Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell: Command

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

Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell: 14 quotes2 likes

“A general may succeed for some time in persuading his superiors that he is a good commander: he will never persuade his army that he is a good commander unless he has the real qualities of one.”

Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell

II – The General and His Troops.
"Generals and Generalship" (1939)

“The higher commander who goes to Field Service Regulations for tactical guidance inspires about as much confidence as the doctor who turns to a medical dictionary for his diagnosis.”

Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell

III – The Soldier and the Statesman.
"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)