Middle East Command
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
During World War II The British Middle East Command was based in Cairo with responsibility for the Middle East theatre which included North Africa, East Africa, Persia, the Middle East, and the British forces in the Balkans and Greece.
The Commanders-in-Chief (C-in-C)s were
- Archibald Wavell July 1939 – July 1941
- Claude Auchinleck July 1941 – August 1942
- Sir Harold Alexander August 1942 – ????
For the nine months of World War II the Middle Eastern theatre was quiet until Italy's declaration of war in June 1940. Wavell however was able to not only defend against the Italian attacks but to defeat the Italians and occupy their colonies in Ethiopia and Somaliland. By February 1941, the British appeared to be on the verge of overrunning the last Italian forces in Libya, which would have ended Axis control in all of Africa. Then the tide of war turned against them as the Germans attack through the Balkans and on to occupy Crete. The German's reinforced the Italians in Libya with the Afrika Korps and the British suffered further setbacks. Wavell and Auchinleck exchanged positions Auchinleck became C-in-C Middle East and Wavell became C-in-C in India.
While Auchinleck was in command the Eighth Army confronting the German Afrika Corps and the Italian Army was commanded successively by Generals Sir Alan Cunningham and Sir Neil Ritchie. Richie was dismissed after defeats at the hands of General Erwin Rommel. Auchinleck assumed the field command himself and the German/Italian advance was halted the at the First Battle of El Alamein.
The Auk, as he was known to his troops, was unfortunate in some of his subordinate senior officers in North Africa: some were incompetent, some were killed and some were captured. He struggled with the innate conservatism of the army establishment to get the armoured and infantry wings of the army to fight together on the German pattern, but had only limited success.
Like his foe Rommel (and his predecessor Wavell), Auchinleck was subjected to constant political interference. He had to weather a barrage of hectoring telegrams and instructions from Prime Minister Churchill throughout late 1941 and the spring and summer of 1942. Churchill constantly sought an offensive from Auchinleck, and was (understandably) downcast at the military reverses in Egypt and Cyrenaica. Churchill was desperate for some sort of British victory before the planned American landings in North Africa ("Torch") scheduled for November 1942. Again he badgered Auchinleck, immediately after the Eighth Army had all but exhausted itself after First Alamein. He flew to Cairo in August 1942, purportedly for consultations with Auchinleck, but it is now obvious that Churchill had made up his mind before he left Britain. Auchinleck was sacked by Churchill in August 1942, almost certainly because he refused to be bullied by Churchill into ordering a major offensive before he and his troops were properly prepared. He was replaced as C-in-C Middle East by General Alexander and as GOC Eighth Army by Lt-General William Gott, who was killed in Egypt before taking up command. On Gott's death, Lt-General (later Field Marshal Viscount) Bernard Montgomery was appointed commander of the Eighth Army.
Alexander presided over Montgomery's victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein. After the Anglo-American forces from Operation Torch and the Western Desert forces met in Tunisia in January 1943, he became deputy to Dwight Eisenhower in AFHQ.
