Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis

Field Marshal The Right Honourable  The Earl Alexander of Tunis  KG, PC, PC, GCB, OM, GCMG, CSI, DSO, MC, CD, LLD(hc) Harv, LLD(hc) Prin
17th Governor General of Canada
In office 12 April 1946 – 28 February 1952
Monarch	George VI Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	William Lyon Mackenzie King Louis St. Laurent
Preceded by	Alexander Cambridge, Earl of Athlone
Succeeded by	Vincent Massey
More...
Born	10 December 1891(1891-12-10) London, United Kingdom
Died	16 June 1969 (aged 77) Slough, United Kingdom
Spouse(s)	Margaret Alexander, Countess Alexander of Tunis
Profession	Soldier
Religion	Anglican
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1911 – 1946[1]
Rank	Field Marshal
Commands	See below...
Battles/wars	World War I Latvian War of Independence World War II
Awards	See below...

Field Marshal Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis KG PC PC GCB OM GCMG CSI DSO MC CD (10 December 1891 – 16 June 1969) was a British military commander and field marshal of Anglo-Irish descent who served with distinction in both world wars, and between 1946 and 1952 served as the Governor General of Canada. He was born in London, United Kingdom, to parents of noble heritage, and was educated at English public schools before moving on to Sandhurst for training as an army officer. He rose to prominence through his service in the First World War, receiving numerous honours and decorations, and continued his military career through various British campaigns across Europe and Asia. In the Second World War, Alexander acted as a high ranking commander in North Africa and Italy, eventually being promoted as the Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean.

On the recommendation of then Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, Alexander was appointed by George VI, the king of Canada, as the Canadian viceroy, succeeding in that role Alexander Cambridge, Earl of Athlone.^[2] Alexander proved to be enthusiastic about the Canadian wilderness, as well as a popular governor general with the Canadian people, and he would be the last non-Canadian-born governor general before the appointment of Adrienne Clarkson in 1999. After the end of his viceregal tenure, Alexander was sworn into the King's Privy Council for Canada,^[3] and thereafter into the King's British Privy Council in order to serve as the British Minister of Defence in the Cabinet of Winston Churchill. Alexander retired in 1954 and died 15 years later, when he was interred at Ridge, Hertfordshire.

Early life

Alexander was born in London, United Kingdom, the third son of James Alexander, Earl of Caledon, and Elizabeth Alexander, Countess of Caledon, a daughter of Hector Graham-Toler, Earl of Norbury. Alexander was educated at Hawtreys and Harrow School  – where, at the latter, he participated as the 11th batsman in the notorious Fowler Match against Eton College in 1910^[4]  – before moving on to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

World War I

From Sandhurst, Alexander was commissioned in September 1911 as a second lieutenant in the Irish Guards,^[5] which, when the First World War erupted only three years later, formed part of the original British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Alexander was by then a 22-year-old lieutenant (having been promoted in December 1912)^[6] and platoon commander, until February 1915, when he was promoted to the rank of captain,^[7] and, in February 1917, to major.^[8] However, during certain periods, Alexander acted in higher ranking capacities, notably for three months in 1917 when he was an acting lieutenant-colonel while still only a substantive captain,^[9][10] as well as for nearly all the time between November 1917 and the end of the war, when he acted in the same rank in command of a battalion.^[11] In October 1918, Alexander was further charged with the command of a corps infantry school as an acting lieutenant-colonel.^[12]

During his service on the Western Front, Alexander was wounded twice in four years of fighting. For his bravery and sacrifice, he received in January 1916 the Military Cross,^[13] and in October of the same year was appointed to the Distinguished Service Order,^[14] the citation for which read: "For conspicuous gallantry in action. He was the life and soul of the attack, and throughout the day led forward not only his own men but men of all regiments. He held the trenches gained in spite of heavy machine gun fire."^[14] In the same month Alexander was also inducted into the French Légion d'honneur.^[2]

Rudyard Kipling, who wrote a history of the Irish Guards, in which his own son fought and was killed, noted that, "it is undeniable that Colonel Alexander had the gift of handling the men on the lines to which they most readily responded... His subordinates loved him, even when he fell upon them blisteringly for their shortcomings; and his men were all his own."^{[citation needed]}

The inter-war years

In 1919 and 1920, as a temporary lieutenant-colonel,^[15] Alexander led the Baltic German Landeswehr in the Latvian War of Independence, commanding units loyal to the Republic of Latvia in the successful drive to eject the Bolsheviks from Latgale.^[16] After later serving in Turkey and Gibraltar, in 1922 Alexander's temporary rank was made substantive when he was appointed to command the 1st battalion of his regiment,^[17] and in January 1926 he was released from that role to attend Staff College, Camberley.^[18] Alexander was then promoted to colonel in February 1928,^[19] and was the next month appointed as commandant of the Irish Guards and its regimental district,^[20] a post he held until January 1930, when he again returned to school, to attend the Imperial Defence College for one year.^[21][22]

After the completion of his courses, on 14 October 1931, Alexander married Lady Margaret Bingham, the daughter of George Bingham, Earl of Lucan, and with whom Alexander would have two sons and two daughters, one of which was adopted during Alexander's time as Governor General of Canada.^[2] Alexander then held staff appointments as GSO2 and GSO1,^[23][24] before being made, in October 1934, a temporary brigadier and given command of the Nowshera Brigade, on the Northwest Frontier in India.^[25][26] For his service there, and in particular for his actions in the Loe-Agra operations on the northwest frontier between February and April 1936, Alexander was in 1936 made a Companion of the Order of the Star of India,^[27] and was mentioned in despatches.^[28] He was mentioned once more for his service during operations in Mohamad Province during August and October of the same year.^[29]

In March 1937, Alexander was appointed as one of the aides-de-camp to the recently acceded King George VI,^[30] and returned to the United Kingdom to take part in this capacity in the state procession through London during the King's coronation in May.^[31] Alexander would have been seen in this event by two of his Canadian viceregal successors: Vincent Massey, who was then the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and his secretary, Georges Vanier, who watched the procession from the roof of Canada House, on Trafalgar Square.^[32] Following the coronation celebration, Alexander returned to India, where he was made the Honorary Colonel of the 3rd Battalion 2nd Punjab Regiment,^[33] and then promoted to the rank of major-general in October 1937,^[34] then the youngest general in the British Army.^[2] Alexander relinquished command of his brigade in January 1938,^[35] and returned to the United Kingdom to take command of the 1st Infantry Division in February.^[36]

Second World War

Following the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Alexander brought the 1st Infantry Division to France, where, in late May 1940, he successfully led the division's withdrawal to Dunkirk. Shortly after Bernard Montgomery had been appointed to command II Corps, Alexander was, while still on the beachhead, placed in command of I Corps, and left the beach on 3 June after ensuring that all British troops had been evacuated.^[37][38] In recognition of his services in the field from March to June 1940, Alexander was again mentioned in despatches.^[39]

Having been confirmed as a lieutenant-general in July 1940,^[40] Alexander returned to the UK to be made the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Southern Command, which was responsible for the defence of south-west England.^[41][42] On 1 January 1942 he was knighted and appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath,^[43] and in February, after the Japanese invasion of Burma, was sent to India to become GOC-in-C Burma as a full general.^[44][45] While he commanded what would later be the Fourteenth Army, Alexander left the tactical conduct of the campaign to his corps commander, Bill Slim, while Alexander himself handled the more political aspects of relations with Joe Stillwell, the nominal commander of the Chinese forces.^[46]

Major-General Arso Jovanović, Major-General Fitzroy MacLean, Field Marshal Harold Alexander, and Major-General Lyman Lemnitzer in Belgrade, February 1945.

By July 1942, the British and Indian forces in Burma had completed their fighting retreat back into India, and Alexander, having yet again been mentioned in despatches for his Burma service,^[47] was recalled to the United Kingdom. He was at first selected to command the First Army, which was to take part in Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. However, following a visit in early August to Egypt by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Alan Brooke, Alexander flew to Cairo on 8 August to replace Claude Auchinleck as the Commander-in-Chief of Middle East Command, the post responsible for the overall conduct of the campaign in the desert of North Africa. At the same time, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery replaced Auchinleck as the General Officer Commanding the Eighth Army.^[46] Alexander presided over Montgomery's victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein and the advance of the Eighth Army to Tripoli, for which Alexander was elevated to a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath,^[48] and, after the Anglo-American forces from Operation Torch and the Eighth Army converged in Tunisia in February 1943, they were brought under the unified command of a newly-formed 18th Army Group headquarters, commanded by Alexander and reporting to Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean at the Allied Forces Headquarters.^[49]

The Axis forces in Tunisia surrendered in May 1943, and Alexander's command became the 15th Army Group, which was, under Eisenhower, responsible for mounting the Allied invasion of Sicily in July, again seeing Alexander controlling two armies: Montgomery's Eighth Army and George S. Patton's Seventh United States Army. After Sicily, and in preparation for the allied invasion of Italy, the Seventh Army headquarters were replaced by those of the Fifth United States Army, lead by Mark Clark.^[49]

When Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Allied Commander for the planned Normandy Landings he suggested that Alexander become ground forces commander, as he was popular with both British and US officers. Brooke, however, applied pressure to keep Alexander in Italy, considering him unfit for the assignment in France.^[50] Thus, Alexander remained in command of the 15th Army Group, and, with the support of numerous allied commanders, controversially authorised the bombing of the historic abbey at Cassino, which resulted in little advance on the German Winter Line defences. It was not until the fourth attempt that the Winter Line was breached by the Allies, and Alexander's forces moved on to capture Rome in June 1944, thereby achieving one of the strategic goals of the Italian campaign. However, US Fifth Army forces at Anzio, under Clark's orders, failed to follow their original breakout plan that would have trapped the German forces escaping northwards in the aftermath of the Battle of Monte Cassino, instead favouring an early and highly publicised entry into Rome two days before the Allied landings in Normandy.^[51]

Alexander remained in command of 15th Army Group, as well as its successor, the Allied Armies in Italy, for most of the Italian Campaign, until December 1944, when he relinquished his command to Clark and took over as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces Headquarters, responsible for all military operations in the Mediterranean Theatre. Alexander was concurrently promoted to the rank of field marshal,^[51] though this was backdated to the fall of Rome on 4 June 1944,^[52] so that Alexander would once again be senior to Montgomery, who had himself been made a field marshal on 1 September 1944, after the end of the Battle of Normandy. Alexander then received the German surrender in Italy, on 29 April 1945. Further, as a reward for his leadership in North Africa and Italy, Alexander, along with a number of other prominent British Second World War military leaders, was elevated to the peerage on 1 March 1946 by King George VI; he was created Viscount Alexander of Tunis and Errigal in the county of Donegal.^[53]

Governor generalship

The Viscount and Viscountess Alexander of Tunis are greeted by Prime Minister of Canada William Lyon Mackenzie King upon the viceregal couple's arrival in Ottawa, 12 April 1946.

In the Governor General's study at Rideau Hall, Alexander (centre) receives for his signature the bill finalising the union of Newfoundland and Canada, 31 March 1949.^{[N 1]}

With the cessation of hostilities, Alexander was under serious consideration for appointment to the post of Chief of the Imperial General Staff, the British Army's most senior position beneath the sovereign, but he was invited by Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King to be his recommendation to the King for the post of goveror general of Canada. Alexander thus chose to retire from the army and take up the new position, and, in preparation for his viceregal posting, was on 26 January 1946 appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George.^[54]

It was announced from the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada on 21 March 1946 that George VI had, by commission under the royal sign-manual and signet, approved the recommendation of his prime minister, Mackenzie King, to appoint Alexander as his representative. He was subsequently sworn-in during a ceremony in the Senate chamber on 12 April that year. Alexander took his duties as the viceroy quite seriously, seeing his role to be a link between Canadians and their head of state, and travelling the country extensively; he eventually logged no less than 294,500 km (184,000 mi) during his five years as governor general. On these trips, he sought to engage with Canadians through various ceremonies and events; he was keenly interested in his role as Chief Scout of Canada, and, in preparation for his kicking of the opening ball in the 1946 Grey Cup final, he spent a number of early mornings practicing on the grounds of the royal and viceroyal residence, Rideau Hall. Also, on his first visit to western Canada, Alexander was presented on 13 July 1946 with a totem pole crafted by Kwakiutl carver Mungo Martin in commemoration of Alexander's installation as an honorary chief of the Kwakiutl tribe, the first non-aboriginal to be so honoured; the totem pole remains visible on the grounds of Rideau Hall today.^[2] By the end of the year, Alexander was also distinguished with his induction as a Knight of the Order of the Garter.^[55]

In 1947, the King issued letters patent granting his Canadian governor general permission to exercise all those powers belonging to the monarch in respect of Canada, and, at the Imperial Conference of 1949, the decision was reached to use the term "member of the Commonwealth" instead of "Dominion" to refer to the non-British member states of the Commonwealth of Nations. That same year, Alexander oversaw the admission of the British Crown colony of Newfoundland into Canadian Confederation, and toured the new province that summer. Then, during a later visit to Alberta, the Governor General was admitted to the Blackfoot First Nations tribe as Chief Eagle Head. However, though the post-war period saw a boom in prosperity for Canada, the country was again at war by 1950, with Alexander, in his role as Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces, deploying to the Korean War soldiers, sailors, and airmen, whom he would visit prior to their departure for south-east Asia.^[2]

While the Viscount travelled abroad on official trips – in 1947 visiting US President Harry S. Truman, and in June 1948 Brazilian President Eurico Gaspar Dutra – as well as hosting a number of dignitaries, the Alexanders led a relatively informal lifestyle at Rideau Hall. For the visit of Princess Elizabeth and her husband, Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, who toured Canada in 1951, less than two years before the Princess acceded to the throne as Queen Elizabeth II, the Viscount and Viscountess hosted a square dance in the palace's ballroom. Alexander was also a passionate painter—setting up a studio for himself in the former dairy at Rideau Hall, and organising art classes at the National Gallery of Canada^[2]—and remained an avid sportsman and outdoorsman. He would partake in golf, ice hockey, and rugby, and enjoyed the harvest of maple syrup in Ontario and Quebec, even personally supervising the tapping of the maple trees in the grounds of Rideau Hall. The Viscount was known to escape from official duties to partake in his most favourite pastime of fishing, once departing from the 1951 royal tour of Princess Elizabeth to take in a day's fishing at Griffin Island, in Georgian Bay, and granting a day off for students in the town of Drayton, Ontario, where his train briefly stopped.^[56]

Amongst Canadians, Alexander proved to be a popular viceroy, despite the calls for a Canadian-born governor general that had preceded his appointment.^[50] Not only did Alexander have a much praised military reputation – he was considered to be the best military strategest since Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington^[56] – but he was also a charismatic figure with an easy ability to communicate with people.^[2] Others, however, did not fully approve of Alexander; editor Hugh Templin from Fergus, Ontario, met with Alexander during Templin's time as a special correspondent with the Canadian Press during the Second World War, and he said of the encounter: "Lord Alexander impressed us considerably, if not too favour­ably. He was an aristocratic type, who didn't like news­pap­er men."^[56]

Post-viceregal life

Alexander departed the Office of Governor General in early 1952, after Churchill asked him to return to London to take the post of Minister of Defence in the British government,^[50] as the ageing Churchill, had found it increasingly difficult to cope with holding that portfolio concurrently with that of prime minister. Soon after, George VI died on the night of 5-6 February, and Alexander departed quietly, in respect of the King's mourning, for the United Kingdom, leaving Chief Justice of Canada Thibaudeau Rinfret as Administrator of the Government in his place. After his return to the UK, Alexander was elevated in the peerage by the new queen on 14 March 1952, becoming Earl Alexander of Tunis, Baron Rideau of Ottawa and Castle Derg.^[57] He was also appointed to the organising committee for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II,^[58] and was charged with carrying the Sovereign's Orb in the state procession on that occasion in 1953.^[59]

The Earl served as the British Minister of Defence until 1954, when he retired from politics, and, in 1959, the Queen appointed Alexander to the Order of Merit.^[60] Canada remained a favourite second home for the Alexanders, and they returned frequently to visit family and friends, until Alexander died on 16 June 1969 of a perforated aorta.^[1] His funeral was held on 24 June 1969 at St. Georges Chapel, in Windsor Castle, and his remains are buried in the churchyard of Ridge, near Tyttenhanger, his family's Hertfordshire home.^[2]

Titles, styles, and honours

Titles

Viceregal styles of Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis
Reference style	His Excellency The Right Honourable Son Excellence le très honorable
Spoken style	Your Excellency Votre Excellence
Alternative style	Sir Monsieur

United Kingdom

• 10 December 1891 – September 1911: The Honourable Harold Alexander
• September 1911 – February 1915: Lieutenant The Honourable Harold Alexander
• February 1915 – February 1917: Captain The Honourable Harold Alexander
• February 1917 – 1928: Major The Honourable Harold Alexander
• 1928 – October 1937: Colonel The Honourable Harold Alexander
• October 1937 – July 1940: Major-General The Honourable Harold Alexander
• July 1940 – 16 January 1942: Lieutenant-General The Honourable Harold Alexander
• 16 January 1942 – 8 August 1942: General The Honourable Harold Alexander
• 8 August 1942 – 18 February 1943: General The Honourable Harold Alexander, Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command
• 19 February 1943 – 14 May 1943: General The Honourable Harold Alexander, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief 18th Army Group
• 10 July 1943 – 16 January 1944: General The Honourable Harold Alexander, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief 15th Army Group
• 17 January 1944 – 1 March 1944: General The Honourable Harold Alexander, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Allied Central Mediterranean Force
• 2 March 1944 – 11 December 1944: General The Honourable Harold Alexander, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Allied Armies in Italy
• 12 December 1944 – 29 September 1945: Field Marshal The Honourable Harold Alexander
• 30 September 1945 – 1 March 1946: Field Marshal The Honourable Harold Alexander
• 1 March 1946 – 29 January 1952: His Excellency Field Marshal The Right Honourable The Viscount Alexander of Tunis
• 29 January 1952 – 14 March 1952: Field Marshal The Right Honourable The Viscount Alexander of Tunis
• 14 March 1952 – 16 June 1969: Field Marshal The Right Honourable The Earl Alexander of Tunis

Canada

• 12 April 1946 – 1 October 1947: His Excellency Field Marshal The Right Honourable The Viscount Alexander of Tunis, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of the Militia and Naval and Air Forces of Canada
• 1 October 1947 – 28 February 1952: His Excellency Field Marshal The Right Honourable The Viscount Alexander of Tunis, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada

Alexander's style and title as Governor General was, in full, and in English: His Excellency Field Marshal The Right Honourable Sir Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, Viscount Alexander of Tunis and Errigal, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Companion of the Order of the Star of India, Companion of the Distinguished Service Order, Legionnaire Fifth Class of the Légion d'honneur, Member Second Class with Swords of the Order of St. Anna, Member First Class of the Order of Suvorov, Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of George I, Member Fifth Class of the Order Virtuti Militari, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada, Field Marshal of the Militia of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and in French: Son Excellence le très honorable Sir Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, vicomte Alexander de Tunis et Errigal, chevalier de le nobilissime ordre de la Jarretière, chevalier grand-croix de le très honorable ordre du Bain, chevalier grand-croix de le très distingué ordre de Saint-Michel et Saint-George, compagnon de l'ordre de l'Étoile des Indes, compagnon de l'ordre du service distingué, légionnaire cinquieme classe de le Légion d'honneur, membre deuxieme classe avec épées de l'ordre de Sainte-Anne, membre premier classe de l'ordre de Souvorov, membre grand-croix de l'ordre royale du George I, membre cinqiemme classe de l'ordre militaire de Virtuti Militari, gouverneur générale et commandant en chef du Canada, Field-Marshal de la milice du Royaume-Uni de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande du Norde. It should be noted that, for Alexander, Commander-in-Chief was strictly a title, and not a position that he held; the actual commander-in-chief (who can also be, and is, called such) is perpetually the monarch of Canada.^[61]

In his post-viceregal life, Alexander's style and title was: Field Marshal The Right Honourable Sir Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, Earl Alexander of Tunis, Baron Rideau of Ottawa and Castle Derg, Viscount Alexander of Tunis and Errigal, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Grand Master of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Companion of the Order of the Star of India, Companion of the Distinguished Service Order, Member of the Order of Merit, Legionnaire Fifth Class of the Légion d'honneur, Member Second Class with Swords of the Order of St. Anna, Member First Class of the Order of Suvorov, Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of George I, Member Fifth Class of the Order Virtuti Militari, Field Marshal of the Militia of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Unofficial

Alberta

• Chief Eagle Head

Honours

Appointments

• 7 February 1936 – 16 June 1969: Companion of the Order of the Star of India (CSI)^[27]
• 1938 – 1 January 1942: Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (CB)
  • 1 January 1942 – 11 November 1942: Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (KCB)^[43]
  • 11 November 1942 – 16 June 1969: Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (GCB)^[48]
• 1 January 1946 – 16 June 1969: Knight of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (KStJ)^[62]
• 16 September 1946 – 28 February 1952: Knight of Justice, Prior, and Chief Officer in Canada of the Venerable Order of Saint John of Jerusalem (KStJ)^{[N 2]}
• 20 January 1946 – 25 March 1960: Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (GCMG)^[54]
  • 25 March 1960 – 12 October 1967: Grand Master of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George^[64][65]
• 12 April 1946 – 28 February 1952: Chief Scout of Canada
• 1946 – 16 June 1969: Honorary Member of the Royal Military College of Canada Club
• 13 July 1946 – 16 June 1969: Honorary Chief of the Kwakiutl Tribe
• 3 December 1946 – 16 June 1969: Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (KG)^[55]
• 1950 – 16 June 1969: Chief of the Blackfoot Tribe
• 29 January 1952 – 16 June 1969: Member of the King's Privy Council for Canada (PC)
• 1952 – 16 June 1969: Member of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (PC)
• 17 May 1957 – 1 April 1965: Lord Lieutenant of the County of London^[66]
• 1 April 1965 – 28 December 1966: Lord Lieutenant of Greater London
• 1960 – 1965: Constable of the Tower of London^[67]
• 1 January 1959 – 16 June 1969: Member of the Order of Merit (OM)

Decorations

• 14 January 1916: Military Cross (MC)^[13]
• 20 October 1916: Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO)^[14]
• 7 June 1951: Canadian Forces Decoration (CD)^[68]

Awards

• 4 January 1917: Mentioned in Despatches^[69]
• 27 December 1918: Mentioned in Despatches
• 8 July 1919: Mentioned in Despatches
• 3 February 1920: Mentioned in Despatches
• 7 February 1936: Mentioned in Despatches^[28]
• 8 May 1936: Mentioned in Despatches^[29]
• 20 December 1940: Mentioned in Despatches^[39]
• 28 October 1942: Mentioned in Despatches^[47]

Foregin honours and decorations

• 20 October 1916 – 16 June 1969: Legionnaire Fifth Class of the Légion d'honneur
• 10 August 1943: Chief Commanders of Legion of Merit^[70]
• : Member Second Class with Swords of the Order of St. Anna
• 29 February 1944 – 16 June 1969: Member First Class of the Order of Suvorov^[71]
• 20 June 1944 – 16 June 1969: Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of George I^[72]
• 5 December 1944 – 16 June 1969: Member Fifth Class of the Order Virtuti Militari^[73]
• 2 August 1945: Distinguished Service Medal^[74]

Honorary military appointments

• 7 March 1936 – 19 November 1937: Aide-de-Camp to His Majesty the King (ADC)^[30][75]
• 2 July 1937 – 14 August 1947: Colonel of the 3rd Battalion 2nd Punjab Regiment^[33]
• 20 July 1944 – 2 August 1946: Aide-de-Camp General to His Majesty the King (ADC General)^[76][77]
• 12 April 1946 – 28 February 1952: Colonel of the Regiment of the Governor General's Horse Guards
• 12 April 1946 – 28 February 1952: Colonel of the Regiment of the Governor General's Foot Guards
• 12 April 1946 – 28 February 1952: Colonel of the Regiment of the Canadian Grenadier Guards
• 28 August 1946 – 16 June 1969: Colonel of the Irish Guards^[78]
• 10 November 1949 – n/a: Colonel of the Royal Ulster Rifles (London Irish Rifles)^[79]
• 10 July 1951 – n/a: Colonel of the Oxford University Contingent of the University Training Corps^[80]

Honorary degrees

• : Harvard University, Doctor of Laws (LLD)
• : Princeton University, Doctor of Laws (LLD)

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Honorific eponyms

Schools

• Ontario: Viscount Alexander Public School, Ottawa

Commands

• 1915: 1st Battalion, Irish Guards (temporary)^{[citation needed]}
• 1917: 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards
• March 1918: 4 Guards Brigade (temporary)^{[citation needed]}
• October 1918: X Corps School
• July 1919 – March 1920: Baltische Landeswehr
• 1922: 1st Battalion, Irish Guards
• 13 October 1934 – 14 January 1938: Nowshera Brigade, India
• 17 February 1938 – 7 June 1940: 1st Infantry Division
• 8 June 1940 – 14 December 1940: I Corps
• 15 December 1940 – 26 February 1942: Southern Command
• 5 March 1942 – 6 August 1942: Army in Burma
• 15 August 1942^[81]  – 15 February 1943^[82]: Commander-in-Chief Middle East
• 19 February 1943^[83]  – 14 May 1943: 18th Army Group
• 10 July 1943  – 11 December 1944:^[84] 15th Army Group (renamed Allied forces in Italy on 11 January 1944, then Allied Central Mediterranean Force on 18 January 1944 and finally Allied Armies in Italy on 9 March 1944)^[85]
• 12 December 1944^[86]  – 29 September 1945: Allied Force Headquarters Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theatre^[86]

List of works

• Alexander, Harold (3 February 1948). "The African Campaign from El Alamein to Tunis, from 10 August, 1942 to 13 May, 1943". London Gazette (London: King's Printer) ((Supplement) 38196): 839–887. http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/38196/supplements/839. Retrieved 22 March 2009. 
• Alexander, Harold (10 February 1948). "Conquest of Sicily 10 July 1943 to 17 August 1943". London Gazette (London: King's Printer) ((Supplement) 38205): 1009–1025. http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/38205/supplements/1009. Retrieved 22 March 2009. 
• Alexander, Harold (6 June 1950). "The Allied Armies in Italy, from 3 September, 1943 to 12 December, 1944". London Gazette (London: King's Printer) ((Supplement) 38937): 2879–2975. http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/38937/supplements/2879. Retrieved 22 March 2009. 

See also

World War II portal

Scouting portal

• Politics of Canada
• List of state leaders by date
• Governor-General > Independent Commonwealth realms

Notes

Citations

References

• Jackson, General W.G.F. & with Gleave, Group Captain T.P. (2004) [1st. pub. HMSO 1987]. The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume VI: Part II - June to October 1944. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-845740-71-8. 
• Keegan (ed), John; Reid, Brian Holden (1991). Churchill's Generals. London: Cassell Military. ISBN 0-304-36712-5. 
• Mead, Richard (2007). Churchill's Lions: A biographical guide to the key British generals of World War II. Stroud: Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-431-0. 
• Molony, Brigadier C.J.C.; with Flynn R.N., Captain F.C.; Davies, Major-General H.L. & Gleave, Group Captain T.P. (2004) [1st. pub. HMSO 1973]. Butler, J.R.M. ed. The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume V: The Campaign in Sicily 1943 and The Campaign in Italy 3rd September 1943 to 31st March 1944. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-845740-69-6. 
• Playfair, I.S.O.; Flynn, F.C.; Molony, C.J.C. & Gleave, T.P. (2004) [1st. pub. HMSO 1960]. Butler, J.R.M. ed. The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume III: British Fortunes reach their Lowest Ebb (September 1941 to September 1942). History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-845740-67-X. 
• Playfair, Major-General I.S.O.; and Molony, Brigadier C.J.C.; with Flynn R.N., Captain F.C. & Gleave, Group Captain T.P. (2004) [1st. pub. HMSO 1966]. Butler, J.R.M. ed. The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume IV: The Destruction of the Axis Forces in Africa. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-84574-068-8. 
• Wilson, John S. (1959). Scouting Round the World (1st ed.). Poole: Blandford Press. OCLC 58863729. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Harold Alexander

• Website of the Governor General of Canada entry for Harold Alexander
• The Canadian Encyclopedia entry for Harold Alexander

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