GeneralSir Alan Gordon Cunningham,GCMG,KCB,DSO,MC (1 May 1887 – 30 January 1983), was a seniorofficer of theBritish Army noted for his victories over Italian forces in theEast African Campaign during theSecond World War. He then commanded Eighth Army in the desert campaign, but was relieved of command during theCrusader battle againstErwin Rommel. Later he served as the seventh and lastHigh Commissioner of Palestine. He was the younger brother of Admiral of the FleetLord Cunningham of Hyndhope.

Sir Alan Cunningham
Born	(1887-05-01)1 May 1887 Dublin, Ireland
Died	30 January 1983(1983-01-30) (aged 95) Tunbridge Wells,Kent, England
Buried	Dean Cemetery,Edinburgh, Scotland
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/ branch	British Army
Years of service	1906–1948
Rank	General
Service number	74
Unit	Royal Artillery
Commands	Eastern Command Northern Ireland Staff College, Camberley Eighth Army East Africa Force 51st (Highland) Infantry Division 9th (Highland) Infantry Division 66th Infantry Division 5th Anti-Aircraft Division
Battles / wars	First World War Second World War Palestine Emergency
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Mentioned in despatches (4)
Relations	Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope (brother)
Other work	High Commissioner of Palestine (1945–48) Colonel Commandant of theRoyal Artillery

Cunningham was born inDublin, Ireland, the third son of Scottish ProfessorDaniel John Cunningham and his wife Elizabeth Cumming Browne.^[1] He was educated atCheltenham College and theRoyal Military Academy, Woolwich before taking acommission in theRoyal Artillery in 1906.^[2] In 1909, his father died unexpectedly and Cunningham was applied to join the British Indian Army as he could no longer afford the life style of an officer in Britain. At the out break of the First World War, he was deployed to France with the Indian Expeditionary Force. However, in 1915 he was transferred back to theRoyal Artillery, due to a shortage in trained officers. He was awarded aMilitary Cross in 1915 and theDistinguished Service Order in 1918, he was also awarded three Mention in dispatches during the War. He had served as a Howitzer Battery Commander and had was the Artillerybrigade major for 20th (Light) Division in June 1917.^[3] For two years after the war he served as a staff officer in theStraits Settlements.^[4] He went on to have a number of regimental duty posts, including a tour in Egypt in 1925. He was promoted to brevet Lieutenant Colonel whilst conducting the post of chief Instructor at the Anti-Aircraft wing at the Small Arms School in Netheravon and was appointed Commanding Officer of 1st Medium Brigade Royal Artillery in Portsmouth in 1935.^[2]

After graduating from theRoyal Naval College, Greenwich in 1925, followed by theImperial Defence Studies in 1937, Cunningham was appointed as theCommander, Royal Artillery of the1st Infantry Division.^[4] However he never took up this post as he was promoted in 1938 by promotion to major-general and given the task of forming and commanding of the5th Anti-Aircraft Division. Cunningham's headquarters was in Reading and the Division covered Bristol, Portsmouth and Southampton. This area of operation in South-West England was aligned with the RAF 10 Group.^[2]

After Dunkirk, Cunningham was moved from 5th Anti-Aircraft initially to reform the 4th (Infantry) Division, but this was quickly changed and he was ordered to form and train the66th Infantry Division, in Manchester. He was the moved to Scotland to command the9th (Highland) Infantry Division, and renamed it51st (Highland) Infantry Division, when the majority of that Division was lost in the withdrawal from France.^[4] At 3 days notice he was informed that he was to take command of theEast Africa Force in Kenya and was promoted to acting lieutenant general.^[4]

During theEast African Campaign GeneralSir Archibald Wavell, the Commander-in-Chief of the BritishMiddle East Command, directed Cunningham to retakeBritish Somaliland and freeAddis Ababa,Ethiopia from theItalians whilst forces under the command of Lieutenant-General SirWilliam Platt would attack fromSudan in the north throughEritrea. Cunningham commanded three divisions in East Africa Force, the 1st (South African) Division commanded by Major General George Brink, the 11th (African) Division commanded by Major GeneralHarry Edward de Robillard Wetherall and the 12th (African) Division commanded by Major GeneralReade Godwin-Austen .^[5] Cunningham's offensive started with the Battle of the Juba prior to which he issued his famous order of the day 'Hit them. Hit them hard and hit them again'.^[2] The Indian Ocean port ofKismayu (Italian:Chisimaio) was quickly captured and Cunningham realized that the Italians had no depth to their defence. He therefore ordered a rapid advance toMogadishu (Italian: Mogadiscio) by the 23rd Nigerian Brigade who covered 275 miles in just three days.^[2] When General Wavell asked Cunningham when he might capture Mogadishu he simply replied 'got it'.^[2] The Italians were then pursued and fought a number of covering actions at the Marda Pass and the River Awash. On 6 April 1941, Cunningham's forces entered Addis Ababa having advanced 1,687 miles at an average rate of 75 miles a day.^[2] On the 5 May 1941, Cunningham believed it was safe for EmperorHaile Selassie to return to Addis Ababa, five years after he was forced to flee from the Italian forces. On 11 May the northernmost units of Cunningham's forces, under South African BrigadierDan Pienaar linked with Platt's forces under Major-GeneralMosley Mayne to besiegeAmba Alagi. On 20 May, Mayne took thesurrender of theDuke of Aosta, at Amba Alagi.^[6] Cunningham continued to lead his forces in mopping up operations against the 40,000 Italian troops in the Galla-Sidamo region. He was appointed aKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath and awarded another Mention in Dispatches for his actions in East Africa.^[7] For this campaign he was also awardedOrder of the Brilliant Star of Zanzibar, 1st class andOrder of Menelik II, 1st class by Emperor Haile Selassie and theOrder of the Crown, 1st class by the King of Belgium.

His success in East Africa led to Cunningham's appointment to form, train and command the newEighth Army in North Africa in August 1941.^[4] The Eighth Army was to consist of two Corps,XIII Corps (United Kingdom) was mainly Infantry and was to be commanded by Lieutenant General Godwin-Austen, whom Cunningham had commanded in Eat Africa.XXX Corps was to be armoured and commanded by Lieutenant GeneralVyvyan Pope, the British armoured expert, however Pope was killed with his staff in a plane crash on 6 October 1941 and he was replaced by the inexperienced cavalry officer Major General CharlesWilloughby-Norrie.^[2] Cunningham had to form and train the Eight Army in time to lead GeneralSir Claude Auchinleck'sLibyan Desert offensive which under pressure from Churchill was due to begin in early November, but actually began on 18 November. It was called Operation Crusader.

Cunningham's offensive achieved complete surprise and the Axis were slow to react. This resulted in Willouby-Norrie convincing Cunningham to amend the plan and allow him to strike for Tobruk. This resulted in the destruction of the British armour as it engaged theAfrika Korps as brigades, rather than Cunningham's plan for a concentrated Eight Army fighting what Pope had termed 'the Big Tank Battle'. due to the heavy looses, there was a chance that Rommel could break through to Egypt and Cunningham sought strategic advice from Auchinleck to either continue the offensive or to defend and rebuild the tank formations. Auchinleck, who had access to secret Ultra intelligence, ordered Cunningham to continue and Cunningham issued orders that XIII Corps was to take up the offensive and relieve theSiege of Tobruk.

On 25 November, the Axis counterattack into Egypt during Crusader had been repulsed, Cunningham was dismissed by Auchinleck. His replacement was Auchinleck's deputy chief of the general staff, Major-GeneralNeil Ritchie, who was chosen due to his familiarity with the Operation Crusader plan, the day after he took over, XIII Corp relieved Tobruk as planned by Cunningham. Auchinleck had been content when he left Cunningham and it is likely that he was convinced by Air MarshalArthur Tedder to replace him during the flight back to Cairo. Auchinleck asked Cunningham to go into No. 64 Field Hospital for security reasons asking him ‘to agree to being placed on the sick list and to go into hospital for a period. I know that this will be against all your instincts, and that you will hate doing it’ and Cunningham agreed. However, he had no health issues apart from being tired after fighting for 9 days as he pointed out ‘like all the troops fighting in Libya’.^[2] Once Cunningham was in hospital, Auchinleck wrote again to offer his ‘forgiveness in having inflicted this indignity on you … [I] know very well how you disliked having to pretend that you are sick, when you are not.’^[2] Cunningham was then examined by a consultant Colonel Smallwood on the 29 November who wrote that he was ‘tired and showed signs of strain’ due to his ‘long and heavy responsibilities’ which ‘had culminated in a period of about a week with practically no sleep’, he concluded that t ‘since admission to hospital he has slept soundly each night… He is composed, and very alert and mentally active. There is no evidence of any “nervous breakdown"'.^[2] However, whilst Cunningham was in isolated in hospital, the narrative of a nervous breakdown was spread and became the accepted story.

When he return to Britain in December 1941, Churchill refused to give him a role, stating that he was either sick or incompetent, but General Alan Brooke contended that he was neither. However, when Jam Smuts came to Britain the October 1942 he convinced Churchill that Cunningham should be given a role. Cunningham, who was now a Major General again, was appointed as the Commandant of theStaff College, Camberley (1942). In 1943 he was appointed as General Officer C-in-C inNorthern Ireland and promoted back to Lieutenant General. In this role he was heavily involved in preparing US troops for D Day and was awarded the Legion of Merit Medal by the US Government for this work. Finally, in 1944 he was appointed as the General Officer C-in-CEastern Command with the tasks of both training replacements for Europe and disbanding the Home Guard.^[2] He these later posts, Cunningham gave a number of important speeches about military leadership, the eminent academic ProfessorJohn Adair (author) has said of Cunningham words that it 'puts him up with Montgomery and Slim as a thinker about leadership in the military context.  He was unique, however, in lecturing on the subject actually during the Second World War, whereas they saved their thoughts until the post war years’.^[8]

After the war, Cunningham, who was promoted togeneral on 30 October 1945, returned to the Middle East asHigh Commissioner ofPalestine; he served in the position from 1945 to 1948.^[4] He was in charge of operations against theHagana, a Zionist militia,Etzel andLehi terrorists who in this period fought against the Mandate authorities and the Palestinian population, as well as Palestinian militias, with Arab armies poised to invade as soon as the British withdrew. Cunningham had retired from the army in October 1946 when he relinquished the role of Commander-in-Chief Palestine but retained the job of High Commissioner until 1948.^[4] He was awarded a second knighthood for his duties and became aKnight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George.

On return to Britain, Cunningham was offered the post ofBlack Rod at the Palace of Westminster, but declined it and retired public life. He continued to serve however as the Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery until 1954, as a DeputyLord Lieutenant of Hampshire from 1950, as the President of the Council of Governors atCheltenham College from 1951 until 1963. Also in 1954 he was asked to play a major role in the visit to Britain of Emperor Haile Selassie.^[2] On 5 April 1951, at the age of 61, he married Margery Snagge.

Cunningham died at the age of 95 inRoyal Tunbridge Wells,Kent, England. He is buried with his father and mother under a simple monument near theDean Gallery entrance toDean Cemetery inEdinburgh.^[9]

• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (1948)^[7]
• Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (30 May 1941;Companion 1941)^[7]
• Distinguished Service Order (1918)^[7]
• Military Cross (1915)^[7]
• 1914 Star with Clasp^[7]
• Mentioned in Despatches (1 January 1916, 18 May 1917 and 20 May 1918; 6 January 1944)^[7]
• British War Medal^[7]
• Victory Medal^[7]
• Order of the Brilliant Star of Zanzibar, 1st class (28 October 1941)^[7]
• Commander of theLegion of Merit (United States, 1945)^[7]
• Order of the Crown, 1st class (Belgium, 1950)^[7]
• Order of Menelik II, 1st class (Ethiopia, 1954)^[7]

• Playfair, I. S. O.; Flynn, F. C.; Molony, C. J. C.; Gleave, T. P. (2004) [1960]. Butler, J. R. M. (ed.).The Mediterranean and Middle East: British Fortunes Reach their Lowest Ebb (September 1941 to September 1942). History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Vol. III. London: Naval & Military Press.ISBN 978-1-84574-067-2.
• Smart, Nick (2005).Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword.ISBN 1844150496.
• Warner, Philip (2006) [1981].Auchinleck: The Lonely Soldier. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military.ISBN 978-1-844-15384-8.
• Dennis, Vincent (2024).The Forgotten General: Sir Alan Cunningham GCMG, KCB, DSO, MC.Amberley Publishing.ISBN 978-1398113992.
• Dennis Vincent (2025). Chapter 2: Cunningham's Team on Operation Canvas: Superiors, Subordinates and Peers inThe Second World War in East Africa, 1940-1941. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-71025-2

• British Army Officers 1939−1945
• Generals of World War II
• Presentation at the National Army MuseumThe Forgotten General