General Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham, GCMG, KCB, DSO, MC (1 May 1887 – 30 January 1983), was a senior officer of the British Army noted for his victories over Italian forces in the East African Campaign during the Second World War.

[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.

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.

[4] At 3 days notice he was informed that he was to take command of the East Africa Force in Kenya and was promoted to acting lieutenant general.

[4] During the East African Campaign General Sir Archibald Wavell, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Middle East Command, directed Cunningham to retake British Somaliland and free Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from the Italians whilst forces under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir William Platt would attack from Sudan in the north through Eritrea.

This resulted in the destruction of the British armour as it engaged the Afrika 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 had been content when he left Cunningham and it is likely that he was convinced by Air Marshal Arthur Tedder to replace him during the flight back to Cairo.

[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.

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.

Finally, in 1944 he was appointed as the General Officer C-in-C Eastern Command with the tasks of both training replacements for Europe and disbanding the Home Guard.

[8] After the war, Cunningham, who was promoted to general on 30 October 1945, returned to the Middle East as High Commissioner of Palestine; he served in the position from 1945 to 1948.

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.

On return to Britain, Cunningham was offered the post of Black 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 Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire from 1950, as the President of the Council of Governors at Cheltenham College from 1951 until 1963.