The Viscount Alexander - Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, Viscount of Tunis
17th Governor General of Canada
Term:
1946-1952
Born:
December 10, 1891 London, England
Died:
June 16, 1969 Slough, England
As World War II ended, Canada received its last British-born Governor General. A war hero, Lord Alexander was commissioned in 1910, and in July of 1944, he became the youngest Field Marshall in the British Commonwealth.
In his youth he wanted to be a painter, but Lord Alexander enjoyed a brilliant and dramatic military career. In 1940, he directed the evacuation of Dunkirk, and was the last man to leave the beaches. He directed the retreat from Burma in 1942, and later became Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East (1942). As Deputy Allied Commander to General Eisenhower in 1943, he drove the Germans from El Alamein to Tunis. In this position, he also directed Allied invasions of Italy and Sicily. It was when he was Allied Commander for the Mediterranean Command (1944-46), that he was elevated to Viscount Alexander of Tunis. In May 1945, it was he who imposed terms of unconditional surrender to the German Allies of the countries in his Command.
Lord Alexander came to Canada considered to be the greatest military commander since General Wellington. He was not only popular because of his war record, but also because of his genuine warmth and interest in people. He enjoyed Canada and its outdoors. In addition to skiing and maple-sugaring, he was also able to take up painting again, and he organized art classes at the National Gallery. During his term he hosted Princess Elizabeth and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh on their Royal Visit in 1951.
On his return to England, he became Minister of Defence in Churchill's Government.
