‘This is not the sort of man we want in Palestine today’. New evidence on the appointment of Alan Cunningham as High Commissioner of Palestine

Abstract

The decision-making process behind the appointment of General Alan Cunningham as High Commissioner of Palestine in November 1945 to replace Field Marshal Lord Gort has been difficult to explain. Cunningham’s record as a failed wartime general and backwater administrative commander were scant preparation for an important political position in Mandatory Palestine. Newly located files indicate Vice Chief of the Imperial Staff Archibald Nye listed Cunningham among a series of possible candidates for consideration by Prime Minister Clement Atlee. Terror attacks in Palestine, American pressure over Jewish refugees, the need to secure additional American loans, and the covert Anglo-French intelligence war in the Middle East, pressured Atlee to make a quick decision. After some confusion Cunningham was selected and Chief of the Imperial General Staff Alan Brooke approved. Haste and personal connections therefore brought about a critical appointment that shaped the end of the Mandate.