Stilwell, Joseph Warren (1883-1946)

US general in World War II. In 1942 he became US military representative in China, when he commanded the Chinese forces cooperating with the British (with whom he quarrelled) in Burma (now Myanmar). He later commanded all US forces in China, Burma, and India until recalled to the USA in 1944 after differences over nationalist policy with the Guomindang (nationalist) leader Chiang Kai-shek. Subsequently he commanded the US 10th Army on the Japanese island of Okinawa.

Born in Palatka, Florida, Stilwell graduated from West Point military academy in 1904. He served in the Philippines 1904-06, and was an instructor at West Point 1906-10. He then served in China, and studied the Chinese language, making him one of the foremost US authorities on Chinese life. In World War I he served in France.

He sought the engagement of 30 divisions of Chinese nationalist troops in battle against the Japanese. Chiang Kai-shek refused, preferring to reserve his forces for use against the Chinese Communists in the anticipated Chinese civil war. At Chiang's insistence, President F D Roosevelt recalled Stilwell, giving him command of the US 10th Army on Okinawa.