For the 1960s Middle East Command (Aden), see British Forces Aden. For the Royal Air Force command, see RAF Middle East Command.
Middle East Command Middle East Land Forces
area under the command before separation of Persia and Iraq Command
Active
Middle East Command: June 1939 – c. 1946 Middle East Land Forces: 1946–67
Country
United Kingdom
Branch
British Army
Type
Command
Size
1 million in Second World War
Part of
War Office Ministry of Defence (Army)
Garrison/HQ
Cairo Suez Canal Zone Cyprus
Engagements
Second World War
Western Desert Campaign
East African Campaign
Suez Crisis
Commanders
Notable commanders
Archibald Wavell Claude Auchinleck Harold Alexander
Military unit
v
t
e
Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre
Adriatic
North Africa
East Africa
Mediterranean Sea
Gibraltar
Malta
Bahrain
Balkans
Yugoslavia
Iraq
Syria–Lebanon
Palestine
Iran
Sicily
Italian mainland
Dodecanese
Corsica
Dragoon
Alpes-Maritimes
Emblem of the Middle East Command.
Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to defend British interests in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean region.
During the Second World War, Middle East Command supervised military operations in and around the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East. Following the defeat of the Axis forces in the Western Desert at the Battle of El Alamein and the landing of additional Anglo-American forces during Operation Torch, it transferred control of land forces to the newly created Allied Forces Headquarters.
and 24 Related for: Middle East Command information
MiddleEastCommand, later MiddleEast Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was...
MiddleEastCommand was a command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) that was active during the Second World War. It had been preceded by RAF MiddleEast, which...
namely the area between the Near East and the Far East. In the late 1930s, the British established the MiddleEastCommand, which was based in Cairo, for...
the Army Council and thereafter it became the responsibility of MiddleEastCommand. It was disbanded on 11 December 1963, the day before Kenya became...
as the Mediterranean and MiddleEast Theatre (so called due to the location of the fighting and the name of MiddleEastCommand), the Americans called it...
was renamed Near EastCommand. On 1 March 1961 British Forces Arabian Peninsula was renamed, again, this time as MiddleEastCommand (Aden). The senior...
MiddleEastCommand Camouflage Directorate (also known as the Camouflage Unit or Camouflage Branch) organised major deception operations for Middle East...
British India Command Land Command (1995–2008) Land Forces (2008–2011) Malaya Command HQ Malta and Libya (until at least 1967) MiddleEastCommand (1939–1945)...
modern conflicts in the MiddleEast ensuing in the geographic and political region known as the MiddleEast. The "MiddleEast" is traditionally defined...
Channel. Relieved of command after the Battle of Britain, Park served in a training role before being posted to the MiddleEast as Air Officer Commanding...
and Palestine in October 1941, GOC Persia and Iraq Command in August 1942 and GOC MiddleEastCommand in February 1943. He was Supreme Allied Commander...
United States Army Forces in the MiddleEast (USAFIME) was a unified United States Army command during World War II established in August, 1942 by order...
Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the new MiddleEastCommand, over the Mediterranean and MiddleEast. Until the Franco–German Armistice of 22 June...
commander-in-chief of the MiddleEast Theatre, but after initial successes, the war in North Africa turned against the British-led forces under his command, and he was...
rebellion in Iraq the command of land forces in the country was passed from the Commander-in-Chief, India (GHQ India) to MiddleEastCommand, as the latter was...
was active from 1961 to as late as 1977. In 1959 MiddleEastCommand was divided into two commands split by the Suez canal. The two parts were British...
United States foreign policy in the MiddleEast has its roots in the early 19th-century Tripolitan War that occurred shortly after the 1776 establishment...
rank in the Royal Air Force. He was Commander-in-Chief of the RAF's MiddleEastCommand from 1940 to 1941. Born in Manly, New South Wales, the son of Charles...
(COMSEVENTHFLT) staff, under Vice Admiral Hank Mauz, would be despatched to command in the MiddleEast and, tentatively, the Commander, U.S. Third Fleet staff would...
over by HQ Cyrenaica Command, a static command, reflecting the Allied defensive posture in the Western Desert as MiddleEastCommand became obliged to focus...
British MiddleEastCommand at risk. The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) had already planned for a buildup of American air power in the MiddleEast in...
World War, when he commanded the 21st Army Group from June to December 1943 and was Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) MiddleEastCommand from January 1944 to...
sub-command of RAF MiddleEastCommand under Air Chief Marshal Sir Sholto Douglas. MiddleEastCommand, like NAAF and Air H.Q. Malta were sub-commands of...
Global Information
United Kingdom
British Army