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William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim

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Field Marshal
The Right Honourable
The Viscount Slim
KG,GCB,GCMG,GCVO,GBE,DSO,MC,PC
Slimc.1950
13thGovernor-General of Australia
In office
8 May 1953 – 2 February 1960
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterRobert Menzies
Preceded bySir William McKell
Succeeded byThe Viscount Dunrossil
Personal details
Born(1891-08-06)6 August 1891
Bishopston, Bristol,England
Died14 December 1970(1970-12-14)(aged 79)
London,England
Resting placeMemorial plaque inSt Paul's Cathedral
Spouse
Aileen Robertson
​
(m.1926)​
Children2nd Viscount Slim
Una Mary Slim
Alma materStaff College, Quetta
Nickname"Uncle Bill"
Military service
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch/serviceBritish Army
British Indian Army
Years of service1914–1952
RankField Marshal
Unit
Commands
Battles/wars
Awards

Field MarshalWilliam Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount Slim,KG,GCB,GCMG,GCVO,GBE,DSO,MC,PC(6 August 1891 – 14 December 1970), usually known asBill Slim,[1]was a British military commander and the13th Governor-General of Australia.

Slim saw active service in both theFirstandSecond World Warsand was wounded in action three times. During the Second World War he led theFourteenth Army,the so-called "forgotten army" in theBurma campaign.After the war he became the first British officer who had served in the Indian Army to be appointedChief of the Imperial General Staff.From 1953 to 1959 he was Governor-General of Australia.

In the early 1930s, Slim also wrote novels, short stories, and other publications under the pen name Anthony Mills.

Early years[edit]

William Slim was born at 72 Belmont Road, St Andrews,Bristol,the son of John Slim by his marriage to Charlotte Tucker, and was baptised there at St Bonaventure's Roman Catholic church, Bishopston. He was brought up first in Bristol, attending St Bonaventure's Primary School, thenSt Brendan's College,before moving toBirminghamin his teens. In Birmingham, he attendedSt Philip's Grammar School,Edgbaston[2]andKing Edward's School, Birmingham.[3]

After leaving school, his father's failure in business as a wholesaleironmongermeant that the family could afford to send only one son, Slim's older brother, to theUniversity of Birmingham,so between 1910 and 1914 Slim taught in a primary school and worked as a clerk inStewarts & Lloyds,a metal-tube maker.[2]

First World War[edit]

Despite having no other connection to the university,[2]in 1912 Slim joined theBirmingham UniversityOfficers' Training Corps,and he was thus able to be commissioned as a temporarysecond lieutenantinto theRoyal Warwickshire Regimenton 22 August 1914, on the outbreak of theFirst World War;in later life, as a result of his modest social origins and his unpretentious manner, he was sometimes wrongly supposed to have risen from the ranks. He was badly wounded atGallipoli.On return to England, he was granted a regular commission as a second lieutenant in theWest India Regiment.[2]

In October 1916, he rejoined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment inMesopotamia.On 4 March 1917, he was promoted tolieutenant(with seniority back-dated to October 1915).[4]He was wounded a second time in 1917. Having been previously given the temporary rank ofcaptain,he was awarded theMilitary Crosson 7 February 1918 for actions in Mesopotamia.[5]

Evacuated to India, he was given the temporary rank of major in the6th Gurkha Rifleson 2 November 1918.[6]He was formally promoted to captain and transferred to theIndian Armyon 22 May 1919.[7]

Interwar career[edit]

Slim became battalion adjutant with the 6th Gurkha Rifles in 1921.[8]

On 1 January 1926, he married Aileen Robertson, daughter of Rev John Anderson Robertson (d.1941) minister ofCramondnearEdinburgh.[9][10]They had one son and one daughter.[8]Later that year Slim was sent to theStaff College, Quetta.On 5 June 1929, he was appointed a General Staff Officer, Second Grade.[11]

On 1 January 1930, he was given thebrevetrank of major,[12]with formal promotion to this rank made on 19 May 1933.[13]His performance at Staff College resulted in his appointment first to Army Headquarters India inDelhiand then toStaff College, Camberley,in England (as a General Staff Officer, Second Grade),[14]where he taught from 1934 to 1937.[15]During this period, he also wrote novels, short stories, and other publications under the pen name of Anthony Mills, in order to further his literary interests, as well as to supplement his then modest army salary.[16]

He attended theImperial Defence Collegein 1937.[17][18][19]The following year he was promoted tolieutenant colonel[20]and given command of the 2nd Battalion,7th Gurkha Rifles.In 1939 he was briefly given the temporary rank ofbrigadieras commander of his battalion.[21]On 8 June 1939, he was promoted tocolonel(again with temporary rank of brigadier)[22]and appointed head of theSenior Officers' School, BelgauminIndia.[23][24]

Second World War[edit]

East African Campaign[edit]

On the outbreak of theSecond World War,Slim was given command of the10th Indian Infantry Brigadeof the5th Indian Infantry Divisionand was sent toSudan.He took part in theEast African campaignto liberateEthiopiafrom the Italians. Slim was wounded again inEritrea.On 21 January 1941, he was hit when his vehicle was strafed byFiat CR.42fighters[25]during the advance onAgordat.[26]

Middle East[edit]

Recovering from his wounds but still unfit for active service, Slim was temporarily employed on the General Staff at GHQ in Delhi. He was involved in the planning for potential operations in Iraq where trouble was expected.[27]By early May 1941 Slim had been appointed Brigadier General Staff (chief staff officer) toEdward Quinanthe commander designate for operations in Iraq, arriving inBasraon 7 May.[28]Not long afterwards, Major-GeneralFraser,commanding the10th Indian Infantry Division,fell ill and was relieved of his command, and Slim was promoted to take his place on 15 May 1941[29]with the acting rank ofmajor-general.[30][31][32]

He led the Indian 10th Infantry Division as part ofIraqforceduring theAnglo-Iraqi War,theSyria–Lebanon campaign(where the division advanced up the river Euphrates to captureDeir ez-Zor), and theinvasion of Persia.He was twicementioned in despatchesduring 1941.[33]

Burma campaign[edit]

Field Marshal Sir William Slim, General Officer Commanding Fourteenth Army in Burma, 5 March 1945.
Portrait of General Slim as commander of the Fourteenth Army, commissioned by theMinistry of Information.
Main articles:South-East Asian Theatre of World War IIandBurma campaign

In March 1942, Slim was given command ofBurma Corps,also known asBurCorps,consisting of the17th Indian Infantry Divisionand1st Burma Division.Slim was made actinglieutenant generalon 8 May 1942.[34]The corps was under attack in Burma by theJapaneseand, heavily outclassed by the more mobile and flexible Japanese, was soon forced to withdraw to India. On 28 October 1942, Slim was appointed a Commander of theOrder of the British Empire(CBE).[35]

Slim then took overXV Corpsunder the command of the Eastern Army. His command covered the coastal approaches from Burma to India, east ofChittagong.He had a series of disputes withNoel Irwin,commander of Eastern Army and, as a result, Irwin (although an army commander) took personal control of the initial advance by XV Corps into theArakan Peninsula.The operations ended in disaster, during which Slim was restored to command of XV Corps, albeit too late to salvage the situation. Generals Irwin and Slim blamed each other for the result, but in the end Irwin was removed from his command, and Slim was promoted to command the newFourteenth Army—formed fromIV Corps (United Kingdom)(Imphal),XV Corps(Arakan) and XXXIII Corps (reserve) – later joined by XXXIV Corps. On 14 January 1943, Slim was appointed a Companion of theDistinguished Service Order(DSO) for his actions in the Middle East during 1941.[36]The American historians Alan Millet and Williamson Murray described Slim as:

A hardened field soldier who had learned his trade on the Western Front and in the Indian Army, Slim combined troop-leading and training skills with personal and moral courage as well as charm, a sound grasp of soldiering, and a solid appreciation of Asian warfare and the excellence of theJapanese Army.He had experienced the catastrophe of the1942 retreat from Burmaand theabortive attack on the Arakan.His honesty and character made him the obvious choice to reshape the Fourteenth Army, a force built on the Indian Army but including the ever-dependable Gurkha Rifles of Nepal, unproven infantry battalions from East and West Africa, and infantry battalions and supporting arms from the British Army.[37]

Slim quickly got on with the task of training his new army to take the fight to the enemy. His basic premise was that off-road mobility was paramount: much heavy equipment was exchanged for mule- or air-transported equipment, and motor transport was kept to a minimum and restricted to vehicles that could cope with some of the worst combat terrain on Earth. The new doctrine dictated that if theJapanesehad cut thelines of communication,then they too were surrounded. All units were to form defensive 'boxes', to be resupplied by air and assisted by integrated close air support and armour. The boxes were designed as an effective response to the tactics of infiltration practised by the Japanese in the war. Slim also supported increased offensive patrolling and night training, to encourage his soldiers to lose both their fear of the jungle and their belief that Japanese soldiers were better jungle fighters. He also instructed them to hold their positions once outflanked.[26]

TheChin Hillsformed a natural defensive barrier into Burma, which Slim would have preferred to outflank by an amphibious operation by landing further down the coast of Burma, but demands of the war in Europe meant the necessary landing craft were not available, forcing Slim to devise plans for advancing into Burma overland through the Chin hills.[38]At the same time, theJapanese 15th Army,which formed the main striking force of theBurma Area Army,had grown from four divisions at the beginning of 1943 to eight divisions by the end of 1943 as the Japanese made preparations for invading India, which increased the difficulties of an overland advance into Burma.[39]By 1943, theBurma Railway,which cost the lives of thousands of prisoners of war who built it, was finished; this allowed the Japanese to reinforce the Burma Area Army, and made invading India possible.[40]

As Slim went about training his men for the rigours of jungle warfare, he clashed with BrigadierOrde Wingate,who took away some of Slim's best Gurkha, British and African units for hisChinditraiding group.[41]Slim argued against the loss of his better units to Wingate, and maintained that though Wingate had a successful career in Palestine and Ethiopia he would discover that the Japanese were a considerably tougher foe than the Palestinians and the Italians that Wingate had hitherto been fighting.[41]However, Slim did approve of Wingate's plans for aid to the hill tribes of Burma.[42]The various hill peoples of Burma such as theKachins,Karens,Chin,Nagasand theShancollectively amounted to about 7 million of Burma's 17 million people, and unlike theBamars,who had welcomed the Japanese as liberators, had stayed loyal to the British when the Japanese invaded.[42]The hill peoples of Burma had suffered under Japanese rule, and were more than willing to wage guerrilla warfare against them.[42]Slim approved of the plans of the SOE and OSS to provide arms and training to the hill tribes as a way to tie down Japanese forces that would otherwise be deployed against him.[42]

At the start of 1944, Slim held the substantive rank of colonel with a war substantive rank of major-general and the acting, then upgraded to temporary, rank of lieutenant-general.[43]In January 1944, when theSecond Arakan Offensivewas met by a Japanese counter-offensive, theIndian 7th Infantry Divisionwas quickly surrounded along with parts of theIndian 5th Infantry Divisionand the81st (West Africa) Division.The 7th Indian Division's defence was based largely on the "Admin Box"formed initially from drivers, cooks and suppliers. They were supplied by air, thus negating the importance of their lost supply lines. The Japanese forces were able to halt the offensive into Arakan but were unable to decisively defeat the allied forces or advance beyond the surrounded formations.[44]

In early 1944, the Japanese Prime Minister, GeneralHideki Tojo,approved of plans for victory in Asia, calling for two operations,Operation U-Goas the invasion of India was code-named andOperation Ichi-Gowhich was intended to defeat China once and for all.[45]The two operations in India and China were closely linked given that American supplies for China were flown over "the Hump"of the Himalayas and the Japanese wanted to take the Indian province ofAssamin part to close the American air bases in India that sustained China at the same time that they were launching Operation Ichi-Go, the biggest Japanese offensive of all time, involving 2 million men.[45]The Japanese knew that they lacked the logistics to invade India, and the plans for U-Go were based on the assumption that the British Fourteenth Army would just collapse, allowing the Japanese 15th Army to capture enough food to prevent its men from starving to death.[40]Following the Japanese 15th Army into India was theIndian National Armycommanded bySubhas Chandra Bose,an ardent nationalist. The Japanese believed that the mere presence of Bose in India would inspire the men of the Indian Army to mutiny and murder their British officers, and set off an anti-British revolution that would allow the Japanese 15th Army to take all of India.[40]

Slim was appointed aCompanion of the Order of the Bath(CB) in the1944 New Year Honours.[46]On 12 March 1944 the Japanese launched an invasion of India aimed at Imphal, hundreds of miles to the north.[40]GeneralRenya Mutaguchiof the Burma Area Army announced the invasion of India was "The March into Delhi" as he expected the invasion to end with him marching in triumph intoNew Delhi.Slim knew fromsignals intelligencethat the Japanese were going to invade in March 1944, but as Murray and Millet wrote "...he had little choice, but to meet it with the forces on hand – the IV Corps of three Anglo-Indian divisions – or surrender his own plans to take the general offensive into Burma in 1944."[47]Slim chose to fight a defensive campaign to break the Japanese before launching his offensive into Burma, believing that superior British tanks, logistics and air power would allow him to inflict a decisive defeat on Mutaguchi.[47]However, the Japanese advanced more swiftly than Slim had expected up the mud roads of Burma into India, leading to a period of crisis as the fate of India hung in the balance.[47]Slim airlifted two entire veteran divisions (5th and 7th Indian) from battle in the Arakan, straight into battle in the north. Desperate defensive actions were fought at places such asImphal,SangshakandKohima,while theRAFandUSAAFkept the forces supplied from the air.[40]Slim ordered his men to hold their ground, forbade any retreat, and informed his men who were surrounded by the Japanese that supplies would be flown in from the air to allow them to hold out.[40]Slim decided to send the IV Corps to relieve Imphal while gambling that the 5th Indian Division could hold out at Kohima, though Slim knew that if Kohima fell, then the Japanese could be able to sever the Assam railroad atDimapur,which could cut off the British Fourteenth Army from its main supply line.[47]The Battle of Kohima was a fiercely fought battle as Murray and Millet wrote: "Nowhere in World War II – even on the Eastern Front – did the combatants fight with more mindless savagery", but Kohima held.[47]As late as 1 June 1944,Field MarshalSir Alan Brooke,theChief of the Imperial General Staff(CIGS), wrote in his diary that he saw "disaster staring us in the face" in Assam, but Slim was more confident, believing he could smash the Japanese attempt to take India.[48]While the Japanese were able to advance and encircle the formations of British Fourteenth Army, they were unable to defeat those same forces or break out of the jungles along the Indian frontier. The Japanese advance stalled. The Japanese, who had a contempt for British and Indian troops based ontheir performance in 1941–42,refused to give up even after themonsoonstarted and large parts of their army were wrecked by conducting operations in impossible conditions. The initial Japanese plan was to capture Allied stocks of food, medicine and fuel to sustain their advance, but they failed to capture any stockpiles. As a result, their units took unsupportable casualties and were finally forced to retreat in total disorder in July 1944, leaving behind many dead from hunger and disease as well as their injured. Of the 150,000 Japanese soldiers who invaded India in March 1944, almost all of them were dead by July 1944 as Slim had inflicted the largest defeats that the Japanese had suffered up to this point in the war.[48]The Indian Army remained loyal, and under its British officers fought much better than the Indian National Army.[48]After Imphal and Kohima, the American historian Gerhard Weinberg noted for the Japanese their "... only hope in the area was propaganda by Bose, not much of a substitute for their lost Japanese 15th Army."[48]

Unlike the Japanese, who killed their wounded, Slim went out of his way to ensure good medical care for his wounded and to evacuate his wounded by air to hospitals in India.[49]Slim knew his men would fight better if they knew that they would receive the best possible medical care under the conditions if they were wounded. On 8 August 1944, Slim was promoted to lieutenant general,[50]and, on 28 September 1944, he was appointed aKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath(KCB).[51]In December 1944, during a ceremony at Imphal in front of the Scottish,GurkhaandPunjabiregiments, Slim and three of his corps commanders (Christison,ScoonesandStopford) were knighted by the viceroyLord Wavelland invested with honours. Slim was presented with his insignia as KCB, and the others with theirKBEs.Slim was also mentioned in despatches.[52]By the end of 1944, the majority of the men serving in the British Fourteenth Army were in fact not British as of the 12 divisions that made up the British Fourteenth Army, 2 were British, 7 were Indian and 3 came from Britain's African colonies.[53]In addition, there were six Chinese divisions, two regiments from the U.S. Army and various tribal militias made up of Shan, Chin, Naga, Kachin and Karen peoples raised by the OSS and the SOE fighting on the Allied side in Burma, requiring Slim to play the role of the diplomat as much as a general to hold these disparate forces made up of so many different peoples together.[53]

Lieutenant General Sir William Slim being knighted by the Viceroy of India, Field Marshalthe Viscount Wavell,near Imphal, December 1944.

In 1945, Slim launched an offensive into Burma, withsupply linesstretching almost to the breaking point across hundreds of miles of trackless jungle.[53]Slim employed Billy Williams and his corps of elephants, led by Bandoola, to build bridges and rescue refugees.[54]He faced the same problems that the Japanese had faced in their failed 1944 offensive in the opposite direction. He made the supply of his armies the central issue in the plan of the campaign. TheChindwin Riverwas spanned with the longestBailey bridgein the world at the time. To distract the Japanese from his campaign in central and southern Burma, Slim ordered the Chinese in northern Burma to begin an offensive, which for a time led the Japanese to the erroneous conclusion that the main goal of the Allies was to open theBurma Roadto China.[55]Slim began his advance by sending two corps towardsMandalayand another corps along the coast towardsRangoon,but changed his plans when he learned from intelligence that the Japanese were planning on defending Mandalay from the eastern banks of theIrrawaddy River.[56]Slim had one corps cross the Irrawaddy south of Mandalay atMeiktilawhile another corps staged a feint attack on Mandalay from the north to distract the Japanese from the main blow coming up from the south.[56]The swift flowing Irrawaddy is a wider river than theRhine,making it into a natural defensive barrier that the Japanese believed could halt the British advance.[56]However, much of the countryside around the Irrawaddy consists of plains that favoured the offensive, and in his operations in the Irrawaddy river valley, Slim usedcombined armsoffensives with artillery and tanks working closely with the infantry to bring down overwhelming firepower when the Japanese tried to block the British Fourteenth Army's advance. In March 1945, after crossing the Irrawaddy, the town of Meiktila was taken, followed by Burma's second city, Mandalay.[57]

Lieutenant General Sir William Slim (GOC-in-Chief Fourteenth Army, left), Air Vice MarshalStanley Vincent(AOC 221 Group South East Asia Air Forces, centre) and Major GeneralHenry Chambers(GOC 26th Indian Division, right) atGovernment House, Rangoon,8 May 1945.

The Japanese garrison in Mandalay chose not to surrender, using the forts built by the British and the maze of pagodas in downtown Mandalay to fight to the death inan urban battlethat destroyed much of the city, which finally fell to the British Fourteenth Army on 20 March 1945.[56]Slim's plan was a masterpiece ofoperational art,and the capture of Meiktila left most of Japan's troops stranded in Burma without supplies. The Allies had reached the open plains of central Burma, sallying out and breaking Japanese attacking forces in isolation, maintaining the initiative at all times, backed up by air-land cooperation, including resupply by air and close air support, performed by both RAF and USAAF units.[58]Slim followed up this victory by ordering his coastal corps to seize the mouth of the Irrawaddy where it flowed into theBay of Bengal.[56]

In combination with these attacks,Force 136helped initiate a countrywide uprising of theBamar peopleagainst the Japanese. In addition to fighting the allied advance south, the Japanese were faced with heavy attacks from behind their own lines. As he advanced into Burma, Slim discovered gruesome evidence of the nature of Japanese rule in Burma, finding in village after village, Burmese peasants who had been tied to trees and bayoneted to death as the Japanese preferred bayonet practice with people rather than sandbags as normally is the case.[59]Toward the end of the campaign, the army raced south to captureRangoonbefore the start of the monsoon.[56]It was considered necessary to capture the port because of the length of the supply lines overland from India and the impossibility of supply by air or land during the monsoon. Rangoon was eventually taken by a combined attack from the land (Slim's army), the air (parachute operations south of the city) anda seaborne invasion.Also assisting in the capture of Rangoon was theAnti-Fascist People's Freedom Leagueled byThakin Soe,withAung San(the future Prime Minister of Burma and father ofAung San Suu Kyi) as one of its military commanders.[60]

As the Burma campaign came to an end, Slim was informed in May byOliver Leese,the commander ofAllied Land Forces South-East Asia (ALFSEA)that he would not be commanding Fourteenth Army in the forthcoming invasion planned forMalayabut would take command of the newTwelfth Armybeing formed to mop up in Burma.[61]Slim refused the appointment, saying he would prefer to retire. As the news spread, Fourteenth Army fell into turmoil andAlan Brooke,theChief of the Imperial General Staff,furious at not having been consulted by Leese, andClaude Auchinleck,the C-in-C India who was at the time in London, brought pressure to bear.[62]The Supreme Allied Commander of the Southeast Asia Theatre,Louis Mountbattenwas obliged to order Leese to undo the damage. On 1 July 1945, Slim was promoted togeneral[63]and was informed that he was to succeed Leese as C-in-C ALFSEA. However, by the time he took up the post, having taken some leave, the war was at an end.[61]

Relations with troops[edit]

Slim had an excellent relationship with his troops – the "Forgotten Army",as they called themselves. Slim had a close rapport with the officers and soldiers under his command, and always trusted his officers to make the correct decisions without referring to him. As Slim later wrote:" I was, like other generals before me, to be saved... by the resourcefulness and the stubborn valour of my troops. "[56]Murray and Millet wrote that Slim's willingness to delegate authority down to his officers on the spot played a key role in sustaining his advance into Burma as officers did not have to wait for a decision from him.[56]

In the aftermath of Kohima and Imphal, Slim inspected the battlefields, seeing the bodies of wounded Japanese soldiers who had been killed by their comrades as under the code ofBushido,which graphically showed to Slim how far the Japanese were willing to takeBushido.[53]Slim realized that Japanese logistics had broken down, but that Japanese soldiers were still prepared to fight to the death. That led him to the conclusion that it was better to outflank and bypass the Japanese positions as much as possible, leaving the Japanese to starve to death rather than engaging them in combat.[53]The Japanese Burma Area Army had about 100,000 men while the British Fourteenth Army had only about 21,000 men. But Slim believed that with superior mobility backed by proper supply line, he could defeat the Japanese, whose logistics were poor.[64]The superior Japanese numbers together with the fact that the Indian Army was an all-volunteer force, with only so many Indians willing to volunteer and the fact that sending fresh British troops to Burma was not a priority in London, made it imperative for Slim to save the lives of his men as much as possible.[55]Slim was painfully aware that it would be difficult to replace whatever losses his men took, and had no intention of having his army being ground down by fighting the Japanese in every single place that they were.[55]Slim was determined to save the lives of his men as much as possible, while Japanese officers, motivated byBushido,were ready to have all of their men die for the Emperor. Slim estimated that for every man killed under his command, the Japanese lost a hundred men.[65]

Slim noted 70% malaria rates among his troops, largely because they refused to take foul-tastingmepacrine.Slim did not blame his medics for this problem, but placed the responsibility on his officers. He wrote: "Good doctors are no use without good discipline. More than half the battle against disease is fought not by the doctors, but by the regimental officers."[66]After Slim dismissed some officers for high unit malaria rates, the others realised he was serious and malaria treatment was enforced, dropping the rate to less than five per cent. The combat effectiveness of his army was thus greatly enhanced. This physical and mental turnaround in the army under him was a contributing factor to the eventual defeat of the Japanese in Burma.

NovelistGeorge MacDonald Fraser,then a nineteen-year-old lance corporal, recalled:

But the biggest boost to morale was the burly man who came to talk to the assembled battalion... it was unforgettable. Slim was like that: the only man I've ever seen who had a force that came out of him... British soldiers don't love their commanders much less worship them; Fourteenth Army trusted Slim and thought of him as one of themselves, and perhaps his real secret was that the feeling was mutual.[67]

and:

...I see him clear, with that robber-baron face under that Gurkha hat, and his carbine slung, looking like a rather scruffy private with a general's tabs, which of course is what he was.[68]

Post-war career[edit]

Initial retirement from the army[edit]

At the end of 1945 Slim returned to the UK. On 1 January 1946, he was made aKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire(GBE).[69]and took the post ofCommandant of the Imperial Defence Collegefor its first course since 1939. On 7 February 1947 he was made anAide-de-camp(ADC) to theKing.[70]At the end of his two-year appointment at the Imperial Defence College Slim retired as ADC and from the army on 11 May 1948.[71]He had been approached by both India and Pakistan to become C-in-C of their respective armies post independence but refused and instead became Deputy Chairman ofthe Railway Executive.[72]

Return to the army[edit]

However, in November 1948 the British Prime MinisterClement Attleerejected the proposal byViscount Montgomerythat he should be succeeded asChief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS)byJohn Crockerand instead brought back Slim from retirement in the rank offield marshalin January 1949[73]with formal appointment to theArmy Councilfrom 1 January 1949.[74]Slim thus became the first Indian Army officer to become CIGS.[72]

On 2 January 1950, he was promoted toKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath(GCB)[75]and later that year was made a Chief Commander of theLegion of Meritby the United States[76]having previously, in 1948, been awarded the lower rankingCommander of the Legion of Merit.[77]On 1 November 1952, he relinquished the position of Chief of the Imperial General Staff.[78]

Governor-General of Australia[edit]

On 10 December 1952 Slim was made aKnight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George(GCMG) on his appointment asGovernor-General of Australia[79]which post he took up on 8 May 1953. On 2 January 1953, he was appointed aKnight of the Order of St. John(KStJ).[80]Slim was a popular choice for Governor-General since he was an authentic war hero who had fought alongside Australians at Gallipoli and in the Middle East. In 1954 he was able to welcomeQueen Elizabeth IIon the first visit by a reigning monarch to Australia. For his services to the Queen during the tour, he was appointed aKnight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order(GCVO) on 27 April 1954.[81]LiberalleaderRobert Menziesheld office throughout Slim's time in Australia. HisOfficial Secretarythroughout his term wasMurray Tyrrell.[82]

Retirement[edit]

In 1959, Slim retired and returned to Britain, where he published his memoirs,Unofficial History.He had already published his personal narrative of the Burma Campaign,Defeat into Victory,in 1956, which has never been out of print, and in which he candidly talked about his mistakes and the lessons he learned. On 24 April 1959, he was appointed aKnight Companion of the Order of the Garter(KG).[83]On 15 July 1960, he was created "Viscount SlimofYarralumlain theCapital Territory of Australiaand ofBishopstonin the City and County ofBristol".[84]

After a successful further career on the boards of major UK companies, he was appointedConstable and Governor of Windsor Castleon 18 June 1964.[85]He died in London on 14 December 1970, aged 79 and was given a full military funeral atSt. George's Chapel, Windsorand was afterwards cremated.[2]

Allegations[edit]

During his tenure as Governor-General of Australia, Slim was patron of theFairbridge Farmschool child migration to Australia. 47 years later, in 2007, and 37 years after Slim's death, three former child migrants alleged Slim sexually assaulted them during visits to Fairbridge Farm.[86]The allegations were dismissed at the time both by those who had served under Slim in the army and by hisson.[87]The allegations were aired again on ABC television in the programmeThe Long Journey Home,broadcast on 17 November 2009.[88]On 27 February 2017, the ABC again aired allegations against Slim and Fairbridge Farm.

Somehow or another, I was sat on his [Slim's] knee and, ah..... um..... these silky white hands were right up, because I was wearing shorts, right up my trousers and yeah, it was not..... not very nice.

— Robert Stephens' claims of a drive in Governor-General Slim's car, 2017[89]

Eponyms[edit]

Historical assessment[edit]

Statue of General Slim onWhitehall.

Lieutenant GeneralSirJohn Kiszelyhas recommended Slim's memoirs (Defeat into Victory) (1956) in which Slim candidly talked about his own mistakes in the Burma campaign. The book has never been out of print. Kiszely has described Slim as "perhaps the Greatest Commander of the 20th Century" and has commenting on Slim's "self-deprecating style"[99]Military historianMax Hastingsstated:

In contrast to almost every other outstanding commander of the war, Slim was a disarmingly normal human being, possessed of notable self-knowledge. He was without pretension, devoted to his wife, Aileen, their family and the Indian Army. His calm, robust style of leadership and concern for the interests of his men won the admiration of all who served under him... His blunt honesty, lack of bombast and unwillingness to play courtier did him few favours in the corridors of power. Only his soldiers never wavered in their devotion.[100]

The spirit of comradeship Slim created within Fourteenth Army lived on after the war in theBurma Star Association,of which Slim was a co-founder and first President.[101]

Astatue of SlimonWhitehall,outside theMinistry of Defence,was unveiled byQueen Elizabeth IIin 1990. Designed byIvor Roberts-Jones,the statue is one of three British Second World War military leaders (the others beingAlan BrookeandBernard Montgomery).[102]

Slim's papers were collected by his biographer,Ronald Lewin,and given to theChurchill Archives Centreby Slim's wife, Aileen, Viscountess Slim, and son,John Slim, 2nd Viscount Slim,and other donors, 1977–2001.[103]Lewin's biography,Slim: The Standardbearer,was awarded the 1977WH Smith Literary Award.[104]

Arms[edit]

Coat of arms of William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim
Coronet
ACoronet of a Viscount
Crest
Out of a Crown Vallary Or a Peacock in its Pride proper gorged with a Collar and with a Line reflexed over the back Or
Escutcheon
Gules semy of Swords erect Argent a Lion rampant Or on a Canton quarterly Azure and also Argent a Mullet of seven points Or
Supporters
Dexter: a British Soldier in jungle green Battle Dress with web equipment the exterior hand supporting a Rifle with bayonet affixed; Sinister: a Gurkha Rifleman in North West Frontier dress with web equipment the exterior hand supporting a Rifle all proper
Motto
Merses Profundo Pulchrior Evenit (A recompense is fairer from a depth)

List of honours[edit]

Knight of the Order of the Garter(KG) 24 April 1959[83]
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath(GCB) 2 January 1950[75]
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) 28 September 1944[51]
Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) 1 January 1944[46]
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George(GCMG) 10 December 1952[79]
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order(GCVO) 16 February 1954[81]
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire(GBE) 1 January 1946[69]
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) 28 October 1942[35]
Knight of the Order of St John(KStJ) 2 January 1953[105]
Companion of the Distinguished Service Order(DSO) 14 January 1943[36]
Military Cross(MC) 7 February 1918[5]
Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)[76]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Defeat into Victoryby Field Marshal Sir William Slim; Originally published 1956. More recent editions are NY: Buccaneer BooksISBN1-56849-077-1,Cooper Square PressISBN0-8154-1022-0;London: CassellISBN0-304-29114-5,PanISBN0-330-39066-X.
  • Other publications includeCourage and Other Broadcasts(1957); andUnofficial History(1959).

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^"No one called him William" (Hastings 2008,p. 68).
  2. ^abcdeHeathcote 1999,p. 259.
  3. ^"The Papers of Field Marshal Lord Slim".Churchill Archives Centre.Retrieved30 June2020.
  4. ^"No. 30183".The London Gazette(Supplement). 14 July 1917. p. 7076.
  5. ^ab"No. 30514".The London Gazette(Supplement). 7 February 1918. pp. 1800–1802.
  6. ^"No. 31993".The London Gazette(Supplement). 26 July 1920. p. 7835.
  7. ^"No. 31574".The London Gazette.30 September 1919. p. 12035.
  8. ^abHeathcote 1999,p. 260.
  9. ^"The succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation".Retrieved6 March2018.
  10. ^Lewin 1976,p. 46.
  11. ^"No. 33544".The London Gazette.18 October 1929. p. 6620.
  12. ^"No. 33576".The London Gazette.4 February 1930. pp. 726–727.
  13. ^"No. 33952".The London Gazette.23 June 1933. p. 4205.
  14. ^"No. 34017".The London Gazette.23 January 1934. p. 541.
  15. ^Lewin 1976,pp. 55–58.
  16. ^Lewin 1976,p. 50.
  17. ^Smart 2005,p. 288.
  18. ^Mead 2007,p. 417.
  19. ^Lewin 1976,pp. 58–59.
  20. ^"No. 34527".The London Gazette.1 July 1938. p. 4249.
    "No. 34547".The London Gazette.2 September 1938. p. 5610.
  21. ^"No. 34625".The London Gazette.12 May 1939. p. 3194.
    "No. 34647".The London Gazette.21 July 1939. p. 5036.
  22. ^"No. 34656".The London Gazette.18 August 1939. p. 5676.
  23. ^"No. 34651".The London Gazette.4 August 1939. pp. 5408–5409.
  24. ^Lewin 1976,p. 60.
  25. ^Lewin 1999 p.68
  26. ^abHeathcote 1999,p. 261.
  27. ^Lewin 1976,pp. 69–70.
  28. ^Mead 2007,p. 418.
  29. ^Mead 2007,p. 419.
  30. ^"No. 35183".The London Gazette.6 June 1941. p. 3243.
  31. ^Lewin 1976,p. 70.
  32. ^Lewin 1976,pp. 418–419.
  33. ^"No. 35120".The London Gazette(Supplement). 1 April 1941. p. 1871.
    "No. 35396".The London Gazette.30 December 1941. p. 7353.
  34. ^"No. 35550".The London Gazette(Supplement). 5 May 1942. p. 2021.
  35. ^ab"No. 35763".The London Gazette(Supplement). 28 October 1942. p. 4687.
  36. ^ab"No. 35862".The London Gazette(Supplement). 14 January 1943. p. 321.
  37. ^Murray & Millet 2000,pp. 227–228.
  38. ^Murray & Millet 2000,pp. 227–229.
  39. ^Murray & Millet 2000,p. 228.
  40. ^abcdefWeinberg 2005,p. 641.
  41. ^abMurray & Millet 2000,p. 229.
  42. ^abcdMurray & Millet 2000,p. 230.
  43. ^"No. 36331".The London Gazette.14 January 1944. p. 319.
  44. ^Heathcote 1999,p. 262.
  45. ^abWeinberg 2005,pp. 640–641.
  46. ^ab"No. 36309".The London Gazette(1st supplement). 31 December 1943. p. 4.
  47. ^abcdeMurray & Millet 2000,p. 350.
  48. ^abcdWeinberg 2005,p. 642.
  49. ^Murray & Millet 2000,p. 351.
  50. ^"No. 36642".The London Gazette(Supplement). 8 August 1944. p. 3659.
  51. ^ab"No. 36720".The London Gazette.28 September 1944. p. 4473.
  52. ^"No. 36753".The London Gazette(Supplement). 17 October 1944. p. 4794.
  53. ^abcdeMurray & Millet 2000,p. 489.
  54. ^Croke 2015,pp. 255–276.
  55. ^abcMurray & Millet 2000,p. 492.
  56. ^abcdefghMurray & Millet 2000,p. 491.
  57. ^Ford 2005,p. 470.
  58. ^McLynn 2011,p. 379.
  59. ^Dower 1986,p. 44.
  60. ^"The Burma Campaign 1941 – 1945".BBC.Retrieved12 September2015.
  61. ^abMead 2007,p. 425.
  62. ^Alanbrook in his diary entry of 17 May wrote "...(met) with Auk about appointment of Slim to Burma Command. Leese is going quite wild and doing mad things, prepared a fair rap on the knuckles for him!"
  63. ^"No. 37239".The London Gazette(Supplement). 28 August 1945. p. 4319.
  64. ^Murray & Millet 2000,pp. 489–491.
  65. ^Dower 1986,p. 53.
  66. ^Slim 1961,p. 153.
  67. ^Fraser 1995,p. 35-37.
  68. ^Fraser 1995,pp. xiv.
  69. ^ab"No. 37407".The London Gazette.28 December 1945. p. 17.
  70. ^"No. 37875".The London Gazette.4 February 1947. p. 662.
  71. ^"No. 38289".The London Gazette.14 May 1948. p. 2935.
    "No. 38321".The London Gazette.11 June 1948. p. 3470.
  72. ^abMead 2007,p. 426.
  73. ^"No. 38500".The London Gazette(Supplement). 31 December 1948. p. 49.
  74. ^"No. 38553".The London Gazette.4 March 1949. p. 1127.
  75. ^ab"No. 38797".The London Gazette(Supplement). 2 January 1950. p. 2.
  76. ^ab"No. 38973".The London Gazette(Supplement). 21 July 1950. p. 3741.
  77. ^"No. 38359".The London Gazette.20 July 1948. p. 4189.
  78. ^"No. 39706".The London Gazette(Supplement). 28 November 1952. p. 6331.
  79. ^ab"No. 39716".The London Gazette.12 December 1952. p. 6544.
  80. ^"No. 39743".The London Gazette.2 January 1953. p. 94.
  81. ^ab"No. 40159".The London Gazette.27 April 1954. p. 2500.
  82. ^"National Library of Australia".Nla.gov.au.Retrieved12 September2015.
  83. ^ab"No. 41691".The London Gazette.24 May 1959. p. 2687.
  84. ^"No. 42094".The London Gazette.15 July 1960. p. 4925.
  85. ^"No. 43360".The London Gazette.19 June 1964. p. 5337.
  86. ^Hill 2007,p.[page needed].
  87. ^Leech & Box 2007.
  88. ^ABC staff 2009.
  89. ^"Inquiry to expose sexual abuse of British child migrants – 27/02/2017".Abc.net.au. 27 February 2017.Retrieved29 March2017.
  90. ^Lowrey, Tom (16 June 2019)."How renaming Canberra's William Slim Drive could trigger a rethink of history".ABC News.Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Retrieved12 December2021.
  91. ^Groch, Sherryn (6 June 2019)."William Slim Drive in Canberra to be renamed in wake of sexual abuse claims".Canberra Times.Retrieved7 June2019.
  92. ^Hayne, Jordan; Scott, Elise (6 June 2019)."William Slim Drive to be renamed over sexual abuse allegations against former governor-general".ABC News.Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Retrieved6 June2019.
  93. ^Bladen, Lucy (16 February 2021)."William Slim Drive renamed ahead of duplication works".The Canberra Times.Retrieved17 December2021.
  94. ^"Defence Management Journal, Issue 32".Archivedfrom the original on 29 July 2012.Retrieved9 February2012.
  95. ^"StackPath".indcatholicnews.
  96. ^"Salvation Army".Where it is.Retrieved12 September2015.
  97. ^"A student's guide to Shrivenham"(PDF).Cranfield University. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 21 October 2014.Retrieved21 September2015.
  98. ^"Slim School".Slim School.Retrieved21 February2016.
  99. ^"The Defence Academy: The Director's Reading List".Archivedfrom the original on 2 February 2008.Retrieved26 January2008.
  100. ^Hastings 2008,p. 69.
  101. ^"Burma Star Association history".Archived fromthe originalon 11 May 2015.
  102. ^"UK attractions: Statue of Viscount Slim".Archived fromthe originalon 11 January 2008.Retrieved26 January2008.
  103. ^"Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge".Archivedfrom the original on 9 July 2012.Retrieved12 June2007.
  104. ^"WH Smith Literary Award Winners".Good Reads.Retrieved12 September2015.
  105. ^"Governors-General".Archivedfrom the original on 13 March 2014.Retrieved13 March2014.

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related toWilliam Slim, 1st Viscount Slim.
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Military offices
Preceded by Commandant of the Senior Officers' School, Belgaum
June–September 1939 		School closed for the war
Preceded by GOC 10th Indian Infantry Division
1941–1942 		Succeeded by
Preceded by GOC XV Indian Corps
1942–1943 		Succeeded by
New title GOC Fourteenth Army
1943–1945 		Succeeded by
Vacant
Title last held by
Hugh Binney 		Commandant of the Imperial Defence College
1946–1948 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of the Imperial General Staff
1948–1952 		Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Governor-General of Australia
1953–1960 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Vacant
Title last held by
The Earl of Athlone 		Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle
1964–1970 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Viscount Slim
1960–1970 		Succeeded by
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