Home > Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis
Field Marshal Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis ( December 10 1891 - June 16 1969) was a British military commander and Field Marshal, notably during World War II as the commander of the 15th Army Group. He would later serve as Canada's last British Governor General.
1 Military career
The third son of the fourth Earl of Caledon and Lady Elizabeth Graham Toler, he was educated at Harrow School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned in the Irish Guards in 1911. During World War I he served on the Western Front, was wounded twice. He received the Military Cross in 1915Events January 12 The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of Congress. January 12 United States House of Representatives rejects proposal to give women the right to vote. January 13 An earthquake (6. 8 in Richter scale) in Avezzano, Ital, the Distinguished Service OrderThe Distinguished Service Order DSO is a British military decoration awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat. It was instituted 6 September(?) 1886 by Queen Victoria, the in 19161916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) Events January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. Impressionist Monet paints Water Lilies'. January 8 Allied forces withdraw from, and the Legion of Honour, and by 1918Events January January 8 President Woodrow Wilson announces his " Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I. February February 3 The Twin Peaks Tunnel begins service in San Francisco as the longest streetcar tunnel in the world (11,920 feet long). was a brigadier.
Between the wars Alexander led the Baltic Landwehr in LatviaThe Republic of Latvia ( Latvian: Latvijas Republika , or Latvia ( Latvian: Latvija , is a republic in Northeastern Europe. Bordering the Baltic Sea, Latvia is known as one of the Baltic States, together with Estonia and Lithuania, which border the nation during the Russian Civil WarThe Russian Civil War was fought between 1918 and 1920. Following the success of the Russian Revolution, the new Russian ( Bolshevik) government made peace with Germany at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, ratified on March 6 1918. This negotiated peace was th and served in TurkeyTurkey (officially the Republic of Turkey Turkish Turkiye is a country located in Southwest Asia with a small part in southeastern Europe. Until 1922 the country was the center of the Ottoman Empire. The Anatolian peninsula, between the Black Sea and the and Gibraltar before returning to England and the Staff College at Camberley and the Imperial Defense College. On October 14, 1931, he married Lady Margaret Diana Bingham, second daughter of the Earl of Lucan. In 1937 he was promoted to major general and joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF).
During World War II with the BEF he controlled the retreat to Dunkirk. After that he was promoted and sent to Burma at the beginning of that disaster. In August 1942 Winston Churchill sent him and Bernard Montgomery to North Africa to replace Claude Auchinleck. He presided over Montgomery's victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein. After the Anglo-American forces from Torch and the Western Desert forces met in Tunisia in January 1943, he became deputy to Dwight Eisenhower and Supreme Allied Commander of Allied Armies in Italy. He was Eisenhower's preference to command D-Day but Churchill pressured to keep him in Italy, where he captured Rome in 1944. He received the German surrender in Italy on April 29 1945.
Sir Harold Alexander was created Viscount Alexander of Tunis in 1946 for his leadership the North Africa and Italy. In December 1946 he was made a Knight of the Garter and was elevated to an Earldom in 1952.
