Leese, Oliver William Hargreaves (1894-1978)

English soldier who was engaged in many theatres of conflict during World War II, including North Africa and Burma. For a long time, he served under Montgomery, in the British Expeditionary Force in France (1939-40), in the Eighth Army in the Western Desert, and during the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943.

After service in World War I, Leese was appointed deputy chief of the general staff of the BEF in 1940, and a divisional commander. A lieutenant-general in 1942, he commanded the 30th Corps of the Eighth Army from the battle of El Alamein to the invasion of Sicily. In January 1944, he became Eighth Army commander until transferred in November to Allied Land Forces, South-East Asia. From 1945 to his retirement in 1946 he was general officer commanding-in-chief, Eastern Command. He became lieutenant- general in 1944, and was appointed lieutenant of the Tower of London in 1954.