Home > Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell

Wavell was born in Colchester but spent much of his his childhood in India. Wavell's father was a Major General in the British Army and Wavell followed his father's career choice.

Wavell attended Winchester College and Sandhurst. He joined the Black WatchThe Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment's name comes from the extremely dark tartan that they wear; 'Black Watch' was originally just a nickname for the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot, but in 1900 and fought in the second Boer WarThere were two Boer wars one in 1880- 81 and the second from October 11, 1899- 1902 both between the British and the settlers of Dutch origin (called Boere, Afrikaners or Voortrekkers) in South Africa that put an end to the two independent republics that. In 1903, he was transferred to India and fought in the Bazar Valley campaign of 1908. In 1911, Wavell spent a year as a military observer with the RussiaThe Russian Federation ( Russian: , transliteration: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya or Rossijskaja Federacija , or Russia (Russian: , transliteration: Rossiya or Rossija , is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of eastern Europe and northern Asia. Withn Army.

Wavell was working as a staff officer when World War IWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of began. He was transferred to a combat unit and was wounded in the Battle of YpresThere were four Battles of Ypres during World War I: First Battle of Ypres ( October 19 November 22, 1914) Second Battle of Ypres ( April 22 May 15, 1915) Third Battle of Ypres ( July 31 November 6, 1917) (also known as Passchendaele Fourth Battle of Ypre in 1915, losing an eye. Following his recovery, he was assigned as a liason officer to the Russian Army in 1916, this time in the field in TurkeyTurkey (officially the Republic of Turkey Turkish Turkiye is a country located in Southwest Asia with a small part in southeastern Europe. Until 1922 the country was the center of the Ottoman Empire. The Anatolian peninsula, between the Black Sea and the. In 1918, he was transferred to Edmund AllenbyField Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby ( April 23 1861 May 14 1936) was a British general most famous for his role during World War I. Early years Born in Brackenhurst, Nottinghamshire, Allenby was educated at Haileybury College a's staff in PalestineFor varying definitions, see definitions of Palestine. Palestine ( Latin: Syria Palaestina Hebrew: Palestina Eretz Yisrael Arabic: Filasin , is a region in the Middle East extending inland from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Its political sta.

Wavell was given a number of different assignments between the two world wars. In 1937, he was transferred back to Palestine, where there was a growing uprising. In July 1939, he was named as the head of the Middle East Command and was in that post when World War II began.

The Middle Eastern theatre was quiet for the first few months of the war until Italy's declaration of war in June 1940. The Italian forces in North Africa greatly outnumbered the British. Wavell however was able to not only defend against the Italian attacks but to defeat the Italians and occupy their colonies in Ethiopia and Somaliland. By February 1941, the British appeared to be on the verge of overrunning the last Italian forces in Libya, which would have ended Axis control in all of Africa.

But at this same time the Germans and Italians were attacking Greece. Wavell was ordered to halt his advance against Libya and sent troops to Greece. He disagreed with this decision but followed his orders. The result was a disaster. The Germans had an opportunity to reinforce the Italians in North Africa, the British were unable to set up an adequate defense on the Greek mainland and were forced to withdraw to Crete with heavy losses, and a pro-Axis faction took over the government of Iraq.

Wavell was replaced as Commander of British forces in the Middle East by Claude Auchinleck in July 1941. He was then transferred to India, where he served as Commander-in-Chief. He once again had the misfortune of being placed in charge of an undermanned theatre which became a warzone when the Japanese declared war on the United Kingdom in December 1941. He was made overall commander in charge of ABDA (American-British-Dutch-Australian) Command, but was forced to evacuate his headquarters from Java following the break up of ABDA.

Wavell, despite his abilities, did not have the resources to defend the territory he was responsible for and was unable to prevent the Japanese from capturing Singapore, Malaya, and Burma.

Wavell was again replaced in his military post by Auchinleck, who by this point had also experienced setbacks in North Africa. In 1943, Wavell was created a viscount and was named Viceroy of India. His mandate there was to maintain the status quo in India during the war and he remained in this post until he was replaced by Lord Mountbatten in 1947.

Wavell returned to England where he died in 1950.