Lieutenant-GeneralLieutenant-General is a senior rank in the British Army and the Royal Marines.A Lieutenant-General is superior to a Major-General but subordinate to a full General...
Sir Oliver William Hargreaves Leese, 3rd BaronetThe Leese Baronetcy, of Sendholme in Send in the County of Surrey, is a dormant title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 15 July 1908 for Joseph Leese, Liberal Member of Parliament for Accrington from 1892 to 1910...
,
KCBThe 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 medieval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
,
CBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions...
,
DSOThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.The DSO was instituted on 6 September 1886 by...
(27 October, 1894 - 22 January 1978) was a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
general during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Early years
Leese was the son of Sir William Hargreaves Leese, 2nd Baronet, a barrister, and attended
Ludgrove SchoolLudgrove School is a private boarding preparatory school for about 200 boys aged 7 or 8 to 13. It is situated in the civil parish of Wokingham Without, adjoining the town of Wokingham in the English county of Berkshire.-History:...
and
Eton CollegeEton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent boarding school for boys aged approx. 13 to 19. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
. At the start of
First World WarWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, he joined the army and he was commissioned into the
Coldstream GuardsHer Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
on 15 May 1915. Leese was wounded three times during the Somme offensive in 1916, was Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the
DSOThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.The DSO was instituted on 6 September 1886 by...
. The citation to his DSO which was gazetted in November 1916 read:
After the war, he remained in the army being promoted captain in 1921 and attended the
Staff College, Camberley-Origins:In 1799 Colonel John Gaspard Le Marchant, 7th Hussars, submitted a proposal to the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army for a Royal Military College in three departments...
from 1927 to 1928. In November 1929 he was appointed as
Brigade MajorIn the British Army, a Brigade Major was the Chief of Staff of a brigade, the title is no longer used except in the Household Division. In 1913 Staff Captains of Artillery in the British Army were re-styled as Brigade Majors to bring them into line with Cavalry and Infantry practice...
to 1st Infantry Brigade (Guards) and was formally promoted to major a few days later. He was promoted to
brevetIn 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. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being brevetted...
lieutenant-colonel in July 1933
From 1932 to 1938 Leese held a number of staff appointments and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in December 1936, brevet colonel in September 1938 and colonel in October 1938. In September 1938 he was posted to India to be a GSO1 instructor at the Staff College, Quetta. He had succeeded to the baronetcy on his father's death on 17 January 1937.
World War II
Leese returned to the UK from India in March 1940. It had been planned for him to command a brigade in Norway but with the German invasion of Western Europe in May, he was sent to join Lord Gort's headquarters as Deputy Chief of Staff of the
British Expeditionary ForceThe British Expeditionary Force was the name given to the British Forces in Europe from 1939–1940 during The Second World War.-History:...
. He evacuated from Dunkirk with Gort on 31 May
On his return to the UK Leese was ordered to form and train a large brigade group,
29th Infantry BrigadeThe 29th Infantry Brigade was a unit of the British Army. It saw service during the Second World War and the Korean War.-World War I:The 29th Infantry Brigade was formed in August 1914 as part of the 10th Division of the first wave of Kitchener's Army . The division and brigade transferred to...
. In December 1940 he was appointed acting major-general and given command of the West Sussex County Division which included 29th Brigade. A month later he was moved to command of the
15th (Scottish) DivisionThe 15th Infantry Division was a British Army division in both the First and Second World Wars.- First World War History :The division was a New Army unit formed in September 1914 as part of the K2 Army Group. The division moved to France in July 1915 and spent the duration of the First World War...
. His rank was upgraded to temporary major-general in November and was made substantive in December. In June 1941 he was given command of the
Guards Armoured DivisionThe Guards Armoured Division was a World War II British Army formation.The Guards Armoured Division was formed on 17 June 1941. The division remained in the United Kingdom, training, until 26 June 1944, when it landed in Normandy as part of VIII Corps...
during its formation and training.
In September 1942 he was sent at the request of
Eighth ArmyThe Eighth Army was one of the best-known formations of the British Army during World War II, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns....
commander Bernard Montgomery to
North AfricaThe Western Desert Campaign, also known as the Desert War was the initial stage of the North African Campaign of The Second World War.-Background:From the start, the Western Desert Campaign was a continuous back-and-forth struggle...
to assume command as acting lieutenant-general of Eighth Army's
XXX CorpsXXX Corps , was a British Army Corps during the Second World War.- North Africa Campaign :It played a major role in the Western Desert Campaign, where it was initially formed for the British armoured units in North Africa in preparation for Operation Crusader, the last British attempt to relieve...
Montgomery had formed a good opinion of Leese when he had instructed him at Staff College in 1927 and 1928 and had also been impressed by his work at GHQ in France.
Leese commanded the Corps for the rest of the campaign which ended with the Axis surrender in May 1943 in
TunisiaThe Tunisia Campaign was a series of World War II battles that took place in Tunisia in the North African Campaign of World War II, between Axis and Allied forces. The Allies consisted primarily of British Imperial Forces along with American and the French Army...
. He was mentioned in despatches for his services in North Africa.
The Corps then took part in the
Allied invasion of SicilyThe Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...
in July 1943 before returning to the UK after the Sicily campaign, which ended in August, to prepare for the planned invasion of Northwest Europe. Leese was promoted to temporary lieutenant-general in September.
On 24 December 1943, however, Leese received a telegram ordering him to Italy to succeed Montgomery as
Eighth ArmyThe Eighth Army was one of the best-known formations of the British Army during World War II, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns....
commander as Montgomery was to return to the UK in January 1944 to prepare for the Allied invasion of Normandy. Leese commanded the Eighth Army at the fourth and final
Battle of Monte CassinoThe Battle of Monte Cassino was a costly series of four battles during World War II, fought by the Allies with the intention of breaking through the Winter Line and seizing Rome.In the beginning of 1944, the western half of the Winter Line was being anchored by Germans holding the Rapido, Liri and...
in May 1944 (when the bulk of the army was switched in secret from the Adriatic coast to Cassino to strike a joint blow with the United States Fifth Army) and for
Operation Olive on the
Gothic LineThe Gothic Line formed Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's last major line of defence in the final stages of World War II along the summits of the Apennines during the fighting retreat of Nazi Germany's forces in Italy against the Allied Armies in Italy commanded by General Sir Harold...
later in 1944. His rank of lieutenant-general was made permanent in July 1944.
In September 1944 he was appointed to succeed
George GiffardGeneral 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:...
as the Commander-in-Chief of Eleventh Army Group and assumed command in November, by which time the Army Group had been renamed Allied Land Forces, South-East Asia. He viewed the existing command structure as inefficient and proceeded to appoint former members of his Eighth Army staff. The methods of the two staffs differed and the newcomers were resented. As Slim expressed it in his memoirs, "His staff, which he brought with him... had a good deal of desert sand in its shoes, and was rather inclined to thrust Eighth Army down our throats."
Leese's command covered three separate groups: the Northern Combat Area Command under US Lieutenant General Dan Sultan, Fourteenth Army under Lieutenant-General
William ("Bill") SlimField Marshal William Joseph "Bill" Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC, KStJ was a British military commander and the 13th Governor-General of Australia. He fought in both the First World War and the Second World War and was wounded in action three times...
in central Burma and finally, further south in the Arakan,
Indian XV CorpsXV Corps was first established in 1942, as part of the British Indian Army, during World War II, but was disbanded in 1945. The Corps was reestablished after India gained independence, as part of the Indian Army. It took part in all of the wars against Pakistan...
under Lieutenant-General
Philip ChristisonGeneral Sir Philip Christison, 4th Baronet GBE CB DSO MC was a British military commander of the Second World War.-Early life and career:...
. Through the year-end he fought a successful campaign which led to the capture of Rangoon by an amphibious landing (
Operation DraculaDuring World War II, Operation Dracula was the name given to an airborne and amphibious attack on Rangoon by British and Indian forces, part of the Burma Campaign. When it was launched, the Imperial Japanese Army had already abandoned the city.-Background:...
) in early May 1945.
Slim had turned Fourteenth Army into an effective military force and had commanded a highly successful campaign from the relief of
ImphalImphal is the capital of the Indian state of Manipur.In the heart of the town and surrounded by a moat, are ruins of the old Palace of Kangla. Kangla Fort use to be the home of the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force and on November 2004 it was handed over to state of Manipur by Prime minister Dr....
to the recapture of Rangoon including the effective destruction of the Japanese forces in Burma. However, Leese believed that Slim was very tired (he had asked for leave once Rangoon had been taken) and proposed to the Supreme Commander South East Asia, Louis Mountbatten and the
CIGSChief of the Imperial General Staff was the title of the professional commander of the British Army from 1908 until 1964.From the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the Sovereign was able to wrest considerable control of the armed forces from Parliament with the appointment of a "General in...
, Alan Brooke, that he should be replaced by Philip Christison (who had amphibious experience and so would be well suited to leading the army in the planned seaborne landings in Malaya), leaving Slim to take over the new Twelfth Army with the less demanding task of mopping up in Burma. Leese misread the reactions of Brooke and Mountbatten and having then met Slim to discuss the proposals came away believing Slim had agreed to them. In fact, Slim reacted by telling his staff he had been sacked and wrote to Leese and
Claude AuchinleckField Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, GCB, GCIE, CSI, DSO, OBE , nicknamed The Auk, was a British army commander during World War II...
, the C-in-C India, to say he would refuse the new post and resign from the army in protest. Once the news circulated within the Fourteenth Army,
mutiniesMutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly-situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an existing authority...
and mass resignations of officers were threatened.
Leese was obliged to reinstate Slim when the Supreme Commander South East Asia Louis Mountbatten, although he had authorised the original proposals, now refused to support him. Mountbatten subsequently approached Alan Brooke (who had always doubted Leese's suitability for the role) and they agreed that Leese should be removed. He was succeeded by Slim.
Leese had achieved success with the Eighth Army in North Africa and Italy, so he did not lack ability. Where he was deficient, in his post in South-East Asia, was in his knowledge of the intricacies of the local command environment and its personalities and in his ability to mould the existing staff into a different style of leadership and administration whilst reconciling antagonistic staffs into a unified organisation.
Post-war
None of the main parties' actions in the Slim affair show up well in retrospect. Richard Mead in
Churchill's Lions suggests that Leese was naive, Slim petulant and Mountbatten devious. However, it was Leese's career that suffered and he returned to the UK to be GOC-in-C
Eastern Command-History:The Command was established in the late 1800s. Among the formations raised under its supervision in World War I was the 12th Division. By the start of World War II its headquarters was located at at Horseguards in London. During the War the Command relocated to Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire...
, a significant downward move having been one of only three army group commanders in the British Army. His promotion to full general is believed to have been blocked by Mountbatten and he retired from the army in January 1947 and became a noted
horticulturistHorticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation. Some would say that horticulture is the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant...
, writing books on
cactiCacti is an open source, web-based graphing tool designed as a frontend to RRDtool's data storage and graphing functionality. Cacti allows a user to poll services at predetermined intervals and graph the resulting data. It is generally used to graph time-series data of metrics such as CPU load and...
. Although a keen cricketer he had only modest success as a batsman in the 1914 Eton XI and was relegated to 12th man for that year's
Eton v HarrowThe Eton v Harrow cricket match is one of the longest-running annual cricket fixtures in the world. It is the last annual school cricket match played at Lord's Cricket Ground.-Early years:...
match, but was President of the
Marylebone Cricket ClubMarylebone Cricket Club was founded in 1787 as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground near St John's Wood in north London. MCC was formerly the governing body of cricket in England and across the world...
in 1965.