Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell: Battle

Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell was senior officer of the British Army. Explore interesting quotes on battle.

Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell: 14 quotes2 likes

“Let us be clear about three facts. First, all battles and all wars are won in the end by the infantryman. Secondly, the infantryman always bears the brunt. His casualties are heavier, he suffers greater extremes of discomfort and fatigue than the other arms. Thirdly, the art of the infantryman is less stereotyped and far harder to acquire in modern war than that of any other arm…. The infantryman has to use initiative and intelligence in almost every step he moves, every action he takes on the battle-field. We ought therefore to put our men of best intelligence and endurance into the Infantry.”

Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell

In Praise of Infantry, The London Times, Thursday, 19 April 1945.

“A bold general may be lucky, but no general can be lucky unless he is bold. The general who allows himself to be bound and hampered by regulations is unlikely to win a battle.”

Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell

I – The Good General.
"Generals and Generalship" (1939)

“The British have been a free people and are still a comparatively free people; and though we are not, thank Heaven, a military nation, this tradition of freedom gives to our junior leaders in war a priceless gift of initiative. So long as this initiative is not cramped by too many regulations, by too much formalism, we shall, I trust, continue to win our battles – sometimes in spite of our higher commanders.”

Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell

III – The Soldier and the Statesman.
"Generals and Generalship" (1939)