View source for Archibald Wavell 1st Earl Wavell

{{Short description|Senior officer of the British Army}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix= [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]]<br> [[His Excellency]] [[The Right Honourable]]
|name            = The Earl Wavell
|honorific-suffix= {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=|GCB|GCSI|GCIE|CMG|MC|KStJ|PC}}
|image           = Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell.jpg
|imagesize       = 
|caption         = Sir Archibald Wavell in Major-General's uniform
|office1         = [[Governor-General of India|Viceroy and Governor-General of India]]
|term_start1     = 1 October 1943
|term_end1       = 21 February 1947
|monarch1        = [[George VI]]
|primeminister1  = [[Winston Churchill]] (1943–45)<br />[[Clement Attlee]] (1945–47)
|predecessor1    = [[Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow|The Marquess of Linlithgow]]
|successor1      = [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|The Viscount Mountbatten of Burma]]
|office2         = [[Member of the House of Lords]]
|status2         = [[Lord Temporal]]
|term_start2     = 28 July 1943
|term_end2       = 24 May 1950<br /> [[Hereditary peerage]]
|predecessor2    = ''Peerage created''
|successor2      = [[Archibald Wavell, 2nd Earl Wavell|The 2nd Earl Wavell]]
|office3         = [[Colonel (UK)#Ceremonial ranks|Colonel]] of the [[Black Watch]]
|term_start3     = 1946
|term_end3       = 1950
|office4         = [[Lord Lieutenant of the County of London]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=38712 |date=13 September 1949 |page=4397}}</ref>
|term_start4     = 1949
|term_end4       = 1950
|predecessor4    = [[Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington|The Duke of Wellington]]
|successor4      = [[Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke|The Viscount Allanbrooke]]
|office5         = [[Constable of the Tower of London]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=38241 |date=19 March 1948 |page=1933}}</ref>
|term_start5     = 1948
|term_end5       = 1950
|predecessor5    = [[Philip Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode|The Lord Chetwode]]
|successor5      = [[Henry Maitland Wilson|The Lord Wilson]]
|birth_name      = Archibald Percival Wavell
|birth_date      = {{birth date|1883|5|5|df=y}}
|birth_place     = [[Colchester]], Essex, England
|death_date      = {{death date and age|1950|5|24|1883|5|5|df=y}}
|death_place     = [[Westminster]], [[County of London|London]], England
|spouse          = {{marriage|Eugenie Marie Quirk|1915}}
|children        = 4, including [[Archibald Wavell, 2nd Earl Wavell]]
|allegiance      = United Kingdom
|branch          = [[British Army]]
|serviceyears    = 1901–1943
|rank            = [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field marshal]]
|unit            = [[Black Watch|Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment)]]
|commands        = {{plainlist|
*[[American-British-Dutch-Australian Command]]
*[[India Command|GHQ India]]
*[[Middle East Command]]
*[[Southern Command (United Kingdom)|Southern Command]]
*[[Palestine Command|British Troops Palestine and Trans-Jordan]]
*[[2nd Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|2nd Division]]
*[[6th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|6th Infantry Brigade]]}}
|battles= {{Tree list}} 
* [[Second Boer War]]
* [[First World War]]
** [[Second Battle of Ypres]]
** [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign]]
* [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine|Arab revolt in Palestine]]
* [[Second World War]]
** [[North African Campaign]]
** [[Pacific War]]
** [[Malayan Campaign]]
*** [[Fall of Singapore|Battle of Singapore]]

| mawards        = {{plainlist|
*[[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
*[[Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
*[[Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
*[[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
*[[Military Cross]]
*[[Order of Saint John (chartered 1888)|Knight of Justice of the Order of St. John]]
*[[Order of Saint Stanislaus|Order of St Stanislaus, 3rd class with Swords]] (Russia)
*[[Order of St. Vladimir]] (Russia)
*[[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de Guerre]] (France)
*[[Legion of Honour|Commander of the Legion of Honour]] (France)
*[[Supreme Order of the Renaissance|Order of El Nahda, 2nd Class]] ([[Kingdom of Hejaz|Hejaz]])
*[[Order of George I|Grand Cross of the Order of George I with Swords]] (Greece)
*[[Virtuti Militari|Virtuti Militari, 5th Class]] (Poland)
*[[War Cross (Greece)|War Cross, 1st Class]] (Greece)
*[[Order of the Seal of Solomon|Commander of the Order of the Seal of Solomon]] (Ethiopia)
*[[Order of Orange-Nassau|Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau]] (Netherlands)
*[[Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945|War Cross]] (Czechoslovakia)
*[[Legion of Merit|Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit]] (United States)}}
}}
[[Field Marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] '''Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR-cats|size=100%|sep=,|GCB|GCSI|GCIE|CMG|MC|KStJ|PC}} (5 May 1883 – 24 May 1950) was a senior officer of the [[British Army]]. He served in the [[Second Boer War]], the [[Bazar Valley Campaign]] and the [[First World War]], during which he was wounded in the [[Second Battle of Ypres]]. In the [[Second World War]], he served initially as Commander-in-Chief [[Middle East Command|Middle East]], in which role he led British forces to victory over the [[Kingdom of Italy|Italians]] in western Egypt and eastern Libya during [[Operation Compass]] in December 1940, only to be defeated by the [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German Army]] in the [[Western Desert Campaign|Western Desert]] in April 1941. He served as [[Commander-in-Chief, India]], from July 1941 until June 1943 (apart from a brief tour as [[American-British-Dutch-Australian Command|Commander of ABDACOM]]) and then served as [[Governor-General of India|Viceroy of India]] until his retirement in February 1947.

==Early life==
Born the son of Archibald Graham Wavell (who later became a [[Major general (United Kingdom)|major-general]] in the [[British Army]] and military commander of Johannesburg after its capture during the [[Second Boer War]]<ref name="Schofield 2006, p. 15">Schofield 2006, p. 15</ref>) and Lillie Wavell (née Percival), Wavell attended [[The Eaton House Group of Schools|Eaton House]],<ref>{{Cite news|title=Mr T. S. Morton|date=23 January 1962|work=The Times}}</ref> followed by the leading preparatory boarding school [[Summer Fields School|Summer Fields]] near [[Oxford]], [[Winchester College]], where he was a scholar, and the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]].<ref name=heath287>Heathcote, p. 287</ref> His headmaster, Dr. Fearon, had advised his father that there was no need to send him into the Army as he had "sufficient ability to make his way in other walks of life".<ref name="Schofield 2006, p. 15"/>

==Early career==
After graduating from Sandhurst, Wavell was commissioned into the British Army on 8 May 1901 as a [[second lieutenant]] in the [[Black Watch]],<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27311 |date=7 May 1901 |page=3130 }}</ref> and joined the 2nd battalion of his regiment in [[South Africa]] to fight in the [[Second Boer War]].<ref name=heath287/> The battalion stayed in South Africa throughout the war, which formally ended in June 1902 after the [[Peace of Vereeniging]]. Wavell was ill, and did not immediately join the battalion as it transferred to [[British Raj|British India]] in October that year; he instead left [[Cape Town]] for England on the SS ''Simla'' at the same time.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Army in South Africa - Troops returning Home|date=15 October 1902 |page=8 |issue=36899}}</ref> In 1903 he was transferred to join the battalion in India and, having been promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 13 August 1904,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27710 |date=2 September 1904 |page=5697}}</ref> he fought in the [[Bazar Valley Campaign]] of February 1908.<ref name="AIM25"/> In January 1909 was seconded from his regiment to be a student at the [[Staff College, Camberley|Staff College]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28221 |date=5 February 1909 |page=946}}</ref> He was one of only two in his class to graduate with an A grade.<ref>Schofield 2006, p. 33</ref> In 1911, he spent a year as a military observer with the [[Imperial Russian Army|Russian Army]] to learn Russian,<ref name="AIM25"/> returning to his regiment in December of that year.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28578 |date=6 February 1912 |page=881}}</ref> In April 1912 he became a General Staff Officer Grade 3 (GSO3) in the Russian Section of the [[War Office]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28597 |date=9 April 1912 |page=2585}}</ref> In July, he was granted the temporary rank of [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] and became GSO3 at the Directorate of Military Training.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28626 |date=12 July 1912 |page=5083}}</ref> On 20 March 1913 Wavell was promoted to the substantive rank of captain.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28720 |date=20 May 1913 |page=3592}}</ref> After visiting manoeuvres at Kiev in summer 1913, he was arrested at the Russo-Polish border as a suspected spy, following a search of his Moscow hotel room by the secret police, but managed to remove from his papers an incriminating document listing the information wanted by the War Office.<ref>Schofield 2006, p39</ref>

Wavell was working at the War Office during the [[Curragh incident]]. His letters to his father record his disgust at the government's behaviour in giving an ultimatum to officers – he had little doubt that the government had been planning to crush the [[Ulster Scots people|Ulster Scots]], whatever they later claimed. However, he was also concerned at the Army's effectively intervening in politics, not least as there would be an even greater appearance of bias when the Army was used against industrial unrest.<ref>Schofield 2006, pp. 42–3</ref>

==First World War==
Wavell was working as a staff officer when the First World War began.<ref>Adrian Fort, ''Archibald Wavell: The Life and Death of the Imperial Servant'' (2009) ch 3.</ref> As a captain, he was sent to France to a posting at General HQ of the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|British Expeditionary Force]] as General Staff Officer Grade 2 (GSO2), but shortly afterwards, in November 1914, was appointed [[brigade major]] of [[9th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|9th Infantry Brigade]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28994 |date=1 December 1914 |page=10278|supp=y }}</ref> He was wounded in the [[Second Battle of Ypres]] of 1915, losing his left eye<ref name=unit/> and winning the [[Military Cross]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29202 |date=22 June 1915 |page=6118|supp=y }}</ref> In October 1915 he became a GSO2 in the [[64th (2nd Highland) Division|64th Highland Division.]]<ref name=heath287/>

In December 1915, after he had recovered, Wavell was returned to General HQ in France as a GSO2.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29389 |date=30 November 1915 |page=12037|supp=y }}</ref> He was promoted to the substantive rank of major on 8 May 1916.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29605 |date=30 May 1916 |page=5439|supp=y }}</ref> In October 1916 Wavell was graded General Staff Officer Grade 1 (GSO1) as an acting lieutenant-colonel,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30002 |date=27 March 1917 |page=3001}}</ref> and was then assigned as a liaison officer to the Russian Army in the [[Caucasus]].<ref name="AIM25"/> In June 1917, he was promoted to [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] lieutenant-colonel<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30111 |date=1 June 1917 |page=5465|supp=y }}</ref> and continued to work as a staff officer (GSO1),<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30178 |date=10 July 1917 |page=6953|supp=y }}</ref> as liaison officer with the [[Egyptian Expeditionary Force]] headquarters.<ref name="AIM25">{{cite web|url=http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/frames/fulldesc?inst_id=21&coll_id=227|title=Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|publisher=Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives|access-date=11 May 2013|archive-date=25 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225080141/http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/frames/fulldesc?inst_id=21&coll_id=227|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In January 1918 Wavell received a further staff appointment as Assistant Adjutant & Quartermaster General (AA&QMG)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30528 |date=15 February 1918 |page=2130|supp=y }}</ref> working at the [[Supreme War Council]] in [[Versailles (city)|Versailles]].<ref name=unit/> In March 1918 Wavell was made a temporary [[Brigadier general (United Kingdom)|brigadier general]] and returned to [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]] where he served as the brigadier general of the General Staff (BGGS) with [[XX Corps (United Kingdom)|XX Corps]], part of the [[Egyptian Expeditionary Force]].<ref name=unit/>

==Between the world wars==
Wavell was given a number of assignments between the wars, though like many officers he had to accept a reduction in rank. In May 1920 he relinquished the temporary rank of Brigadier-General, reverting to lieutenant-colonel.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31893 |date=7 May 1920 |page=5345|supp=y }}</ref> In December 1921, he became an Assistant Adjutant General (AAG) at the [[War Office]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32568 |date=5 January 1922 |page=143 |supp=y }}</ref> and, having been promoted to full [[colonel]] on 3 June 1921,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32728 |date=11 July 1922 |page=5204}}</ref> he became a GSO1 in the Directorate of Military Operations in July 1923.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32844 |date=13 July 1923 |page=4854}}</ref>

Apart from a short period unemployed on half pay in 1926,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33123 |date=12 January 1926 |page=299}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33219 |date=9 November 1926 |page=7255}}</ref> Wavell continued to hold GSO1 appointments, latterly in the [[3rd Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|3rd Infantry Division]], until July 1930 when he was once again granted the rank of temporary brigadier and was given command of [[6th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|6th Infantry Brigade]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33623 |date=8 July 1930 |page=4271}}</ref> In March 1932, he was appointed [[Aide-de-camp|ADC]] to the [[King George V|King]],<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33807 |date=11 March 1931 |page=1679}}</ref> a position he held until October 1933 when he was promoted to Major-General.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33992 |date=3 November 1933 |page=7107}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33987 |date=17 October 1933 |page=6692}}</ref> However, there was a shortage of jobs for Major-Generals at this time and in January 1934, on relinquishing command of his brigade, he found himself unemployed on half pay once again.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34015 |date=16 January 1934 |page=390}}</ref>

By the end of the year, although still on half pay, Wavell had been designated to command [[2nd Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|2nd Division]] and appointed a [[Companion of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath|CB]].<ref name="cmg">{{London Gazette|issue=31093 |date=31 December 1918 |page=52 |supp=y }}</ref> In March 1935, he took command of his division.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34143 |date=19 March 1935 |page=1905}}</ref> In August 1937 he was transferred to Palestine, where there was [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine|growing unrest]], to be General Officer Commanding (GOC) [[Palestine Command|British Forces in Palestine and Trans-Jordan]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34430 |date=27 August 1937 |page=5439}}</ref> and was promoted to [[Lieutenant General (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]] on 21 January 1938.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34482 |date=15 February 1938 |page=968}}</ref>

In April 1938 Wavell became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) [[Southern Command (United Kingdom)|Southern Command]] in the UK.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34506 |date=28 April 1938 |page=2781}}</ref> In July 1939, he was named as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of [[Middle East Command]] with the local rank of full [[General (United Kingdom)|General]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34650 |date=1 August 1939 |page=5311}}</ref> Subsequently, on 15 February 1940, to reflect the broadening of his oversight responsibilities to include East Africa, Greece and the Balkans, his title was changed to Commander-in-Chief Middle East.<ref>Playfair, Vol. I, page 63.</ref>

==Second World War military commands==

===Middle East Command===
The Middle Eastern theatre was quiet for the first few months of the war until Italy's declaration of war in June 1940.<ref>Raugh (2013), pp. 96–131.</ref> The Italian forces in North and East Africa greatly outnumbered the British and Wavell's policy was therefore one of "flexible containment" to buy time to build up adequate forces to take the offensive. Having fallen back in front of Italian advances from Libya, Eritrea and Ethiopia, Wavell mounted successful offensives into Libya ([[Operation Compass]]) in December 1940 and Eritrea and Ethiopia in January 1941. By February 1941, his [[Western Desert Force]] under Lieutenant-General [[Richard O'Connor]] had defeated the Italian Tenth Army at Beda Fomm taking 130,000 prisoners and appeared to be on the verge of overrunning the last Italian forces in [[Italian Libya|Libya]], which would have ended all direct Axis control in North Africa.<ref>Mead (2007), p. 473</ref> His [[East African Campaign (World War II)|troops in East Africa]] also had the Italians under pressure and at the end of March his forces in Eritrea under [[William Platt]] won the decisive battle of the campaign at [[Battle of Keren|Keren]] which led to the occupation of the [[Italian East Africa|Italian colonies]] in [[Empire of Ethiopia|Ethiopia]] and [[British Somaliland|Somaliland]].<ref>Mead (2007), pp. 473–475</ref>

[[File:Wavell quinan 1941.jpg|thumb|left|Wavell (right) meets Lt. General [[Edward Quinan|Quinan]], commander of British and Indian Army forces in Iraq in April 1941.]] However, in February Wavell had been ordered to halt his advance into Libya and send troops to Greece where the [[Battle of Greece|Germans and Italians were attacking]]. He disagreed with this decision but followed his orders. The result was a disaster. The Germans were given the opportunity to reinforce the Italians in North Africa with the ''[[Afrika Korps]]'' and by the end of April the weakened Western Desert Force had been pushed all the way back to the Egyptian border, leaving [[Siege of Tobruk|Tobruk under siege]].<ref name="Mead475">Mead (2007), p. 475</ref> In Greece General [[Henry Maitland Wilson|Wilson's]] ''Force W'' was unable to set up an adequate defence on the Greek mainland and were forced to withdraw to [[Crete]], suffering 15,000 casualties and leaving behind all their heavy equipment and artillery. Crete was [[Battle of Crete|attacked]] by German airborne forces on 20 May and as in Greece, the British and Commonwealth troops were forced once more to evacuate.<ref name="Mead475"/>

Events in Greece provoked a pro-Axis faction to take over the government of [[Kingdom of Iraq|Iraq]]. Wavell, hard pressed on his other fronts, was unwilling to divert precious resources to Iraq and so it fell to [[Claude Auchinleck]]'s India Command to send troops to [[Basra]]. [[Winston Churchill]], the British Prime Minister, saw Iraq as vital to Britain's strategic interests and in early May, under heavy pressure from London, Wavell agreed to send a division-sized force across the desert from [[Emirate of Transjordan|Palestine]] to relieve the besieged British air base at [[RAF Habbaniya|Habbaniya]] and to assume overall control of troops in Iraq. By the end of May [[Edward Quinan|Quinan]]'s [[Iraqforce|forces in Iraq]] had captured [[Baghdad]] and the [[Anglo-Iraqi War]] had ended with troops in Iraq once more reverting to the overall control of GHQ in Delhi. However, Churchill had been unimpressed by Wavell's reluctance to act.<ref name="Mead475"/>

In early June Wavell sent a force under General Wilson to invade [[Syria–Lebanon Campaign|Syria and Lebanon]], responding to the help given by the [[Vichy France]] authorities there to the Iraq Government during the [[Anglo-Iraqi War]]. Initial hopes of a quick victory faded as the French put up a determined defence. Churchill determined to relieve Wavell and after the failure in mid June of [[Operation Battleaxe]], intended to relieve Tobruk, he told Wavell on 20 June that he was to be replaced by Auchinleck, whose attitude during the Iraq crisis had impressed him.<ref name="Mead476">Mead (2007), p. 476</ref> [[Erwin Rommel|Rommel]] rated Wavell highly, despite Wavell's lack of success against him.<ref name="Mead480">Mead (2007), p. 480</ref>

Of Wavell, Auchinleck wrote:  "In no sense do I wish to infer that I found an unsatisfactory situation on my arrival – far from it. Not only was I greatly impressed by the solid foundations laid by my predecessor, but I was also able the better to appreciate the vastness of the problems with which he had been confronted and the greatness of his achievements, in a command in which some 40 different languages are spoken by the British and Allied Forces."<ref>Auchinleck, p. 4215</ref>

===India Command===
[[File:British Generals 1939-1945; Wavell, Archibald Percival IB2.jpg|thumbnail|left|Wavell at his desk in [[Delhi]] during the [[Second World War]]]]
Wavell in effect swapped jobs with Auchinleck, transferring to India where he became [[Commander-in-Chief, India]] and a member of the [[Governor General]]'s Executive Council.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35222 |date=18 July 1941 |page=4152}}</ref> Initially his command covered India and Iraq so that within a month of taking charge he launched [[Iraqforce]] to [[Anglo-Soviet invasion of Persia|invade Persia]] in co-operation with the Russians in order to secure the oilfields and the lines of communication to the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="Mead476"/>

Wavell once again had the misfortune of being placed in charge of an undermanned theatre which became a war zone when the Japanese declared war on the United Kingdom in December 1941. He was made Commander-in-Chief of [[American-British-Dutch-Australian Command|ABDACOM]] (American-British-Dutch-Australian Command).<ref>{{cite web|last = Klemen |first = L |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/wavell.html |title=General Sir Archibald Percival Wavell |date=1999–2000|publisher=Dutch East Indies Campaign website|access-date=11 May 2013}}</ref>

Late at night on 10 February 1942, Wavell prepared to board a flying boat, to fly from Singapore to Java. He stepped out of a staff car, not noticing (because of his blind left eye) that it was parked at the edge of a pier. He broke two bones in his back when he fell, and this injury affected his temperament for some time.<ref>Allen, pp. 644–645</ref>

On 23 February 1942, with Malaya lost and the Allied position in [[Java]] and [[Sumatra]] precarious, ABDACOM was closed down and its headquarters in Java evacuated. Wavell returned to India to resume his position as C-in-C India where his responsibilities now included the defence of [[British Burma|Burma]].<ref name="Mead478">Mead (2007), p. 478</ref>
[[File:Brooke-Popham & Wavell 2.JPG|thumb|upright|Wavell (right) with [[Robert Brooke-Popham|Brooke-Popham]] in WW II]]

On 23 February British forces in Burma had suffered a serious setback when Major-General [[Jackie Smyth]]'s decision to destroy the bridge over the Sittang river to prevent the enemy crossing had resulted in most of his division being trapped on the wrong side of the river. The [[Viceroy]] [[Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow|Lord Linlithgow]] sent a signal criticising the conduct of the field commanders to Churchill who forwarded it to Wavell together with an offer to send [[Harold Alexander]], who had commanded the rearguard at Dunkirk. Alexander took command of Allied land forces in Burma in early March<ref name="Mead478"/> with [[William Slim]] arriving shortly afterwards from commanding a division in Iraq to take command of its principal formation, [[Burma Corps]]. Nevertheless, the pressure from the Japanese Armies was unstoppable and a withdrawal to India was ordered which was completed by the end of May before the start of the [[monsoon]] season which brought Japanese progress to a halt.<ref name="Mead479">Mead (2007), p. 479</ref>

In order to wrest some of the initiative from the Japanese, Wavell ordered the Eastern Army in India to mount an offensive in the [[Arakan Campaign 1942–1943|Arakan]], which commenced in September. After some initial success the Japanese counter-attacked, and by March 1943 the position was untenable, and the remnants of the attacking force were withdrawn. Wavell relieved the Eastern Army commander, [[Noel Irwin]], of his command and replaced him with [[George Giffard]].<ref name="Mead479"/>

In January 1943, Wavell was promoted to field marshal<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35841 |date=29 December 1942 |page=33}}</ref> and on 22 April he returned to London. On 4 May he had an audience with the King, before departing with Churchill for America, returning on 27 May. He resided with [[Henry Channon|Henry 'Chips' Channon MP]] in Belgrave Square and was reintroduced by him into London society. Churchill nursed "an uncontrollable and unfortunate disapproval – indeed jealous dislike – of Wavell"<ref>Chips, the diaries of Sir Henry Channon, ed. R Rhodes James, Weidenfeld and Nicolson London, 1987, p355</ref> and had several spats with him in America.<ref>Chips, p358, 362</ref>

==Viceroy of India==
On 15 June, Churchill invited Wavell to dinner and offered him the Viceroyalty of India in succession to [[Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow|Linlithgow]]. Lady Wavell joined him in London on 14 July, when they took up a suite at the Dorchester. Shortly afterwards it was announced that he had been created a [[viscount]] (taking the style '''Viscount Wavell''' of Cyrenaica and of Winchester, in the county of Southampton)<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36105 |date=23 July 1943 |page=3340}}</ref> He addressed an all-party meeting at the House of Commons on 27 July, and on 28 July took his seat in the House of Lords as "the Empire's hero".<ref>Chips, p373</ref> In September, he was formally named [[Governor-General of India|Governor-General]] and [[Viceroy of India]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36208 |date=12 October 1943 |page=4513 }}</ref>

One of Wavell's first actions in office was to address the [[Bengal famine of 1943]] by ordering the army to distribute relief supplies to the starving rural Bengalis. He attempted with mixed success to increase the supplies of rice to reduce the prices.<ref>Heathcote, p. 290</ref> During his reign, [[Gandhi]] was leading the [[Quit India]] campaign, [[Mohammad Ali Jinnah]] was working for an independent state for the Muslims and [[Subhas Chandra Bose]] befriended Japan "and were pressing forward along India's Eastern border".<ref name="Wavell">{{cite web|title=Wavell|url=http://livelystories.com/2011/08/20/the-tale-of-a-viceroy-and-two-prime-ministers-lord-wavell-churchill-and-attlee/|publisher=Lively Stories|access-date=25 March 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402122350/http://livelystories.com/2011/08/20/the-tale-of-a-viceroy-and-two-prime-ministers-lord-wavell-churchill-and-attlee/|archive-date=2 April 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Monty, wavvel, auk.jpg|left|thumb|Wavell as Viceroy of India (centre), with the C-in-C of the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] [[Claude Auchinleck|Auchinleck]] (right) and [[Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein|Montgomery]].]]
Although Wavell was initially popular with Indian politicians, pressure mounted concerning the likely structure and timing of an independent India. He attempted to move the debate along, with the Wavell Plan and the [[Simla Conference]], but received little support from Churchill (who was against Indian independence), nor from [[Clement Attlee]], Churchill's successor as prime minister. He was also hampered by the differences between the various Indian political factions. At the end of the war, rising Indian expectations continued to be unfulfilled, and inter-communal violence increased. Eventually, in 1947, Attlee lost confidence in Wavell and replaced him with [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Lord Mountbatten of Burma]].<ref name="Mead480"/><ref>Glynn, p. 639-663</ref>

==Later life==
[[File:WinchesterCathedral Field Marshal Lord Wavell GCB banner looking east.JPG|thumb|upright=.6|Field Marshal Lord Wavell's banner as [[Knight Grand Cross]] of the [[Order of the Bath]], now displayed in [[Winchester Cathedral]].]]
[[File:WinchesterCathedral Lords Wavell 1950 and 1953.jpg|thumb|upright=.6|Memorial plaques for Field Marshal 1st Earl Wavell (died 1950) and his son, the 2nd Earl Wavell (died 1953), in [[Winchester Cathedral]].]]
In 1947 Wavell returned to England and was made [[High Steward of Colchester]]. The same year, he was created '''[[Earl Wavell]]''' and given the additional title of '''Viscount Keren''' of Eritrea and Winchester.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37956 |date=16 May 1947 |page=2190 }}</ref>

Wavell was a great lover of literature, and while Viceroy of India he compiled and annotated an anthology of great poetry, ''Other Men's Flowers'', which was published in 1944. He wrote the last poem in the anthology himself and described it as a "...little wayside dandelion of my own".<ref name="Mead481">Mead (2007), p. 481</ref> He had a great memory for poetry and often quoted it at length. He is depicted in [[Evelyn Waugh]]'s novel ''[[Officers and Gentlemen]]'', part of the [[Sword of Honour]] trilogy, reciting a translation of [[Callimachus]]' poetry in public.<ref>Frame, p. 90</ref> He was also a member of the [[Church of England]] and a deeply religious man.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thewarillustrated.info/237/our-war-leaders-in-peacetime-wavell.asp |title=Our War Leaders in Peacetime – Wavell in The War Illustrated, Volume 10, No. 237 |page=213 |date=19 July 1946 |access-date=11 May 2013 |archive-date=14 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314173206/http://www.thewarillustrated.info/237/our-war-leaders-in-peacetime-wavell.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Wavell died on 24 May 1950 after a relapse following abdominal surgery on 5 May.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rSFKAAAAIBAJ&pg=4965,2402085&dq=wavell+operation&hl=en |title=Lord Wavell, British War Leader, Dies|publisher= Oxnard Press-Courier|date= 24 May 1950|access-date=11 May 2013}}</ref> After his death, his body lay in state at the [[Tower of London]] where he had been [[Constable of the Tower of London|Constable]]. A military funeral was held on 7 June 1950 with the funeral procession travelling along the [[Thames]] from the Tower to Westminster Pier and then to [[Westminster Abbey]] for the funeral service.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=33810 |title=A Great Soldier Passes|publisher=British Pathé|access-date=11 May 2013}}</ref> This was the first military funeral by river since that of [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson]] in 1806.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wS8rAAAAIBAJ&pg=7233,5443259&dq=wavell+funeral&hl=en |title=Lord Wavell Given Hero's Funeral in Heat Wave Like Africa Desert|newspaper= The Montreal Gazette|date= 8 June 1950|access-date=11 May 2013}}</ref> The funeral was attended by the then Prime Minister [[Clement Attlee]] as well as [[E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Halifax]] and fellow officers including Field Marshals [[Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke|Alanbrooke]] and [[Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein|Montgomery]]. Winston Churchill did not attend the service.<ref>Schofield 2006, p394-5</ref>

Wavell is buried in the old mediaeval cloister at [[Winchester College]], next to the Chantry Chapel. His tombstone simply bears the inscription "Wavell". A plaque was placed in the north nave aisle of Winchester Cathedral to commemorate both Wavell and his son.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/21956|title=Field Marshal Earl Wavell and Major Earl Wavell MC|publisher=Imperial War Museum|access-date=21 November 2018}}</ref> [[St Andrew's Garrison Church, Aldershot]], an Army church, contains a large wooden plaque dedicated to Lord Wavell.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.standrewsaldershot.co.uk/history2.htm |title=History of St. Andrew's Garrison Church|publisher=St Andrew's Garrison Church, Aldershot|access-date=11 May 2013}}</ref>

==Family==
Wavell married Eugenie Marie Quirk, only daughter of Col. J. O. Quirk CB DSO, on 22 April 1915.<ref>{{cite news|author1=H.J.J. Sargint|title=Lady Wavell|newspaper=The Palm Beach Post|date=11 July 1943|page=20}}</ref> She survived him and died, as Dowager Countess Wavell, on 11 October 1987, aged 100 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abitofhistory.net/html/rhw/w.htm|title=Dowager Countess Wavell|publisher=Online dictionary of distinguished women, Index W|access-date=22 March 2015}}</ref>

Children:
* Archibald John Arthur Wavell, later [[Archibald Wavell, 2nd Earl Wavell|2nd Earl Wavell]], b. 11 May 1916; d. 24 December 1953, killed in Kenya, in an action against Mau Mau rebels. Since he was unmarried and without issue, the titles became extinct on his death.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QDRkAAAAIBAJ&pg=5379,4492203&dq=wavell+1953&hl=en |title=Earl Wavell Dies in 10-Hour Fight With Terrorists |newspaper=The Calgary Herald|date=26 December 1953|access-date=24 August 2014}}</ref>
* Eugenie Pamela Wavell, b. 2 December 1918, married 14 March 1942 Lt.-Col. A. F. W. Humphrys MBE.
* Felicity Ann Wavell, b. 21 July 1921, married at the [[Cathedral Church of the Redemption]], New Delhi, 20 February 1947 Capt. P. M. Longmore MC, son of Air Chief Marshal [[Sir Arthur Longmore]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Wavell's daughter weds |url=http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/dce792f8f9c74ddbb3827260bbaffc0c}}</ref>
* Joan Patricia Quirk Wavell, b. 23 April 1923, married
:* (1) 27 January 1943 Maj. Hon. Simon Nevill Astley (b. 13 August 1919; d. 16 March 1946), 2nd son of Albert Edward Delaval [Astley], 21st Baron Hastings, by his wife Lady Margueritte Helen Nevill, only child by his second wife of [[Henry Nevill, 3rd Marquess of Abergavenny|Henry Gilbert Ralph [Nevill], 3rd Marquess of Abergavenny]].
:* (2) 19 June 1948 Maj. Harry Alexander Gordon MC (d. 19 June 1965), 2nd son of Cdr. Alastair Gordon DSO RN.
:* (3) Maj. Donald Struan Robertson (d. 1991), son of the Rt. Hon. Sir [[Malcolm Robertson|Malcolm Arnold Robertson]] GCMG KBE.

==Honours and awards==

<div class="center">
Ribbon bar (as it would look today)

[[File:Order of the Bath UK ribbon.svg|100px]]
[[File:1000px ribbon bar of the Order of Maria Anna.svg|100px]]
[[File:Order of the Indian Empire Ribbon.svg|100px]]

[[File:UK Order St-Michael St-George ribbon.svg|100px]]
[[File:Military cross BAR.svg|100px]]
[[File:Order of St John (UK) ribbon -vector.svg|100px]]
[[File:Queens South Africa Medal 1899-1902 ribbon.png|100px]]
[[File:1914 1915 Star ribbon bar.svg|100px]]

[[File:British War Medal BAR.svg|100px]]
[[File:Victory Medal MID ribbon bar.svg|100px]]
[[File:India General Service Medal 1909 BAR.svg|100px]]
[[File:General Service Medal 1918 BAR.svg|100px]]
[[File:39-45 Star BAR.svg|100px]]

[[File:Africa Star BAR.svg|100px]]
[[File:Pacific Star w clasp BAR.svg|100px]]
[[File:King George V Silver Jubilee Medal ribbon.svg|100px]]
[[File:GeorgeVICoronationRibbon.png|100px]]
[[File:Order of Saint Stanislaus Ribbon.PNG|100px]]

[[File:Saint vladimir (bande).png|100px]]
[[File:EGY Order of the Nile - Commander BAR.png|100px]]
[[File:Legion Honneur Commandeur ribbon.svg|100px]]
[[File:Jordan004.gif|100px]]
[[File:GRE Order of George I - Grand Cross BAR.png|100px]]

[[File:POL Virtuti Militari Srebrny BAR.svg|100px]]
[[File:Greek War Cross 1940 3rd class ribbon.png|100px]]
[[File:ETH Order of Solomon BAR.png|100px]]
[[File:Czechoslovak War Cross 1939-1945 Bar.png|100px]]

[[File:Most Refulgent Order of the Star of Nepal.PNG|100px]]
[[File:Order of Orange-Nassau ribbon - Knight Grand Cross.svg|100px]]
[[File:Order of the Cloud and Banner 1st.gif|100px]]
[[File:US Legion of Merit Chief Commander ribbon.png|100px]]

</div>

===British===
* [[Military Cross]] – 3 June 1915<ref name=mc>{{London Gazette|issue=29202 |date=22 June 1915 |page=6118 |supp=y }}</ref>
* [[Mention in Despatches]] 22 June 1915, 4 January 1917, 22 January 1919<ref name=unit>{{cite web|url=http://www.unithistories.com/units_index/default.asp?file=..%2Fofficers%2Fpersonsx.html|title=Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|publisher=Unit histories|access-date=11 May 2013|archive-date=4 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204165504/http://www.unithistories.com/units_index/default.asp?file=..%2Fofficers%2Fpersonsx.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Companion of the [[Order of St Michael and St George]] (CMG) – 1 January 1919<ref name="cmg"/>
* [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] (GCB) – 4 March 1941<ref name=gcb>{{London Gazette|issue=35094 |date=4 March 1941 |page=1303}}</ref> (KCB: 2 January 1939;<ref name=kcb>{{London Gazette|issue=34585 |date=30 December 1938 |page=3 |supp=y }}</ref> CB: 1 January 1935<ref name=cb>{{London Gazette|issue=34119 |date=28 December 1934 |page=4 |supp=y }}</ref>)
* [[Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India]] (GCSI) – 18 September 1943<ref name=gcsi>{{London Gazette|issue=36208 |date=12 October 1943 |page=4513}}</ref>
* [[Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]] (GCIE) – 18 September 1943<ref name=gcsi/>
* [[Venerable Order of Saint John|Knight of the Order of St. John]] – 4 January 1944<ref name=kstj>{{London Gazette|issue=36315 |date=4 January 1944 |page=114}}</ref>

===Others===
* [[Order of Saint Stanislaus|Order of St Stanislaus, 3rd class with Swords]] (Russia) (12 September 1916)<ref name=russia>{{London Gazette|issue=29945 |date=13 August 1917 |page=1601 |supp=y }}</ref>
* [[Order of St. Vladimir]] (Russia) 1917<ref name=unit/>
* [[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de Guerre (Commandeur)]] (France) – 4 May 1920<ref name=france>{{London Gazette|issue=31890 |date=4 May 1920 |page=5228|supp=y }}</ref>
* [[Legion of Honour|Commandeur, Légion d'honneur]] (France) – 7 May 1920<ref name=legion>{{London Gazette|issue=31890 |date=7 May 1920 |page=5228|supp=y }}</ref>
* [[Supreme Order of the Renaissance|Order of El Nahda, 2nd Class]] ([[Hejaz]]) – 30 September 1920<ref name=hejaz>{{London Gazette|issue=32069 |date=28 September 1920 |page=9606|supp=y }}</ref>
* [[Order of George I|Grand Cross, Order of George I with Swords]] (Greece) – 9 May 1941<ref name=george>{{London Gazette|issue=35157 |date=9 May 1941|page=2648 |supp=y }}</ref>
* [[Virtuti Militari|Virtuti Militari, 5th Class]] (Poland) – 23 September 1941<ref name=poland>{{London Gazette|issue=35282 |date=23 September 1941 |page=5501|supp=y }}</ref>
* [[War Cross (Greece)|War Cross, 1st Class]] (Greece) – 10 April 1942<ref name=greece>{{London Gazette|issue=35519 |date=7 April 1942 |page=1595|supp=y }}</ref>
* [[Order of the Seal of Solomon|Commander, Order of the Seal of Solomon]] (Ethiopia) – 5 May 1942<ref name=ethiopia>{{London Gazette|issue=35546 |date=5 May 1942 |page=1961|supp=y }}</ref>
* [[Order of Orange-Nassau|Grand Cross, Order of Orange-Nassau]] (Netherlands) – 15 January 1943<ref name=netherlands>{{London Gazette|issue=35863 |date=12 January 1943 |page=323|supp=y }}</ref>
* [[Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945|War Cross]] (Czechoslovakia) – 23 July 1943<ref name=czech>{{London Gazette|issue=36103 |date=20 July 1943 |page=3319|supp=y }}</ref>
* [[Legion of Merit]] degree of Chief Commander (United States) – 23 July 1948<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=38359| date=23 July 1948|page=4189| supp=y}}</ref>

==Quotes==
* "I think he ([[Benito Mussolini]]) must do something, if he cannot make a graceful dive he will at least have to jump in somehow; he can hardly put on his dressing-gown and walk down the stairs again."<ref>Quoted in Axelrod, p. 180</ref>
* "After the '[[The war to end war|war to end war]]', they seem to have been pretty successful in Paris at making the 'Peace to end Peace.{{' "}}<ref>Pagden, p. 407</ref> (commenting on the treaties ending the First World War; this quotation was the basis for the title of [[David Fromkin]]'s ''[[A Peace to End All Peace]]'', New York: Henry Holt, (1989) {{ISBN|0-8050-6884-8}})
* "Let us be clear about three facts: First, all battles and all wars are won in the end by the infantryman. Secondly, the infantryman always bears the brunt. His casualties are heavier, he suffers greater extremes of discomfort and fatigue than the other arms. Thirdly, the art of the infantryman is less stereotyped and far harder to acquire in modern war than that of any other arm."<ref>In Praise of Infantry, Field-Marshal Earl Wavell, "The Times", Thursday, 19 April 1945</ref>

==Publications==
===Books===
* {{cite book|title=Tsar Nicholas II by Andrei Georgievich Elchaninov. Translated from the Russian by Archibald Percival Wavell|publisher=Hugh Rees|year=1913}}
* {{cite book|title=The Tsar and his People by Andrei Georgievich Elchaninov. Translated from the Russian by Archibald P. Wavell|publisher=Hugh Rees|year=1914}}
* {{cite book |title=The Palestine Campaigns |location=London |publisher=Constable |year=1933 |oclc=221723716}}
* {{cite book| title=Allenby, A Study in Greatness: The Biography of Field-Marshal Viscount Allenby of Megiddo and Felixstowe, G.C.B., G.C.M.G. |url=https://archive.org/details/allenbyastudying012106mbp |location=London |publisher=Harrap |year=1940–43 |oclc=224016319}}
* {{cite book |title=Generals and Generalship: The Lees Knowles Lectures Delivered at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1939 |location=London |work=Times|year=1941 |oclc=5176549}}
* {{cite book |title=Soldiers and Soldiering or Epithets of War |location=London |publisher=J. Cape |year=1953 |oclc=123277730}}
* {{cite book |title=Other Men's Flowers: An Anthology of Poetry |publisher=J. Cape |location=London |year=1977 |orig-year=1944 |oclc=10681637}}
* {{cite book |title=Other Men's Flowers: An Anthology of Poetry |edition=Memorial |publisher=Pimlico |location=London |year=1992 |orig-year=1952}}; "this first paperback edition contains not only Lord Wavell's own introduction and annotations, but also the introduction written by his son, to whom the book was originally dedicated".
* {{cite book |title=Allenby, Soldier and Statesman |location=London |publisher=White Lion |year=1974 |orig-year=1946 |isbn=0-85617-408-4}}
* {{cite book |title=Speaking Generally: broadcasts, Orders and Addresses in time of war (1939–43) |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |year=1946 |oclc=2172221}}
* {{cite book |title=The Good Soldier |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |year=1948 |oclc=6834669}}
* {{cite book |title=Wavell: The Viceroy's Journal |year=1973 |location=London |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-211723-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/wavellviceroysjo0000wave }}

===Contributions to periodicals===
* Official Middle East Despatches December 1940 to February 1941 published in {{London Gazette |issue=37628 |date=25 June 1946 |pages=3261–3269  |supp=y}}
* Official Middle East Despatches February 1941 to July 1941 published in {{London Gazette |issue=37638 |date=2 July 1946 |pages=3423–3444  |supp=y}}
* Official Iran, Iraq and Syria Despatches April 1941 to January 1942 published in {{London Gazette |issue=37685 |date=13 August 1946 |pages=4093–4101  |supp=y}}
* Official India Despatches March 1942 to December 1942 published in {{London Gazette |issue=37728 |date=17 September 1946 |pages=4663–4671  |supp=y}}

==See also==

* [[The Wavell School]]

==Citations==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== General sources ==
* {{cite book |last=Allen |first=Louis |title=Burma: The Longest War |year=1984 |publisher=J. M. Dent and Sons |isbn=0-460-02474-4}}
* {{cite book |first=Claude |last=Auchinleck |year=1946 |author-link=Claude Auchinleck |title=Despatch on Operations in the Middle East from 5 July 1941 to 31 October 1941 |publisher=War Office |location=London}} {{London Gazette| issue=37695 |date=20 August 1946 |supp=y|pages=4215–4230| }}
* {{cite book |last=Axelrod |first=Alan |year=2008 |title=The Real History of World War II |publisher=Sterling Publishing |isbn=978-1-4027-4090-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/realhistoryofwor00axel }}
* ''Chips, the Diaries of Sir Henry Channon'', ed. R. Rhodes James, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1987 - especially Ch. 8.
* {{cite book |last=Close |first=H. M. |title=Attlee, Wavell, Mountbatten, and the Transfer of Power |publisher=National Book Foundation |year=1997}}
* {{cite book |last=Connell|first=John|title=Wavell: Scholar and Soldier |date=1 January 1964|publisher=Collins}}
* {{cite book |last=Connell|first=John|title=Wavell, Supreme Commander |date=1 April 1969|publisher=Collins|isbn=978-0002119207}}
* Fort, Adrian. ''Archibald Wavell: The Life and Death of the Imperial Servant'' (2009)
* {{cite book |last=Frame |first=Alex |title=Flying Boats: My Father's War in the Mediterranean |publisher=Victoria University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0864735621}}
* {{cite book |last=Heathcote|first=Tony |title=The British Field Marshals 1736–1997 |publisher=Pen & Sword |location=Barnsley |year=1999 |isbn=0-85052-696-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Glynn|first=Irial|title=An Untouchable in the Presence of Brahmins: Lord Wavell's Disastrous Relationship with Whitehall During His Time as Viceroy to India, 1943–7 |publisher=Modern Asian Studies |year=2007 |pages= 639–663}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.unithistories.com/default.asp |title=World War II Unit Histories and Officers |access-date=20 December 2008 |last1=Houterman |first1=Hans |last2=Koppes |first2=Jeroen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203142011/http://www.unithistories.com/default.asp |archive-date=3 December 2008 |url-status= live}}
* {{cite book |first=Richard |last=Mead |title=Churchill's Lions: A Biographical guide to the Key British Generals of World War II |year=2007 |publisher=Spellmount |location=Stroud |isbn=978-1-86227-431-0}}
* {{cite book |title=Worlds at War: The 2,500-year Struggle between East and West |last=Pagden |first=Anthony |year=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press US |isbn=978-0-19-923743-2}}
* {{cite book |first1=Major-General I. S. O. |last1=Playfair |author-link1=Ian Stanley Ord Playfair |last2=with Flynn |first2=Captain F. C. (RN) |last3=Molony |first3=Brigadier C. J. C. |last4=Gleave |first4=Group Captain T. P. |editor-last=Butler |editor-first=Sir James |editor-link=James Ramsay Montagu Butler |series=History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series |title=The Mediterranean and Middle East: The Early Successes Against Italy, to May 1941 |volume=I |publisher=Naval & Military Press |location=Uckfield, UK |year=2009 |orig-year=1st. pub. [[HMSO]]: 1954 |isbn=978-1-84574-065-8 |name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book |first=Harold E. Jr. |last=Raugh|title=Wavell in the Middle East, 1939–1941: A Study in Generalship|year=2013|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn= 978-0806143057}}
* {{cite book |first=Victoria |last=Schofield |year=2006 |author-link=Victoria Schofield |title=Wavell: Soldier and Statesman |publisher=John Murray |location=London |isbn=978-0-71956-320-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Wavell |first=Archibald Percival Wavell |year=1973 |title=Wavell: The Viceroy's Journal |url=https://archive.org/details/wavellviceroysjo0000wave |url-access=registration |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0192117236}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{commons category|Archibald Wavell}}
*[http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_W01.html#Wavell_AP British Army Officers 1939−1945]
*[https://www.generals.dk/general/Wavell/Archibald_Percival/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]
*{{PM20|FID=pe/018206}}

{{s-start}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Henry Jackson (British Army officer)|Henry Jackson]]}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[John Dill|Sir John Dill]]}}
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{{S-bef|before=[[John Burnett-Stuart|Sir John Burnett-Stuart]]}}
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{{s-new}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Middle East Command|C-in-C Middle East Command]]|years=1939–1941}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Claude Auchinleck|Sir Claude Auchinleck]]}}
{{Succession box|title=[[Commander-in-Chief, India|C-in-C India]]|before=[[Claude Auchinleck|Sir Claude Auchinleck]]|after=[[Alan Hartley|Sir Alan Hartley]]|years=1941–1942}}
{{Succession box|after=[[Claude Auchinleck|Sir Claude Auchinleck]]|years=1942–1943|before=[[Alan Hartley|Sir Alan Hartley]]|title=[[Commander-in-Chief, India|C-in-C India]]}}
{{s-gov}}
{{Succession box|before=[[Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow|The Marquess of Linlithgow]] |title=[[Viceroy of India]]|years=1943–1947|after=[[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|The Viscount Mountbatten of Burma]]}}
{{s-hon}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip Chetwode, 1st Baron Chetwode|Lord Chetwode]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Constable of the Tower|Constable of the Tower of London]]|years=1948–1950}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke|The Viscount Alanbrooke]]}}
{{Succession box| before=[[Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington|The Duke of Wellington]] | title=[[Lord Lieutenant of the County of London]] | years=1949–1950 | after=[[Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke|The Viscount Alanbrooke]]}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-new | rows=2 | creation}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Earl Wavell]] | years=1947–1950}}
{{s-aft | rows=2 | after=[[Archibald John Arthur Wavell, 2nd Earl Wavell|Archibald Wavell]]}}
|-
{{s-ttl | title=[[Viscount Wavell]] | years=1943–1950}}
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{{Viceroys of India}}
{{B-AotF-FM-MRAF-WW2}}
{{Commander-in-Chief, India}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Indian Independence Movement}}

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