Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell

Field Marshal The Right Honourable The Earl Wavell GCB GCSI GCIE CMG MC PC
Sir Archibald Wavell in Major-General's uniform
Viceroy and Governor-General of India
In office 1 October 1943 – 21 February 1947
Monarch	George VI
Prime Minister	Winston Churchill (1943–45) Clement Attlee (1945–47)
Preceded by	The Marquess of Linlithgow
Succeeded by	The Viscount Mountbatten of Burma
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office 28 July 1943 – 24 May 1950 Hereditary peerage
Preceded by	Peerage created
Succeeded by	The 2nd Earl Wavell
Colonel of the Black Watch
In office 1946–1950
Lord Lieutenant of the County of London[1]
In office 1949–1950
Preceded by	The Duke of Wellington
Succeeded by	The Viscount Allanbrooke
Constable of the Tower of London[2]
In office 1948–1950
Preceded by	The Lord Chetwode
Succeeded by	The Lord Wilson
Personal details
Born	Archibald Percival Wavell (1883-05-05)5 May 1883 Colchester, Essex, England
Died	24 May 1950(1950-05-24) (aged 67) Westminster, London, England
Spouse	Eugenie Marie Quirk ​ (m. 1915)​
Children	4, including Archibald Wavell, 2nd Earl Wavell
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	British Army
Years of service	1901–1943
Rank	Field marshal
Unit	Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment)
Commands	American-British-Dutch-Australian Command Commander-in-Chief, India Middle East Command Southern Command British Troops Palestine and Trans-Jordan 2nd Division 6th Infantry Brigade
Battles/wars	Second Boer War First World War Second Battle of Ypres Sinai and Palestine Campaign Arab revolt in Palestine Second World War North African Campaign Pacific War Malayan Campaign Battle of Singapore
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Military Cross Knight of Justice of the Order of St. John Order of St Stanislaus, 3rd class with Swords (Russia) Order of St. Vladimir (Russia) Croix de Guerre (France) Commander of the Legion of Honour (France) Order of El Nahda, 2nd Class (Hejaz) Grand Cross of the Order of George I with Swords (Greece) Virtuti Militari, 5th Class (Poland) War Cross, 1st Class (Greece) Commander of the Order of the Seal of Solomon (Ethiopia) Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands) War Cross (Czechoslovakia) Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)

Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, CMG, MC, PC (5 May 1883 – 24 May 1950) was a senior officer of the British Army. He served in the Second Boer War, the Bazar Valley Campaign and the First World War, during which he was wounded in the Second Battle of Ypres. In the Second World War, he served initially as Commander-in-Chief Middle East, in which role he led British forces to victory over the Italian Army in Eritrea-Abyssinia, western Egypt and eastern Libya during Operation Compass in December 1940, only to be defeated by Erwin Rommel's Panzer Army Africa in the Western Desert in April 1941. He served as Commander-in-Chief, India, from July 1941 until June 1943 (apart from a brief tour as Commander of American-British-Dutch-Australian Command) and then served as Viceroy of India until his retirement in February 1947.