This photo shows General Archibald Wavell arriving on board the HSS Sussex. General Wavell was a distinguished British military general. During the First World War, he fought in the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915 and lost his left eye. He earned a Military Cross for his brave exploits. He held various high ranking positions in the period between the wars. With the outbreak of the Second World War, he was put in command of the Middle East before assuming the post of Commander-in-Chief in India in 1941. He was responsible for the defence of India, Burma, Malaya, the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines. Greatly outnumbered and lacking the resources to support his troops, he was unable to defend Malaya and Singapore and both fell to the Japanese in 1942. In January 1943, General Wavell was promoted to field marshal and was appointed the Governor General and Viceroy of India in the same year. After the war, he returned to England and was made Earl Wavell. He died on 24 May 1950.
