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William "Strafer" Gott, during World War II, was a
General|Lieutenant General in the British Eighth
Army. An officer in the King's Royal Rifle Corps
(KRRC), Gott served with distinction with the
British Expeditionary Force|BEF in France during
World War I. Arriving in Egypt in 1939 as a
Lieutenant Colonel commanding the 1st Battalion
KRRC, he was successively GSO1 (Lt. Colonel),
commander of the Support Group (Brigadier), and
commanding officer (Major General) of the famed
British 7th Armoured Division|7th Armoured
Division (the Desert Rats). Gott was promoted to
Lieutenant General, given command of British XIII
Corps|XIII Corps in early 1942 and led that
formation in the battles of Gazala and First
Alamein. In August of that year prime minister
Winston Churchill removed General Sir Claude
Auchinleck as C-in-C Middle East and acting GOC
Eighth Army. Gott's aggressive, somewhat impetuous
personality, reflected in his nickname "Strafer",
appealed to Churchill, and Gott was chosen to take
over British Eighth Army|Eighth Army, despite what
Auchineck and Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount
Alanbrooke|General Sir Alan Brooke, the Chief of
the Imperial General Staff|CIGS, saw as his
shortcomings as a large-scale commander,
highlighted by the confused see-saw of fighting
before and during First Battle of El Alamein|First
Alamein. Whatever his skills as an inspiring
divisional leader, of 7th Armoured for example, he
seemed unable to translate these into the
strategic sphere where co-ordination and
co-operation between and among various fighting
elements is essential. Before he could take up his
post, Gott was killed when his plane was shot down
on the flight back to Cairo. Gott's replacement
was Lt. General Bernard Montgomery.