British Army Field Marshal. Born in London, the second son of the fourth Earl of Caledon, when he was very young the family moved back to their ancestral home, Caledon Castle in County Tyrone, Ireland, and, when he was only six, his father, who had served in the Life Guards Regiment of the British Army, but was better known as a deep-water yachtsman, died. In Ireland, he learned to paint and to carve in wood and stone. Educated at Harrow College, and at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, in 1911, he was commissioned in the Irish Guards. He intended to serve for a few years, then to retire early and make a living as a painter. However, the outbreak of World War I extended his military service plans. In August 1914, he was sent to France as a Lieutenant, and remained there until the first months of 1919, by which time he had reached the rank of Brigadier General, been wounded twice, and awarded the Military Cross (in 1915) and the Distinguished Service Order (in 1916). Throughout the War, he found the time to paint in the trenches. In 1919, he was sent to Latvia, which was a disputed territory between Germany and the Soviet Union, until Latvian independence was recognized the following year. After that, he served in Constantinople, Turkey as part of the Army of Occupation, in Gibraltar and at Staff College in England. In 1934, Alexander was sent to command the Nowshera Brigade on the North-West Frontier between India and Afghanistan, where he learned to speak Urdu just as quickly as he had learnt German and Russian. In 1937, he was promoted to Major General; at the age of 45, he was the youngest General in the British Army. On the outbreak of the Second World War, he was detailed to France; and, the following year, Field Marshal John Vereker, Lord Gort put him in charge at Dunkirk, with orders to withdraw all the British troops who could be saved. In three days, 20,000 British and 98,000 French were evacuated. General Alexander left on the very last motor launch, on which he toured the beaches to make sure no-one was remaining. In February 1942, at very short notice, he was given command of the Army in Burma. The Japanese had crossed the Sittang River and were about to encircle and capture Rangoon, and it was only because a Japanese divisional commander had left an escape route open that Alexander and his troops were able to leave the capital. As at Dunkirk, he did not leave Rangoon until the last possible moment. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill did not hold Alexander responsible for the fall of Burma. Churchill at once confirmed Alexander as head of the First Army which was to invade North Africa in November 1942, but this was changed and he was sent to the Middle East to replace General Sir Claude Auchinleck. In January 1943, however, he attended the conference at Casablanca, Morocco, where he was confirmed as deputy Commander in Chief in North Africa under United States General Dwight D. Eisenhower. On May 13 he was able to send his famous telegram to Churchill; "Sir, it is my duty to report that the Tunisian campaign is over. All enemy resistance has ceased. We are the masters of the North African shores." The next objective was Sicily, where he commanded the United States Seventh Army and the British Eighth Army. The plan had been for two separate invasions, in the South-East and North-West. Alexander, however, concentrated all his troops in the South-East, with the result that, within 38 days, the whole island was liberated. For the remaining two years of the war, he was engaged on the mainland of Italy. On June 4, 1944, when the Allied troops entered Rome, Italy, he was awarded the rank of Field Marshal. By May 1945, all Italy had been overrun and one million Germans had surrendered. After V.E. Day, Alexander expected to be made Chief of the Imperial General Staff, but Mackenzie King the Canadian Prime Minister, asked him to become the Governor General of the Dominion. Churchill urged him to accept the position, and he served in Ottawa from 1946 until 1952. In the first of those years, he was raised to the peerage as a Viscount. In January 1952, Churchill visited Ottawa, and offered Alexander an Earldom and a position in the British Cabinet as Secretary of State for Defense. He served until autumn 1954, although it has been said that Churchill was the real Minister of Defense and Alexander his spokesman in the House of Lords. Earl Alexander spent the last fifteen years of his life as a director of several firms, including Alcan, Barclays Bank and Phoenix Assurance. In these final years, more and more of his time was taken up with painting. He died suddenly in hospital in Slough. His funeral service was held at St. George's Chapel in Windsor, and he is buried in the village of Ridge in South Hertfordshire, near his house at Tyttenhanger. His statue stands in front of the barracks of the Irish Guards in Birdcage Walk, near Buckingham Palace.
British Army Field Marshal. Born in London, the second son of the fourth Earl of Caledon, when he was very young the family moved back to their ancestral home, Caledon Castle in County Tyrone, Ireland, and, when he was only six, his father, who had served in the Life Guards Regiment of the British Army, but was better known as a deep-water yachtsman, died. In Ireland, he learned to paint and to carve in wood and stone. Educated at Harrow College, and at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, in 1911, he was commissioned in the Irish Guards. He intended to serve for a few years, then to retire early and make a living as a painter. However, the outbreak of World War I extended his military service plans. In August 1914, he was sent to France as a Lieutenant, and remained there until the first months of 1919, by which time he had reached the rank of Brigadier General, been wounded twice, and awarded the Military Cross (in 1915) and the Distinguished Service Order (in 1916). Throughout the War, he found the time to paint in the trenches. In 1919, he was sent to Latvia, which was a disputed territory between Germany and the Soviet Union, until Latvian independence was recognized the following year. After that, he served in Constantinople, Turkey as part of the Army of Occupation, in Gibraltar and at Staff College in England. In 1934, Alexander was sent to command the Nowshera Brigade on the North-West Frontier between India and Afghanistan, where he learned to speak Urdu just as quickly as he had learnt German and Russian. In 1937, he was promoted to Major General; at the age of 45, he was the youngest General in the British Army. On the outbreak of the Second World War, he was detailed to France; and, the following year, Field Marshal John Vereker, Lord Gort put him in charge at Dunkirk, with orders to withdraw all the British troops who could be saved. In three days, 20,000 British and 98,000 French were evacuated. General Alexander left on the very last motor launch, on which he toured the beaches to make sure no-one was remaining. In February 1942, at very short notice, he was given command of the Army in Burma. The Japanese had crossed the Sittang River and were about to encircle and capture Rangoon, and it was only because a Japanese divisional commander had left an escape route open that Alexander and his troops were able to leave the capital. As at Dunkirk, he did not leave Rangoon until the last possible moment. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill did not hold Alexander responsible for the fall of Burma. Churchill at once confirmed Alexander as head of the First Army which was to invade North Africa in November 1942, but this was changed and he was sent to the Middle East to replace General Sir Claude Auchinleck. In January 1943, however, he attended the conference at Casablanca, Morocco, where he was confirmed as deputy Commander in Chief in North Africa under United States General Dwight D. Eisenhower. On May 13 he was able to send his famous telegram to Churchill; "Sir, it is my duty to report that the Tunisian campaign is over. All enemy resistance has ceased. We are the masters of the North African shores." The next objective was Sicily, where he commanded the United States Seventh Army and the British Eighth Army. The plan had been for two separate invasions, in the South-East and North-West. Alexander, however, concentrated all his troops in the South-East, with the result that, within 38 days, the whole island was liberated. For the remaining two years of the war, he was engaged on the mainland of Italy. On June 4, 1944, when the Allied troops entered Rome, Italy, he was awarded the rank of Field Marshal. By May 1945, all Italy had been overrun and one million Germans had surrendered. After V.E. Day, Alexander expected to be made Chief of the Imperial General Staff, but Mackenzie King the Canadian Prime Minister, asked him to become the Governor General of the Dominion. Churchill urged him to accept the position, and he served in Ottawa from 1946 until 1952. In the first of those years, he was raised to the peerage as a Viscount. In January 1952, Churchill visited Ottawa, and offered Alexander an Earldom and a position in the British Cabinet as Secretary of State for Defense. He served until autumn 1954, although it has been said that Churchill was the real Minister of Defense and Alexander his spokesman in the House of Lords. Earl Alexander spent the last fifteen years of his life as a director of several firms, including Alcan, Barclays Bank and Phoenix Assurance. In these final years, more and more of his time was taken up with painting. He died suddenly in hospital in Slough. His funeral service was held at St. George's Chapel in Windsor, and he is buried in the village of Ridge in South Hertfordshire, near his house at Tyttenhanger. His statue stands in front of the barracks of the Irish Guards in Birdcage Walk, near Buckingham Palace.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7471224/harold_rupert_leofric_george-alexander: accessed
), memorial page for Harold Rupert Leofric George “Earl of Tunis” Alexander (10 Dec 1891–16 Jun 1969), Find a Grave Memorial ID 7471224, citing St Margaret Churchyard, Ridge,
Hertsmere Borough,
Hertfordshire,
England;
Maintained by Find a Grave.
Add Photos for Harold Rupert Leofric George “Earl of Tunis” Alexander
Fulfill Photo Request for Harold Rupert Leofric George “Earl of Tunis”...
Photo Request Fulfilled
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request
There is an open photo request for this memorial
Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request?
Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s).
Oops, something didn't work. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
Make sure that the file is a photo. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced.
All photos uploaded successfully, click on the <b>Done button</b> to see the photos in the gallery.
General photo guidelines:
Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced.
Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial.
A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors.
The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial).
Include gps location with grave photos where possible.
No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.)
This memorial already has a grave photo. Please indicate why you think it needs another.
There is no plot information for this memorial. Your photo request is more likely to be fulfilled if you contact the cemetery to get the plot information and include it with your request.
You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
Memorial Photos
This is a carousel with slides. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel.
Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried.
Show Map
If the memorial includes GPS coordinates, simply click 'Show Map' to view the gravesite location within the cemetery. If no GPS coordinates are available, you can contribute by adding them if you know the precise location.
Photos
For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab.
Photos Tab
All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
Flowers
Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button.
Family Members
Family members linked to this person will appear here.
Related searches
Use the links under See more… to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc.
Sponsor This Memorial
Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option.
Share
Share this memorial using social media sites or email.
Save to
Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.
Edit or Suggest Edit
Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager.
Have Feedback
Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.
You may not upload any more photos to this memorial
"Unsupported file type"
Uploading...
Waiting...
Success
Failed
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
Invalid File Type
Uploading 1 Photo
Uploading 2 Photos
1 Photo Uploaded
2 Photos Uploaded
Added by
GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.
Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request.
Enter numeric value
Enter memorial Id
Year should not be greater than current year
Invalid memorial
Duplicate entry for memorial
You have chosen this person to be their own family member.
Reported!
This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.
0% Complete
Saved
Sign in or Register
Sign in to Find a Grave
Sign-in to link to existing account
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
We’ve updated the security on the site. Please reset your password.
Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Please contact Find a Grave at [email protected] if you need help resetting your password.
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
Email not found
Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person.
Sign in to your existing Find a Grave account. You’ll only have to do this once—after your accounts are connected, you can sign in using your Ancestry sign in or your Find a Grave sign in.
We found an existing Find a Grave account associated with your email address. Sign in below with your Find a Grave credentials to link your Ancestry account. After your accounts are connected you can sign in using either account.
Please enter your email to sign in.
Please enter your password to sign in.
Please enter your email and password to sign in.
There is a problem with your email/password.
A system error has occurred. Please try again later.
A password reset email has been sent to EmailID. If you don't see an email, please check your spam folder.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
Password Reset
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code.
Registration Options
Welcome to Find a Grave
Create your free account by choosing an option below.
or
Ancestry account link
To create your account, Ancestry will share your name and email address with Find a Grave. To continue choose an option below.
or
If you already have a Find a Grave account, please sign in to link to Ancestry®.
New Member Registration
Email is mandatory
Email and Password are mandatory
This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Resend Activation Email
Your password is not strong enough
Invalid Email
You must agree to Terms and Conditions
Account already exists
Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox
Internal Server error occurred
If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map
You must select an email preference
We have sent you an activation email
Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters.
We just emailed an activation code to
Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
Within 5 miles of your location.
Within 5 kilometers of your location.
0 cemeteries found in .
0 cemeteries found.
Add a cemetery to fulfill photo requests
You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below.
Search above to list available cemeteries.
Getting location…
Loading...
Loading...
No cemeteries found
Find a Grave Video Tutorials
Default Language
Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [email protected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Thanks for your help!
Preferred Language
We have set your language to based on information from your browser.