SWIFT WORLD TOUR

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 28 November 1945, Page 4

SWIFT WORLD TOUR

LORD ALANBROOKE ARRIVES BRIEF VISIT TO WELLINGTON Wellington, This Day. The Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Lord Alanbrooke, arrived at Wellington last evening in the course of his swift world tour. His will be only a brief visit, for he leaves Wellington by motor-car for Taihape this afternoon on his way to Rotorua, being accompanied by the General Officer Commanding the New Zealand Forces, Lieut.-General E. Puttick. Lord Alanbrooke arrived at Ohakea at 2.30 yesterday afternoon by R.A.F. York transport plane from Australia. He waa met on arrival by representatives of the Government, by General Puttick, and the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom, Sir Patrick Duff. He came on to Wellington by car, arriving shortly before 6 p.m. Official business will occupy this morning, and Lord Alanbrooke, together with Vice-Admiral Sir Philip Vian, will b e a guest of the Government at a luncheon at Parliament House, before leaving for the north. He is due in Auckland on December 1, and will leave by air for Australia the same day. The object of Lord Alanbrooke’s tour of the world has not been disclosed, but it is surmised that he is consulting with the authorities on military matters in the various British countries that he is visiting.

Lord Alanbrooke is accompanied by hia aide, Lieutenant-Colonel A. S, Boyle.

Lord Alanbrooke has frequently been described as the outstanding Chief of the Imperial General Staff in history. He Is not the popular figure that FieldMarshal Montgomery is, for his work, has rarely been open to public view but those who have been in a position to see what he did during the war and how he did it, and to judge the weight of his contribution to victory, have placed him next after Mr Churchill as the leader of British arms. In addition to his job as Chief at the Imperial General Staff he was chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. To the tremendous burdens of both these tasks he brought « rare combine, tion of virtues and talents. STEADY CLIMB TO FAME Field-Marshal Alanbrooke is an Ulsterman who was born in France. He is now in his 62nd year. He was educated in France and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and in 1802 joined the Royal Field Artillery. In India when the First World War started, he went to France in 1914 with the Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade. He spent the next four years as an artillery officer on the Western Front, never once being wounded and never once having to be relieved because of illness. He Won the Distinguished Service Order and bar and was mentioned in despatches six times. Between the wars, Lord Alanbrooke advanced steadily up the ladder of his profession. In 1936 he had become Director of Military Training at tho War Office and when the first mechanised division of the British Army was formed he became its first commander. In 1939 he was general Officer Commanding the Anti-Aircraft Corps. He left It to become G.0.C., Southern Com. mand, TASKS DURING THE WAR When the British Field Force was sent overseas Lord Alanbrooke went with it as Commander of the Second Army Corps. Back in Britain again, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Home Forces, holding this post throughout the uneasy “invasion” period when Britain faced Germany alone. In November, 1941, Field-Marshal Alanbrooke succeeded the late FieldMarshal Sir John Dill as Chief of the Imperial General Staff. He took the rains during the ebb of British fortunes and held them during the slow turn and the later steady flow. His part was vital. Had there been failure he would certainly have been blamed. As it was, no critics have found that the British Chiefs of Staff committed any major error—although the enemy committed many—and nothing but praise has been given Lord Alanbrooke for his leadership of them.

Honours have come to him thickly in the past few years. He was created K.C.B. in 1940, G.C.B. in 1942, and baron last August. His promotion to the rank of field-marshal was made at the beginning erf last year.