William Gott

Lieutenant-General William Henry Ewart Gott, (13 August 1897 – 7 August 1942), nicknamed "Strafer", was a senior British Army officer who fought during both the First and the Second World Wars, reaching the rank of lieutenant-general while serving with the British Eighth Army in the Western Desert and North Africa from 1940 to 1942. In August 1942 he was appointed as successor to General Claude Auchinleck as commander of the Eighth Army but, on the way to take up his command, he was killed when his plane was shot down. His death led to the appointment of Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery in his place. Military career Educated at Harrow School, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the King's Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC) in February 1915, and served with distinction with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France during the First World War. His nickname "Strafer" was a pun on the German war slogan Gott strafe England (God punish England). He was promoted to the rank of captain in January 1921, and attended the Staff College, Camberley from January 1930 until December 1931. He was promoted major in July 1934, having been made a brevet major earlier in January. His service during the interwar period included a posting as adjutant to a territorial battalion, and a period of postings in India as a general staff officer (GSO2) and Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General. North African campaigns Having been promoted lieutenant-colonel in October 1938 to command the 1st Battalion, KRRC on its transfer from Burma to Egypt to become part of the Mobile Division (later to become 7th Armoured Division, the "Desert Rats"), Gott held a succession of posts in the division; he was successively chief staff officer of the division (General Staff Officer, Grade I, ranked lieutenant-colonel) commander of the Support Group as acting brigadier, and General Officer Commanding acting major-general of the 7th Armoured Division.