Field Marshall Alan Brooke

FIELD MARSHALL ALAN BROOKE 1st VISCOUNT d1963. British Army senior officer nicknamed "Colonel Shrapnel". He was Chief of The Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army during World War 2 and was promoted to field marshal in 1944. As chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, he was the foremost military advisor to Winston Churchill, the British PM and had the role of co-ordinator of the British military efforts in the Allie's victory in 1945. After retiring from the British Army, he served as Lord High Constable of England during the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. His war diaries attracted attention for their forthright views and criticism of many leading figures of the war. He died in Hampshire on June 17th 1963 aged 79