Leese, Oliver William Hargreaves (1894-1978)

Leese was the son of a baronet who attended Lundgrove and Eton. He fought with distinction in France during the First World War and later became a tank expert. During the Second World War he fought with the BEF and was named by Montgomery, who thought very highly of him, to command XXX Corps in North Africa. He did not get along well with Slim, and attempted to relieve the latter on 9  May 1945. Leese was overruled by Brooke and Mountbatten and himself relieved shortly thereafter. Slim, never one to hold a grudge or speak ill of a fellow officer, glossed over this rift in his memoirs and praised Leese for his sound military judgment, though he also noted that Leese brought his 8 Army staff with him, which "had a good deal of desert sand in its shoes and ... [was] rather inclined to thrust Eighth Army down our throats" (Allen 1984).

Leese was a huge man at 6'4", affected a quiet, easygoing disposition that masked a rare explosive temper. He affected casual dress and liked to lead from the front.

Service record

References

Allen (1984)

Boatner (1996)

Generals.dk (accessed 2008-12-11)

Hastings (2007)

Slim (1956)

The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia (c) 2007-2008 by Kent G. Budge.  Index

What's new

Comment on this article