Harold Rupert Alexander played an important part in virtually all theaters of British operations during World War II, significandy con¬tributing to the defeat of Germany. Known for his personal bravery and integrity, Alexander displayed great talent in facilitating coop¬eration between diverse armies and commanders. He remains today one of the most respected and best-liked commanders of World War II.
Born in London on December 10, 1891, to tided Irish Protestants, “Alex” attended the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, graduating and joining the Irish Guards. As a second lieutenant, he sailed to France during World War I with the vanguard of the British Expeditionary Force. By the end of the conflict, he had several decorations for bravery, three wounds, and command of a brigade and was the youngest lieutenant colonel in the British army.
During his four years of combat on the Western Front, Alexander earned the reputation as a courageous and intelligent officer whose charisma attracted both his superiors and subordi-nates. Author and poet Rudyard Kipling wrote of the young Alexander, “It is undeniable that Colonel Alexander had the gift of handling men on the lines to which they most readily responded … his subordinates loved him … and his men were all his own.”
Immediately after World War I, Alexander commanded a unit of Baltic Germans in the conflict that followed die Communist rev-olution to provide stability in northern Russia. He later com¬manded the Irish Guards in their regimental home district and attended various military schools. After duty as a staff officer with the Northern Command from 1930 to 1934, Alexander com¬manded the Nowshera Brigade in India until 1938.
Upon his return to England, Alexander became a major gen¬eral and commander of the First Division, with orders to prepare for possible combat against Germany. In 1939 the First Division de-ployed to France. Alexander, already known and respected within military circles, soon gained national attention and fame. As the German blitzkrieg pushed the Allies across France, Alexander took charge of the rear guard and slowed the German offensive for a week as the Allies evacuated from Dunkirk. From May 28 to June 4, 1940, more than 330,000 British, French, and Belgian troops withdrew to Great Britain. On the final night of the evacuation, Alexander himself walked the Dunkirk beach to be sure that it was clear before boarding a boat with the last of the rear guards.
Back in Britain, Alexander took command of forces preparing for the anticipated German invasion. After it became apparent that the Germans would not invade and the Japanese entered the war, Alexander journeyed to Burma to command the commonwealth forces. Again, Alexander faced a numerically superior force and fo-cused on an orderly withdrawal rather than offensive operations.
Alexander returned to England at a time when the English and their allies were desperate for heroes. Although he had served in two major campaigns that resulted in defeat, Alex became that hero for his talents and leadership exhibited on the batdefield in coordinating all available resources. In August 1942, Alexander rushed to Egypt to combat Rommel’s Afrika Korps, which threatened all of North Africa. During the following desert campaign, he continued to display the tact that allowed him to control difficult subordinates. BERNARD LAW MONTGOMERY [63], not known for say¬ing anything positive about any officer, respected Alexander’s com¬mand abilities and later referred to him as “the only man under whom … any general … would gladly serve in a subordinate position.”
Alexander, acting as supreme commander in North Africa, co-ordinated the British and American attacks that eventually de¬feated the Afrika Korps. In a typical understated message to Winston Churchill following the victory, Alexander telegraphed, “Sir: It is my duty to report that the Tunisian campaign is over. All enemy resistance has ceased. We are masters of the North African shores.”
After Africa, Alexander commanded the joint British- American invasion of Sicily, where he led the force onto the Italian mainland and finally captured Rome on June 4, 1944. Alexander, now a field marshal, was appointed Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Forces, on May 12, 1944, and remained in that po¬sition the remainder of the war. While the Allies consolidated their assets in preparation for the Normandy invasion, Alexander con¬tinued the advance north of Rome. His ability to coordinate the activities of a diverse army composed of units from Britain, the United States, India, France, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Greece, and Czechoslovakia were remarkable. During the final months of the war, Alexander captured more than a million German soldiers in the Po River campaign. On April 29, 1945, he accepted the first unconditional surrender signed by German officers.
After the war, Alexander served as governor-general of Canada from 1946 to 1952 and then as Churchill’s minister of defense from 1952 to 1954. In semiretirement for the next fifteen years, he held various honorary positions and sat on a number of commercial company boards of directors. He died in Slough, England, on June 16, 1969, at age seventy-seven.
Alexander was the utmost professional soldier and a true gendeman. Throughout his career he exhibited an uncanny ability to assess his enemy’s strengths and weaknesses and to accurately anticipate their actions. More importantly, Alexander gained and maintained cooperation from other commands and commanders. Most remarkable, in the five decades since the end of the war, nowhere in all the memoirs, books, and articles (that have appeared in print does anyone take Alexander to task or offer a hint of criticism.
Alexander ranks second only to Montgomery as the greatest British field commander of World War II. Because he sought and attracted more publicity and fame, Montgomery left a more lasting influence in that future officers and commanders studied him rather than the lesser-known Alexander. Undoubtedly, however, Alexander’s achievements were just as great, and it is he, not Mont-gomery, under whom the majority of officers would have preferred to serve.