Harold Alexander of Tunis

FIELD MARSHALL H R ALEXANDER OF TUNIS d1969. British Army officer who served with distinction in both WW1 and WW2 and afterwards as Governor General of Canada. He was educated at Harrow before moving to Sandhurst for training as an army officer of the Irish Guards. He rose to prominence through his service in the First World War, receiving numerous honours and decorations and continued his military career through various British campaigns across Europe and Asia. In World War II, he oversaw the final stages of the Allied Evacuation from Dunkirk and subsequently held high-ranking field commands in Burma / North Africa and Italy, including serving as Commander-in-Chief Middle East and commanding the 18th Army Group in Tunisia. He then commanded the 15th Army Group for the capture of Sicily and again in Italy before receiving his field marshal's baton and being made Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean. In 1946 he was appointed as governor general by King George VI on the recommendation of  the Prime Minister of Canada and he occupied the post until succeeded by Vincent Massey in 1952. Alexander proved to be enthusiastic about the Canadian wilderness and was a popular governor general with Canadians. He was the last non-Canadian-born governor general before the appointment of Adrienne Clarkson in 1999, as well as the last governor general to be a peer. After the end of his viceregal tenure, he served as the British Minister of Defence in the Cabinet of Winston Churchill. He retired in 1954 and died aged 77 in Buckinghamshire on June 16th 1969