Brooke, Alan

Brooke, Alan, first viscount Alanbrooke (1883–1963) Chief of the British Imperial Staff Born at Bagnères-de-Bigorre, France, Brooke was educated in French schools and then at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. He was an officer in the Royal Artillery during World War I and, in the interwar years, rose rapidly as a staff officer and as director of military training in the War Office during 1936–37. His particular expertise was in the allimportant developing field of mechanized warfare. At the outbreak of World War II, Brooke commanded II Army Corps in France. He performed with brilliance, courage, and cool efficiency during the retreat to Dunkirk and was chiefly responsible for covering the Dunkirk Evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during May 26–June 4, 1940. Once back in England, Brooke was assigned to command the home forces, but in December 1941, Prime Minister Winston Churchill named him chief of staff. He would hold the position throughout the war, until 1946. Like the American general Dwight David Eisenhower, Brooke craved a key field command, but, like Eisenhower, he was destined to serve in a staff capacity. He not only headed the Imperial General Staff ably but, as chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, performed the often difficult and delicate task of representing the frequently divergent views of the staff to the prime minister and to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. forces. Quietly, he exercised an important influence on the shaping of Allied strategy in Europe. During the war, Brooke worked well with Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, but after the war he published portions of his wartime diary that were frankly critical not only of Eisenhower, but of U.S. military strategy in the European conflict. The material provoked a lively controversy. The Crown honored his wartime service by creating him baron Alanbrooke of Brookeborough in 1945 and first viscount Alanbrooke the following year.