Monday, Jun. 28, 1943
New Ruler of 400,000,000
"The politician, who has to persuade and confute, must keep an open and flexible mind, accustomed to criticism and argument; the mind of the soldier, who commands and obeys without question, is apt to be fixed, drilled, and attached to definite rules. . . . That each should understand the other better is essential for the conduct of modern war."
Britain's versatile Sir Archibald Percival Wavell, essayist as well as general, spoke these words in prewar 1939 while lecturing at Cambridge. It is doubtful if he even dreamed then that he would ever play the politician's part. Last week the opportunity came: he was named Viceroy of India. By putting a military man in the post, Britain broke a precedent standing since 1858. At 60, the scion of a family of generals, the trooper who lost an eye at Ypres, who studied desert tactics under Lord Allenby and applied them triumphantly in the Cyrenaica campaign of 1941, the reader of Socrates, Shakespeare and Browning -- this closemouthed, wry-humored Briton took over the Empire's most complex, burdensome political post and became ruler of 390,000,000 people.
To Wavell's old rank of Commander in Chief in India went General Sir Claude J. E. Auchinleck ("The Auk"), veteran of the Indian and Middle East services. But the London communique announcing these changes added significantly:
"It is proposed to relieve the Commander in Chief in India of responsibility for the conduct of operations against Japan and to set up a separate East Asia command for that purpose. Further announcement on this subject will be made soon."
Surprise Choice. Tall, stern Lord Linlithgow, whose record term (seven and a half years) as Viceroy expires in October, was fishing near Simla in the cool fragrance of the Himalayan hills when Wavell's appointment was announced. Down in the plains, where the hot summer wind, the loo, pushed the mercury toward an unendurable 120DEG, Indian commentators wrote bitterly that Linlithgow had ruled through a period of turmoil unsurpassed since the mutiny of 1857. They had expected as his successor a hardheaded, reactionary politician, while hoping, faintly, for a statesman with "a fresh approach to the Indian problem."
The choice of Wavell, who has been trained in neither politics nor diplomacy, upset such expectations. But nothing could upset Indian mistrust of British motives, Indian resentment over the incommunicado imprisonment of Mohandas Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and thousands of fellow nationalists. From New Delhi, TIME Correspondent William Fisher reported :
"The Indian reaction to the Wavell appointment is that it indicates no change of British policy politically. General Wavell took part in the Cripps negotiations, was in India during last year's riots and thus had opportunity to follow developments step by step. As Commander in Chief and member of the Viceroy's Council he showed considerable military administrative ability and frequently some gift for diplomacy. He speaks Hindustani and has many friends among Indians, though mostly in princely and military circles."
Significant Separation. In British, Indian, U.S. and Chinese eyes, the most significant thing in the Indian shake-up was the separate East Asia command for operations against Japan. Neither General Wavell nor General Auchinleck would head that command. Sir Archibald, who chased and was chased in North African desert warfare, fared poorly in the last Burmese jungle campaign (TIME, May 31). A new great Allied offensive to reopen the Burma Road to China might be launched in the fall, and its commander might be Chinese-speaking U.S. Lieut. General Joseph W. Stilwell. But as Viceroy, Wavell would also play an important part. His talents as an administrator, his knowledge of military supply would be needed to keep India stable and ready as the great base against Japan.
General Wavell was in Britain, dividing his time between London and the country. Monocle in eye, he motored around in a black Packard. He revisited his old school, Winchester, talked to the boys about India, saw the movie Colonel Blimp, once complained: "One word of command from me is obeyed by millions . . . but I cannot get my three daughters, Pamela, Felicity and Joan, to come down to breakfast on time." In India, where the nationalist press criticized his appointment as vigorously as censorship allowed, he was likely to have more troubles than that.
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