born May 5, 1883, Colchester, Essex, Eng.
died May 24, 1950, London
British army officer.
Recognized as an excellent trainer of troops, he became British commander in chief for the Middle East in 1939. In World War II he was noted for his defeat of the numerically superior Italian armies in North Africa (1940–41) but was unable to stop the German force under Erwin Rommel in the North Africa Campaign . As commander in chief of Southeast Asia (1941–43), he failed to stop the Japanese conquests of Malaya, Singapore, and Burma (1942). Promoted to field marshal, he served as viceroy of India (1943–47).