personality profile

Personality Profile: Field Marshal

William Joseph Slim
http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/William_Slim,_1st_Viscount_Slim/

by NG YI MING

Viscount William Slim

I. INTRODUCTION

ield Marshal William Joseph

"Bill" Slim, 1st Viscount Slim,
KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO,
MC, KstJ (6 August 1891 14
December 1970) was an outstanding
British military officer who led the
British Fourteenth Army during
the reconquest of Burma during
World War II. He was a good
student and teacher with a sharp
analytical mind, he was aware of
situations on the field, understood
the importance of competent
administration
and
effective
staff work. He was also the 13th
Governor-general of Australia,
chosen as he was a war hero who
had fought with the Australians at
Gallipoli and in the Middle East.

II. EARLY LIFE

Field Marshal Slim was born
in 1891 at Bishopston, a village
on the outskirts of Bristol. His
family belonged to the lowermiddle class, with his father
working
as
an
ironmonger,
albeit an unsuccessful one.1
Field Marshall Slim worked as an
elementary school teacher in a
Birmingham slum district and then
a junior clerk in a metal tubing
firm.2 His humble origins and
unconventional work experience
relative to other officers of the
same stature proved very useful in
establishing rapport with the rank
and file.3
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III. WORLD WAR I AND INTERWAR PERIOD (1919-1939)

Though he won a scholarship to
attend a local grammar school, he
was financially and socially unable to
pursue an officer's career. However,
despite lacking a university
education, he had been enlisted in
the Officer Training Corps (OTC), and
was given a temporary commission
at the outbreak of World War I.
He displayed qualities of a leader
during periods of active service
in Gallipoli and Mesopotamia
with the Royal Warwicks.4 That
experience led to his recognition as
an officer of superior calibre, which
translated into an opportunity
for him to enrol into the Imperial
Defence College course for the
most promising officers.5

IV. WORLD WAR II

SUDAN
Slim commanded the 10th
Indian Brigade, attempting to
recapture the fort of Gallabat, and
the nearby fortress of Metemma.
The majority of Slim's tanks were
destroyed, along with his air cover.
Bombing in the fort by the Italians
led to the Essex regiment to panic,
leading to its desertion.6 As a
result, an invasion of Metemma was
aborted, even though it emerged
later on that the Metemma garrison
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personality profile
was about to surrender. He took
full responsibility of the situation
and resolved to be bolder and more
aggressive in the future.
MIDDLE EAST
Slim assumed command of the
10th Indian Division in Iraq in May
1941, joining the staff of General
Archibald Wavell in the Middle
East Command. During the SyriaLebanon campaign, he planned an
assault from two fronts to capture
Dier-ez-zor in east Syria. Though
the campaign did not go according
to plan. With vehicles running
out of fuel in the middle of the
desert, Slim remained level-headed
and solved the issue by using
fuel from vehicles on the line of
communications. He captured Dierez-zor and the victory strengthened
his self-confidence.7 He gained
additional command experience
during the occupation of Persia
that followed after the campaign.8
RETREAT FROM BURMA
As a result of lobbying from
two of Slim's former colleagues,
Major-general David Tennant Cowan
and Major-general James Bruce
Scott. Slim was assigned as the
Commander of Burma Corps under
Field Marshal Harold Alexander, 1st
Earl Alexander of Tunis. It seemed,
at that point of time, to be the
end of his military career. This was
because he had been appointed
at a time when the Japanese
military seemed unstoppable.
With the whole of Southeast Asia,
save northern Burma, under Axis
control, Slim's men were defeated
and demoralised. Making matters
worse, they lacked an effective
counter-measure for rapid crosscountry movement by the Japanese.
Field Marshall Alexander never
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gave his corps commander clear

orders, making Slim unsure whether
to counter-attack, or just try to
keep the Burma Corps intact as a
force. FM Alexander's decision to
draw units away from the main force
to help the Chinese troops in east
Burma exacerbated the situation as
it was impossible for the remaining
Burma Corps to survive a clash with
Japanese troops. Slim kept calm
and confident to prevent morale
from dropping to dangerous levels,
consequently preventing a disaster
from occurring. However, with
the field situation deteriorating
as a result of a series of failed
offensives, Alexander ordered a
retreat back to Assam, India on
25th of April.9
INDIA
Though quite a number of people
believed that the Japanese were
invincible, Slim rejected the idea
of surrendering to the enemy and
did everything that was possible
to ensure the maximum number of
troops reached Assam safely. Such
were his achievements during this
retreat that when he relinquished
his command, he was given a
rousing farewell by all the officers
and foot soldiers. He was appointed
commander of 15 Corps and was
based in Barrackpore. He was in
charge of policing Bengal, Bihar
and Orissa, defending the southern
sector of the Indo-Burmese border
and the coast of Bengal.10 His
greatest accomplishment during
this time was to motivate and train
his forces, which at that time, had
loyalties that were suspect as the
Japanese were seen as liberators
rather as invaders.11 He did not
receive much assistance, due to the
lack of war material and for every
battle casualty, there were 120

troops who succumbed to disease.

He improved health and sanitation
through a more complex diet, by
commissioning farms to provide
meat and vegetables to front-line
soldiers and better medical centres.
This aided the reduction of jungle
diseases such as malaria.12
In January 1944, during the
Second Arakan Offensive, the
Japanese took the British by
surprise by launching a counteroffensive. The decisive battle was
fought around Sinzweya, near the
eastern end of Ngakyedauk Pass,
where the 7th Indian Division had
its main administration area. It
was subsequently known as the
Battle of the Admin Box. This,
however, was just a diversion, as
the Japanese's main objective was
Imphal, India. Slim's tactics were
to draw the Japanese into battle
on the plains of Imphal, where the
lines of communications for the
Japanese would be overstretched
and the defensive troops would
have an advantage over armour
and artillery. Despite this, Slim
had a lapse of judgement by giving
the order to form up too late. The
Japanese offensive began on 4th of
March rather than the expected date
on the 15th.13 Luckily, divisions
that were cut off as a result of
the early Japanese offensive,
namely 17th Indian Division and
20th Indian Division managed to
fight their way through to meet up
with the rest of the force. Slim's
troops had pressed on towards
central Burma during the monsoon
season winning the approval of
Admiral of the Fleet Lord Louis
Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten
of Burma. By mid-December 1944,
bridgeheads over the Chindwin had
been secured and a Bailey bridge
had been constructed at Kalewa.

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personality profile
At this point, the Japanese army in
Burma suffered massive casualties
while retreating and consequently
its forces were demoralised.
Although Slim lost 75 Dakota
Airplanes in December 1944 while
the Japanese fanatically defended
Rangoon, they were still no match
for the Fourteenth Army.14

V. PERSONALITY
Slim was free of aristocratic
bearing and behaviour, given his
humble origins, and won the trust
of many individuals from different
nations. He was also able to
communicate in a simple language
that the rank and file could easily
understand, thus bonding with
his men on a personal level. This
accounted for him creating an
espirit de corps at the Army level.15
These traits, in addition to being
a fine staff officer who knew what
he was doing in the field, made him
become one of the great British
generals in World War II.16

VI. AFTER THE WAR

Slim was appointed Commandant
of the Imperial Defence College in
1946. On 11 May 1948, Slim stepped
down as Commandant and refused
to serve in India or Pakistan, citing
that he was not the most suitable
man to maintain British links
with both countries.17 He instead
accepted the post as Deputy
Chairman of British Railways.18 He
treated the British workers the
same as what he did during the
Burma Campaign, thus creating
rapport between the company and
unions representing the workers.
This had led to the appreciation of
his efforts by British Prime Minister
Clement Attlee, who subsequently
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62

lobbied hard to reactivate Slim's

commission in order to make him
Chief of Imperial General Staff.19
He relinquished this position on 1
November 1952 to take on the post
of Governor-general of Australia.
He was chosen as he was a man
of sufficient stature who could
effectively be portrayed as a
symbol of the royal presence in
Australia.20 There were no issues
that warranted his political
intervention; his duties were
mostly ceremonial for the duration
of his appointment. At the end of
his appointment, he was given the
title Viscount Slim of Yarralumla
in the Capital Territory of Australia
and of Bishopston in the City and
County of Bristol.21 He was also
appointed Constable and Governor
of Windsor Castle on 18 June 1964.
He died in London on 14 December
1970, aged 69.

VII. CONCLUSION
Slim was said to be the finest
British general that World War
II produced. He succeeded in
overcoming great difficulties during
the Burma Campaign that would
have overwhelmed anyone else
without his skills. His personnel
management skills had also earned
him praise both as a civilian and
a soldier as he put them to great
use when he commanded the
Fourteenth Army in Burma and
when he was engaging the workers
in British Railways. This paved
the way for him to become Chief
of the Imperial General Staff.
His focus on logistics and
administration that contributed
to the smooth running of the
campaign and his lack of any
aristocratic bearing and attitudes
had cemented his position as a
real war hero.

ENDNOTES
1. Ronald
Lewin,
Slim:
The
Standardbearer: A Biography of
Field-Marshal The Viscount Slim
KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC
(Leo Cooper, London, 1976), p2
2. Ibid., pp8-9
3. Brian Bond. Slim and Fourteenth
Army in Burma, in British and
Japanese Leadership in the Far
Eastern War 1941-1945, eds. Brian
Bond and Kyoichi Tachikawa,
(London, Frank Cass, 2004), p40
4. Ibid., p40
5. Ibid., p41
6. Ibid., p41
7. Ibid., p41
8. Ibid., p42
9. Ibid., p42
10. Ronald
Lewin,
Slim:
The
Standardbearer: A Biography of
Field-Marshal The Viscount Slim KG,
GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC (Leo
Cooper, London, 1976), pp111-112
11. Frank N. Magill, Great Lives from
History: British and Commonwealth
Series V5 (Salem, Pasadena, 1987),
p2328
12. Ibid., p2328
13. Brian Bond. Slim and Fourteenth
Army in Burma, in British and
Japanese Leadership in the Far
Eastern War 1941-1945, eds. Brian
Bond and Kyoichi Tachikawa,
(London, Frank Cass, 2004), pp46-47
14. Ibid., p50-51
15. Ibid., p51
16. Ibid., p38
17. Ronald
Lewin,
Slim:
The
Standardbearer: A Biography of
Field-Marshal The Viscount Slim KG,
GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC (Leo
Cooper, London, 1976), p260
18. Ibid., p261
19. Ibid., p263
20. Ibid., p282
21. Government of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland, The London Gazette, 15 July
1960, p4925
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