Archibald Wavell

Wavell was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East Command in July 1939. He oversaw British forces in Egypt, Sudan, Palestine, and East Africa, preparing for the expected conflict with Italy in North Africa at the outbreak of World War II.

Wavell ordered Operation Compass in December 1940, a British offensive against Italian forces in North Africa. The attack captured 130,000 Italian prisoners, advanced 500 miles into Libya, and destroyed the Italian Tenth Army, achieving the first major Allied land victory of World War II.

Wavell's forces conducted a campaign in East Africa from January to May 1941. British, Commonwealth, and Ethiopian troops defeated the Italian army in Eritrea and Ethiopia, capturing 230,000 prisoners and restoring Emperor Haile Selassie to the Ethiopian throne.

Wavell was relieved as Commander-in-Chief of Middle East Command in July 1941 following a series of setbacks, including the failure of Operation Battleaxe to relieve Tobruk and the German capture of Crete. He was replaced by Claude Auchinleck and reassigned to India.

Wavell was appointed Viceroy and Governor-General of India in October 1943, succeeding Lord Linlithgow. He faced the Bengal famine of 1943, which killed an estimated 2-3 million people, and attempted to negotiate Indian independence with political leaders including Gandhi and Jinnah.