to replace him, surprisingly, given his poor relationship with Churchill. He himself was again replaced in his military post in June by Auchinleck, who by this point had also experienced setbacks in North Africa. In 1943, Wavell was created a viscountViscount
A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
(taking the style Viscount Wavell of Cyrenaica and of Winchester, in the county of Southampton) and in September, he was formally named Governor-General
Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India was the head of the British administration in India, and later, after Indian independence, the representative of the monarch and de facto head of state. The office was created in 1773, with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William...
and Viceroy of India. He was also appointed as a Privy Counsellor.
One of his first actions in office was to address the Bengal famine of 1943
Bengal famine of 1943
The Bengal famine of 1943 struck the Bengal. Province of pre-partition India. Estimates are that between 1.5 and 4 million people died of starvation, malnutrition and disease, out of Bengal’s 60.3 million population, half of them dying from disease after food became available in December 1943 As...
by ordering the army to distribute relief supplies to the starving rural Bengalis. He attempted with mixed success to increase the supplies of rice to reduce the prices and make it more affordable.
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
, Churchill's successor as Prime Minister. He was also hampered by the differences between the various Indian political factions. At the end of the war, rising Indian expectations continued to be unfulfilled and inter-communal violence became an increasing feature. Eventually, in 1947, Attlee lost confidence in Wavell and replaced him with Lord Mountbatten of Burma
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS , was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
.
Later life
In 1947 Wavell returned to England and was made High Steward of ColchesterHigh Steward of Colchester
The High Steward of Colchester is a ceremonial office awarded by Colchester Borough Council, Essex, England.The stewardship was established by royal charter of Charles I dated 9 July 1635...
. The same year, he was created Earl Wavell
Earl Wavell
Earl Wavell was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1947 for Field Marshal Archibald Wavell, 1st Viscount Wavell, Viceroy of India from 1943 to 1947...
and given the additional title of Viscount Keren of Eritrea and Winchester.
A great lover of literature, Wavell, while Viceroy, compiled and annotated an anthology of great poetry, Other Men's Flowers, which was published in 1944; the last poem in the anthology he wrote himself and described it as a "...little wayside dandelion of my own". He had a great memory for poetry and often quoted it at length. He is depicted in Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
's novel "Officers and Gentlemen", part of the Sword of Honour
Sword of Honour
The Sword of Honour trilogy by Evelyn Waugh is his look at the Second World War. It consists of three novels, Men at Arms , Officers and Gentlemen and Unconditional Surrender , which loosely parallel his wartime experiences...
trilogy, reciting a translation of Callimachus
Callimachus
Callimachus was a native of the Greek colony of Cyrene, Libya. He was a noted poet, critic and scholar at the Library of Alexandria and enjoyed the patronage of the Egyptian–Greek Pharaohs Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Ptolemy III Euergetes...
's poetry in public.
Wavell was a member of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and a deeply religious man.
Wavell died on 24 May 1950 after a relapse following abdominal surgery on 5 May.
After his death Wavell’s body lay in state at the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
where he had been Constable. A military funeral was held on 7 June 1950 with the funeral procession travelling along the Thames from the Tower to Westminster Pier and then to Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
for the funeral service. This was the first military funeral by river since that of Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
in 1806. The funeral was attended by the then Prime Minister Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
, Lord Halifax
E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, , known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and as The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was one of the most senior British Conservative politicians of the 1930s, during which he held several senior ministerial posts, most notably as...
, and fellow officers including Field Marshals Alanbrooke
Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke
Field Marshal The Rt. Hon. Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, KG, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO & Bar , was a senior commander in the British Army. He was the Chief of the Imperial General Staff during the Second World War, and was promoted to Field Marshal in 1944...
and Montgomery
Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC , nicknamed "Monty" and the "Spartan General" was a British Army officer. He saw action in the First World War, when he was seriously wounded, and during the Second World War he commanded the 8th Army from...
. Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
did not attend the service.
Wavell is buried in the old mediaeval cloister at Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
, next to the Chantry Chapel. His tombstone simply bears the inscription "Wavell". St Andrew's Garrison Church, Aldershot
St Andrew's Garrison Church, Aldershot
St Andrew’s Garrison Church, situated at Queens Avenue, Aldershot, Hampshire in southern England is a large army church designed in the late 1920s by the prominent Scottish architect Sir Robert Lorimer .-History:...
, an Army church, contains a large wooden plaque dedicated to Lord Wavell.
Wavell Heights
Wavell Heights, Queensland
Wavell Heights is a Brisbane suburb located 9 km north of the Brisbane central business district. It is named after Field Marshal Lord Wavell who was the Commander-In-Chief of the Allied Forces in the Middle East during the Second World War....
, a suburb in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Queensland, was named in his honour in 1941, after a request by the Brisbane City Council to rename an area which had been previously known as West Nundah. In addition, Wavell Avenue in Colchester, Essex, is named after him.
Family
Wavell married Eugenie Marie Quirk, only daughter of Col J O Quirk CB DSO, on 22 April 1915.Children:
- Archibald John Arthur Wavell, later 2nd Earl Wavell, b. 11 May 1916.
- Eugenie Pamela Wavell, b. 2 December 1918, married 14 March 1942 Lt Col A F W Humphrys MBE.
- Felicity Ann Wavell, b. 21 July 1921, married 20 February 1947 Capt P M Longmore MC, son of Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore.
- Joan Patricia Quirk Wavell, b. 23 April 1923, married (1) 27 January 1943 Maj Hon Simon Nevill Astley (b. 13 August 1919; d. 16 March 1946), 2nd son of Albert Edward Delaval [Astley], 21st Baron Hastings, by his wife Lady Margueritte Helen Nevill, only child by his second wife of Henry Gilbert Ralph [Nevill], 3rd Marquess of Abergavenny, (2) 19 June 1948 Maj Harry Alexander Gordon MC (d. 19 June 1965), 2nd son of Cdr Alastair Gordon DSO RN, and (3) Maj Donald Struan Robertson (d. 1991), son of the Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Arnold Robertson GCMG KBE.
Honours and awards
- Privy Counsellor 1943
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath 4 March 1941 (KCB 2 January 1939, CB 1 January 1935
- Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India 1943
- Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire 1943
- Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George 1 January 1919
- Military CrossMilitary CrossThe Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
3 June 1915 - Mention in Despatches 22 June 1915, 4 January 1917, 22 January 1919
- Chief Commander, Legion of MeritLegion of MeritThe Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
(United States) 23 July 1948 - Grand Cross, Order of George I with SwordsOrder of George IThe Royal Order of George I is a defunct order of Greece.- History :The order was founded in 1915 by King Constantine I in honor of his father, George I. It was only the second Greek order to be created after the Order of the Redeemer in 1833, and remained the second senior award of the Greek...
(Greece) 9 May 1941 - Order of the Cloud and BannerOrder of the Cloud and BannerThe Order of the Cloud and Banner is a military award of the Republic of China. It was instituted on June 15, 1935 and is awarded in nine grades for contributions to national security. It is also sometimes referred to as the Order of the Resplendent Banner....
(China) - Order of the Star of NepalOrder of the Star of NepalThe Most Refulgent Order of the Star of Nepal is an award of Nepal. It was instituted by King Tribhubhan Bir Bikram Shah Dev on 29 November 1918. The order consists of the Sovereign, Grand Master and ordinary members. For the ordinary members there are five grades and an associated medal...
- Grand Cross, Order of Orange-NassauOrder of Orange-NassauThe Order of Orange-Nassau is a military and civil order of the Netherlands which was created on 4 April 1892 by the Queen regent Emma of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of her under-age daughter Queen Wilhelmina. The Order is a chivalry order open to "everyone who have earned special merits for...
(Netherlands) 15 January 1943 - War Cross 1939–1945 (Czechoslovakia) 23 July 1943
- Commander, Order of the Seal of Solomon (Ethiopia) 5 May 1942
- War Cross, 1st Class (Greece) 10 April 1942
- Virtuti Militari, 5th ClassVirtuti MilitariThe Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...
(Poland) 23 September 1941 - Order of El Nahda, 2nd Class (HejazHejazal-Hejaz, also Hijaz is a region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia. Defined primarily by its western border on the Red Sea, it extends from Haql on the Gulf of Aqaba to Jizan. Its main city is Jeddah, but it is probably better known for the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina...
) 30 September 1920 - Order of the Nile, 3rd ClassOrder of the NileThe Order of the Nile is Egypt's highest state honor. The award was instituted in 1915 by Sultan Hussein Kamel to be awarded by Egypt for exceptional services to the nation...
(Egypt) - Commandeur, Legion d'Honneur (France) 7 May 1920
- Order of St Stanislaus, 3rd class with Swords (Russia)1 5 February 1917
- Order of St Vladimir (Russia) 1917
- Queen's South African Medal, Clasps: Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902
- NW Frontier of India 1908 Medal & Clasp
- 1914 Star
- British War Medal
- Victory Medal
- Palestine 1936–39 Medal & Clasp
Styles
- 1883–1901: Archibald Percival Wavell
- 1901–1904: Second LieutenantSecond LieutenantSecond lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
Archibald Percival Wavell - 1904 – July 1912: Lieutenant Archibald Percival Wavell
- July 1912–1913: Lieutenant (Temp. Captain) Archibald Percival Wavell
- 1913–1915: Captain Archibald Percival Wavell
- 1915–1916: Major Archibald Percival Wavell, MCMilitary CrossThe Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
- 1916–1917: Major (Actg. Lieutenant-Colonel) Archibald Percival Wavell, MC
- 1917–1918: Major (Bvt. Lieutenant-Colonel) Archibald Percival Wavell, MC
- 1918–1919: Major (Bvt. Brigadier-General) Archibald Percival Wavell, MC
- 1919–1920: Major (Bvt. Brigadier-General) Archibald Percival Wavell, CMGOrder of St Michael and St GeorgeThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, MC - 1920–1922: Major (Bvt. Lieutenant-Colonel) Archibald Percival Wavell, CMG, MC
- 1922–1930: ColonelColonelColonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Archibald Percival Wavell, CMG, MC - 1930–1932: Colonel (Temp. Brigadier) Archibald Percival Wavell, CMG, MC
- 1932–1933: Colonel (Temp. Brigadier) Archibald Percival Wavell, CMG, MC, ADCAide-de-campAn aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
- 1933–1935: Major-General Archibald Percival Wavell, CMG, MC
- 1935–1938: Major-General Archibald Percival Wavell, CBOrder of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, CMG, MC - 1938– January 1939: Lieutenant-General Archibald Percival Wavell, CB, CMG, MC
- January–July 1939: Lieutenant-General Sir Archibald Percival Wavell, KCBOrder of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, CMG, MC - July 1939–1941: Lieutenant-General (Local General) Sir Archibald Percival Wavell, KCB, CMG, MC
- 1941 – January 1943: His ExcellencyExcellencyExcellency is an honorific style given to certain members of an organization or state.Usually, people styled "Excellency" are heads of state, heads of government, governors, ambassadors, certain ecclesiastics, royalty, aristocracy, and military, and others holding equivalent rank .It is...
General Sir Archibald Percival Wavell, GCBOrder of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, CMG, MC - January–July 1943: His Excellency Field MarshalField MarshalField Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Sir Archibald Percival Wavell, GCB, CMG, MC - July–September 1943: His Excellency Field Marshal The Right HonourableThe Right HonourableThe Right Honourable is an honorific prefix that is traditionally applied to certain people in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Anglophone Caribbean and other Commonwealth Realms, and occasionally elsewhere...
the Viscount Wavell, GCB, CMG, MC - September 1943–1947: His Excellency Field Marshal The Right Honourable the Viscount Wavell, GCB, GCSIOrder of the Star of IndiaThe Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:# Knight Grand Commander # Knight Commander # Companion...
, GCIEOrder of the Indian EmpireThe Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:#Knight Grand Commander #Knight Commander #Companion...
, CMG, MC - 1947–1950: Field Marshal The Right Honourable the Earl WavellEarl WavellEarl Wavell was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1947 for Field Marshal Archibald Wavell, 1st Viscount Wavell, Viceroy of India from 1943 to 1947...
, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, CMG, MC
Quotes
- "I think he (Benito MussoliniBenito MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
) must do something, if he cannot make a graceful dive he will at least have to jump in somehow; he can hardly put on his dressing-gown and walk down the stairs again." - "After the 'war to end warThe war to end war"The war to end war" was a term used to describe World War I. Originally idealistic, it is now used mainly in a disparaging way.-Origin:...
' they seem to have been pretty successful in Paris at making a 'Peace to end Peace.'" (commenting on the treaties ending the First World War; this quotation was the basis for the title of Fromkin, David (1989), A Peace to End All Peace, New York: Henry Holt, ISBN 0-8050-6884-8) - "Let us be clear about three facts: First, all battles and all wars are won in the end by the infantryman. Secondly, the infantryman always bears the brunt. His casualties are heavier, he suffers greater extremes of discomfort and fatigue than the other arms. Thirdly, the art of the infantryman is less stereotyped and far harder to acquire in modern war than that of any other arm."[5] Field Marshal Earl Wavell
Publications
- Tsar Nicholas II by Andrei Georgievich Elchaninov, translated by Archibald Percival Wavell (Hugh Rees, London, 1913).
- Official Middle East Despatches December 1940 to February 1941 published in
- Official Middle East Despatches February 1941 to July 1941 published in
- Official Iran, Iraq and Syria Despatches April 1941 to January 1942 published in
- Official India Despatches March 1942 to December 1942 published in
External links
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