Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, nicknamed The Auk, born June 21, 1884 and died March 23, 1981, was a British Field Marshal during World War II. He received several medals and titles:the Order of the Bath, the Order of the Indian Empire, the Order of the Star of India, the Distinguished Service Order and the Order of the Empire. British.
Auchinleck was born in Aldershot in 1884. He grew up in a relatively poor family but was able through his hard work and aptitude to graduate from Wellington College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. In 1904, he joined the 62nd Punjabi Regiment of the British Indian Army in India. This incorporation will mark the beginning of his passion for this country.
World War II
Norway
A few months after the start of World War II in May 1940, Auchinleck was given command of the Allied forces in Norway, a country that was already considered lost in view of the rapid German expansion. After the fall of Norway in July 1940, he was briefly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Command (General Officer) and then Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in India.
North Africa
After the operations in North Africa, a campaign whose outcome was uncertain, Auchinleck replaced General Archibald Wavell in July 1941 and thus became the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in the Middle East. Wavell replaced Auchinleck at the head of the British army in India. Auchinleck was based in Cairo with responsibility not only for Muslim countries in North Africa but also for Iran, the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. The British 8th Army which faced Rommel's Afrika Korps as well as the Italian army, was commanded successively by Generals Cunningham and Ritchie.
The first major British offensive, Operation Crusader, took place in November 1941. General Cunningham was relieved of his duties after expressing his reluctance following the first losses. Auchinleck demanded that the battle continue. The British managed to push the Afrika Korps back to El Agheila at the cost of heavy losses. Auchinleck then appointed Ritchie to command the 8th Army.
Auchinleck revived strategic decision-making for the Middle East and at the same time gave orders concerning operations on the ground occupied by Ritchie. In January 1942, the Afrika Korps succeeded in regaining the upper hand by forcing Ritchie to turn back in the vicinity of Tobruk. Rommel's attack on Gazala on May 25, 1942 was a bitter failure for the British. During the Battle of Bir Hakeim, the French troops slowed down the German army for 16 days, which allowed the British to retreat towards Egypt and reinforce themselves at El Alamein. On June 12, 1942, Auchinleck said of Bir Hakeim:“The United Nations must be filled with admiration and gratitude towards these French troops and their valiant General [Koenig]”[1] . Tobruk, a politically important city for Winston Churchill but militarily of little significance for Auchinleck, fell on June 21, 1942. Auchinleck decided to take over direct command of the 8th Army to counter Rommel's troops, he tried in vain to resist Mersa Matruh. It was not until the First Battle of El Alamein that the British succeeded in halting the advance of the Axis forces. Auchinleck tried to destroy the positions of the Afrika Korps by multiple attacks in July and August 1942 but these attempts ended in failure.
Auchinleck wanted the 8th Army to form mobile brigade groups, rather than divisions. This vision was criticized by several of his subordinates. Its chief of staff, Dorman-Smith, was not well liked by the main commanders of the 8th Army. As a commander of Indian troops, he had to manage people mainly from India. Managing troops whose members were largely drawn from Britain required a different approach. By July 1942, Auchinleck had lost the confidence of Commonwealth commanders and his relationship with British commanders was becoming increasingly strained.
Like his counterpart Rommel on the German side, Auchinleck was under constant political pressure from Churchill. The Prime Minister wanted results and an effective offensive in North Africa. The failures in Egypt and Cyrenaica hardly fit into the policy of Churchill who desperately wanted victory before the Allied landings in North Africa, Operation Torch, scheduled for November 1942. In August 1942, Churchill and Alan Brooke , the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, traveled to Cairo to meet Auchinleck. It was therefore clear that Auchinleck was disavowed by the upper echelons of the British command and he was replaced by Harold Alexander who took the post of Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East. William Gott was supposed to take command of the 8th Army again but he was killed in Egypt. Upon Gott's death, Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery was appointed commander of the 8th Army. Auchinleck's reputation suffered with the arrival of Montgomery, a soldier known for his outspoken opinions. Montgomery's role was crucial since he later enabled the Allies to achieve victory in North Africa.
India
Churchill offered Auchinleck to command the Allied forces in Iran and the Middle East, but he declined the offer, perhaps because of the presence in that post of his friend, General Edward Quinan. He returned to India where he spent almost a year without real occupation before becoming in 1943 the commander-in-chief of the British army in India. Wavell, who held this position, had in the meantime been appointed Governor General of India. Auchinleck continued to hold this post after the war.
Post-war
Going against his convictions, Auchinleck prepared the creation of the Indian and Pakistani armies even before the partition of India was effective. This was scheduled for August 1947. In 1946, he was promoted to Marshal but refused to take on a peerage for fear of being associated with this policy of partitioning the Empire which he considered to be fundamentally a dishonour. After falling out with Lord Mountbatten, the last Governor of India, he gave up his post as Commander-in-Chief and retired in 1947. In 1948 he returned to Britain but could not find his wife there, who left him in 1946 for Richard Peirse.
Considered somewhat austere, he was nevertheless generous and appeared to be a welcoming host. He was a general for a long period but did not like pageantry despite his duties. He saw himself above all as a soldier with unfailing integrity. When he retired, he moved to Marrakech where he lived for years in modest accommodation. Corporal Malcom James Millward, a dedicated soldier and also a friend, cared for the Marshal until his death in 1981.