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Wavell"When General Wavell rightly decided to evacuate Somaliland, and
carried out a brillant retreat, Churchill complained that his casualties had been too light. Wavell sent him a telegram, 'Butchery is not the mark of a good tactician,' and that was the end of him."
[Though Wavell's demotion (from commander in the Middle Eastern battle zone) was among his greatest disappointments, he accepted it with remarkable dignity: "At the end of June, 1941 a signal from the Prime Minister [Churchill] telling him [Wavell] that Auchinleck and he were to change places had arrived in the small hours of the morning, and been taken to General Arthur Smith, who had at once dressed and gone round to Wavell's house on Gezira. He found him shaving, with his face covered with lather and his razor poised. He read out the signal, Wavell showed no emotion. He merely said: 'The Prime Minister's quite right. This job wants a new eye and a new hand'; and went on shaving."]
Wavell, Archibald Percival, First Earl (1883-1950) British field marshal; viceroy of India (1943-47) [noted for his defeat - in World War II - of the Italians in Africa and for his valiant efforts to stem the Japanese tide in southeast Asia]
[Sources: Lord Boothby, Recollections of a Rebel; B. Fergusson, Wavell]More Archibald Wavell anecdotesRelated Anecdote Keywords:
Retreats Firings World War II War Retorts Sarcasm
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