serviceyears monarch branch death_date children birth_date signature term_end alma_mater commands death_place imagesize profession battles order term_start spouse rank name smallimage predecessor birth_place awards office successor religion primeminister article_title birth_name
1911 -- 1946 george vi elizabeth ii british army 16 june 1969 rose alexander maureen alexander shane william desmond alexander brian james 10 december 1891 harold alexander , 1st earl alexander of tunis signature.svg 28 february 1952 * harrow school * supreme commander allied force headquarters slough , buckinghamshire , england , united kingdom 160px soldier * first world war 17th 12 april 1946 margaret alexander , countess alexander of tunis field marshal the earl alexander of tunis harold alexander e010750678-v8 . jpg the earl of athlone london , england , united kingdom see below ... governor-general of canada more ... vincent massey anglicanism william lyon mackenzie king louis st. laurent harold alexander , 1st earl alexander of tunis
 harold rupert leofric george alexander
harold alexander , 1st earl alexander of tunis

field marshal harold rupert leofric george alexander , 1st earl alexander of tunis pc pc -lrb- can -rrb- -lrb- 10 december 1891 -- 16 june 1969 -rrb- was a british military commander and field marshal who served with distinction in both world wars and , afterwards , as governor-general of canada , the 17th since canadian confederation .
alexander was born in london , england , to aristocratic parents and was educated at harrow before moving on to the royal military college , sandhurst , for training as an army officer .
he rose to prominence through his service in the first world war , receiving numerous honours and decorations , and continued his military career through various british campaigns across europe and asia .
in the second world war , alexander oversaw the final stages of the allied evacuation from dunkirk and subsequently held high-ranking field commands in burma , north africa and italy , including serving as commander-in-chief middle east and commanding the 18th army group in tunisia .
he then commanded the 15th army group for the capture of sicily and again in italy before receiving his field marshal 's baton and being made supreme allied commander mediterranean .
in 1946 he was appointed as governor general by king george vi , on the recommendation of prime minister of canada william lyon mackenzie king , to replace the earl of athlone as viceroy , and he occupied the post until succeeded by vincent massey in 1952 .
alexander proved to be enthusiastic about the canadian wilderness and was a popular governor general with canadians .
he was the last non-canadian-born governor general before the appointment of adrienne clarkson in 1999 , as well as the last governor general to be a peer .
after the end of his viceregal tenure , alexander was sworn into the queen 's privy council for canada and thereafter , in order to serve as the british minister of defence in the cabinet of winston churchill , into the imperial privy council .
alexander retired in 1954 and died in 1969 .
