General Alan Brooke, Commander- in-Chief, Home Forces, 1940 (c)

Oil on canvas by H D McCormick 1942 after Reginald Eves (1876-1941) 1940.

Alan Francis Brooke (1883-1963) served with the Royal Artillery on the Western Front during World War One (1914-1918). By the beginning of World War Two (1939-1945) Brooke had risen to the rank of lieutenant general and been put in charge of Southern Command. He is regarded as having played a crucial role in the evacuation of much of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk in 1940. After the fall of France, Brooke was made Commander-in-Chief Home Forces and did much to prepare the nation for possible invasion.

In 1941 he was promoted to field marshal and appointed Chief of the Imperial Staff. Brooke was a key military advisor to the Prime Minister Winston Churchill throughout the war. In recognition of his great service he was made Baron Alanbrooke of Brookeborough in September 1945 and Viscount Alanbrooke in 1946.