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Claude Auchinleck
Sign in to saveAlso known as Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck
British World War II Army commander (1884–1981)
Key facts
- Nickname
- The Auk
- Born
- ( 1884-06-21 ) 21 June 1884, Aldershot , Hampshire , England
- Died
- 23 March 1981 (1981-03-23) (aged 96), Marrakesh , Morocco
- Allegiance
- United Kingdom
- Branch
- British Indian Army , Indian Army , Pakistan Army
- Service years
- 1904–1947
- Rank
- Field Marshal
- Unit
- 62nd Punjabis
- Conflicts
- First World War Mesopotamian campaign Battle of Hanna Second Battle of Kut Fall of Baghdad Mohmand campaign Second World War Norwegian campaign North African campaign
- Other work
- Colonel 1st Battalion 1st Punjab Regiment (January 1933) Colonel Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (April 1941) Colonel 1st Battalion 4th Bombay Grenadiers (July 1939) Colonel 4th Bombay Grenadiers (May 1944) Colonel 1st Punjab Regiment (1947)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Claude
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom
- Place of birth
- Aldershot
- Place of death
- Marrakesh
- Occupation
- military officer
- Educated at
- Command and Staff College
- Languages spoken
- Pashto
- Native language
- English language
- Conflict
- World War II
- Military branch
- British Army
- Military rank
- field marshal
- Image
- Auchinleck.jpg
Show 10 more facts
- Commons category
- Claude Auchinleck
- date of birth
- 1884-06-21
- date of death
- 1981-03-23
- Commons gallery
- Claude Auchinleck
- name in native language
- Claude Auchinleck
- start of work period
- 1904-00-00
- allegiance
- United Kingdom
- has works in the collection
- Imperial War Museum London
- end of work period
- 1944-00-00
- P12749
- František Palacký
via Wikidata · CC0
~29 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck (/ˌɒxɪnˈlɛk/ OKH-in-LEK; 21 June 1884 – 23 March 1981) was a British Indian Army commander who saw active service during the world wars. A career soldier who spent much of his military career in India, he rose to become commander-in-chief of the Indian Army by early 1941 during the Second World War. In July 1941 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Middle East Theatre, but after initial successes, the war in North Africa turned against the British-led forces under his command and he was relieved of the post in August 1942 during the North African campaign.
In June 1943, he was once again appointed Commander-in-Chief, India, where his support through the organisation of supply, maintenance and training for General William Slim's Fourteenth Army played an important role in its success. He served as commander-in-chief, India, until the Partition in 1947, when he assumed the role of supreme commander of all British forces in India and Pakistan until late 1948.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Claude Auchinleck” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.