Claude Auchinleck

General Sir Claude Auchinleck

Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck , GCB , GCIE , CSI , DSO , OBE (born June 21, 1884 in Aldershot , † March 23, 1981 in Marrakech ), also known as The Auk , was a British field marshal who served in commandos during the Second World War . a. held in North Africa and India .

Life

Before World War II

Claude Auchinleck was born as the eldest of four children to Colonel John Claude Alexander Auchinleck. Claude, whose father died when he was eight years old, grew up in poverty but was able to graduate from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst through hard work and scholarship . He became a professional soldier and long served in the British-Indian Army , where he developed sympathy for the country and the common soldiers under his command.

Second World War

During the Second World War, Auchinleck was given command of the Allied forces in Norway in May 1940 . After the fall of Norway in July 1940 he was on July 19, 1940 Commanding General of the Southern Command and then Commander in Chief in India .

After various successes and defeats of the Allied and Axis powers in North Africa, Auchinleck succeeded General (and later Field Marshal) Sir Archibald Wavell as Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces in the Middle East in July 1941 . Wavell, in turn, replaced Auchinleck as Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army .

Auchinleck had its headquarters in Cairo and was responsible for North Africa , Persia and the Middle East. The British 8th Army , which fought against the German Africa Corps and Italian units, was commanded first by Sir Alan Cunningham and then by Sir Neil Ritchie . The initial success of El Agheila (January 1942) was followed by a defeat at Bir Hacheim (June 1942), in which the Axis powers were commanded by Colonel General (and later General Field Marshal ) Erwin Rommel . Auchinleck withdrew his forces 400 km to Egypt . The city of Tobruk (which was of great political importance to Winston Churchill , but not of great military importance to Auchinleck) fell on June 21st. The advance of the Axis powers was finally stopped at the first battle of El Alamein by the British 8th Army, now under the direct command of Auchinlecks, who had deposed Ritchie. However, Auchinleck had bad luck with some of his most senior officers. Some were incompetent, some were killed, and some were captured.

Bernard Montgomery, Archibald Wavell and Claude Auchinleck

Like his opponent Rommel (and his predecessor Wavell), Auchinleck was accused of persistent meddling in political affairs and received numerous intimidating telegrams and instructions from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in late 1941 and in the spring and summer of 1942. Churchill constantly called for an offensive von Auchinleck, and was upset by the military defeats in Egypt and Cyrenaica . He wanted a British victory before the planned Allied landing in North Africa, Operation Torch , which was scheduled for November 1942. Auchinleck called for an end to offensive operations and reinforcement of the defense on July 31, when the 8th Army's forces were exhausted, in order to prepare for a major counter-offensive. Churchill flew to Cairo in August 1942 - ostensibly to consult with Auchinleck. Indeed, Churchill had made up his mind before leaving Britain . Auchinleck was removed from office by Churchill in August 1942 because he refused to order a major offensive before he and his troops were properly prepared. He was replaced by General Harold Alexander as Commander in Chief Middle East and by Lieutenant-General William Gott as Commander in Chief of the 8th Army. However, God fell before he could take command, prompting General Bernard Montgomery to be appointed commander of the 8th Army. Montgomery launched the said major offensive, the second Battle of El Alamein, on October 23, 1942, even later than Auchinleck had suggested when he was in command.

Churchill offered Auchinleck command of the Allied forces in Persia and the Middle East, but Auchinleck refused. Instead, he returned to India, where he remained unemployed for almost a year until he was again Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army in 1943 - Wavell had since been appointed Governor General of India.

post war period

The nobility salutation Sir he carried since 1945. He was promoted to field marshal in 1946, but refused to be promoted to peer . In the same year his wife left him. After a disagreement with Lord Mountbatten , the last Viceroy of India , he resigned as Commander-in-Chief and retired in 1947. In 1948 he returned to Great Britain.

During his retirement, Auchinleck moved to Marrakech . He died on March 23, 1981 at the age of 96.

literature

• Mark M. Boatner III: The Biographical Dictionary of World War II , Presidio Press, Novato, 1996, ISBN 0-89141-624-2 .
• John Connell: Auchinleck: a biography of Field-Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck. - 2nd ed .-- London: Cassell, 1959.

Web links

Commons : Claude Auchinleck  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Claude Auchinleck in the catalog of the German National Library
• Newspaper article about Claude Auchinleck in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

Individual evidence