Auchinleck, Claude John Eyre (1884–1981)

British commander in World War II. He commanded the First Battle of El Alamein in 1942 in northern Egypt, in which he held Rommel's allied German and Italian forces at bay. In 1943 he became commander‐in‐chief in India and founded the modern Indian and Pakistani armies. In 1946 he was promoted to field marshal; he retired in 1947.

Auchinleck succeeded Wavell as commander‐in‐chief Middle East in 1941, and in the summer of 1942 was forced back to the Egyptian frontier by the German field marshal Rommel, but his success at the First Battle of El Alamein is regarded by some as more important to the outcome of World War II than the Second Battle. From India he gave background support to the Burma campaign.