Field Marshal, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, KG, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO & Bar, was a senior commander in the British Army. He was educated in France and at the Royal Military Academy (Woolwich) and served in the Royal Artillery during World War I. Between the World Wars, he distinguished himself in staff duties and was in charge of military training at the War Office (1936 to 1937). He began service in World War II as commander of the II Army Corps in France. He was the Chief of the Imperial General Staff during the Second World War and was promoted to Field Marshal in 1944. As chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, he was the foremost military advisor to Prime Minister Winston Churchill and, as coordinator of the British military efforts, was an important but not always well-known contributor to the Allies' victory in 1945. Though he looked forward to taking command of the Allied invasion of Western Europe, a post he believed Churchill had promised him on three occasions. But during the first Quebec conference in August 1943, it was decided that the command would go to US General George C. Marshall. Although in the event Marshall's work as US Army Chief of Staff was too vital for him to leave Washington DC, Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed instead. He was bitterly disappointed, both at being passed over and at the way the decision was conveyed to him by Churchill, who, according to Brooke, "dealt with the matter as if it were one of minor importance." After retiring from the army, Alanbrooke (as he then was) served as Lord High Constable of England during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. His war diaries attracted attention for their criticism of Churchill and for Brooke's forthright views on other leading figures of the war.
Field Marshal, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, KG, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO & Bar, was a senior commander in the British Army. He was educated in France and at the Royal Military Academy (Woolwich) and served in the Royal Artillery during World War I. Between the World Wars, he distinguished himself in staff duties and was in charge of military training at the War Office (1936 to 1937). He began service in World War II as commander of the II Army Corps in France. He was the Chief of the Imperial General Staff during the Second World War and was promoted to Field Marshal in 1944. As chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, he was the foremost military advisor to Prime Minister Winston Churchill and, as coordinator of the British military efforts, was an important but not always well-known contributor to the Allies' victory in 1945. Though he looked forward to taking command of the Allied invasion of Western Europe, a post he believed Churchill had promised him on three occasions. But during the first Quebec conference in August 1943, it was decided that the command would go to US General George C. Marshall. Although in the event Marshall's work as US Army Chief of Staff was too vital for him to leave Washington DC, Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed instead. He was bitterly disappointed, both at being passed over and at the way the decision was conveyed to him by Churchill, who, according to Brooke, "dealt with the matter as if it were one of minor importance." After retiring from the army, Alanbrooke (as he then was) served as Lord High Constable of England during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. His war diaries attracted attention for their criticism of Churchill and for Brooke's forthright views on other leading figures of the war.
Bio by: julia&keld
Family Members
Advertisement
