“I will give you two simple rules which every general should observe: first, never to try to do his own staff work; and secondly, never to let his staff get between him and his troops.”

Field Marshal A.P. Wavell (1883 to 1950)Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, in full Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell (of Eritrea and of Winchester), Viscount Wavell of Cyrenaica and of Winchester, Viscount Keren of Eritrea and of Winchester, British Field Marshal and government administrator whose victories against the Italians in North Africa during the early part of World War II were offset by his inability to defeat the German Afrika Korps under General Erwin Rommel (1941) and his failure to stop the Japanese in Malaya (Malaysia) and Burma (Myanmar) in 1942.