Personal Papers of Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Galloway

'Sandy' Galloway was born 3 November 1895. In 1920 he married Dorothy Hadden White and they had three sons. On the outbreak of war in 1914 Galloway volunteered immediately, and was commissioned into the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), but he first saw active service with 4th King's Own Scottish Borderers at Gallipoli. He then took part in campaigns in Egypt and Palestine before going to the western front. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1918. Galloway became a regular officer in 1917. After service abroad, Galloway entered the Staff College at Camberley. Ten years later he returned to Camberley to instruct before commanding 1st Cameronians, an appointment cut short by promotion to command the Staff College at Haifa in February 1940. Galloway was picked as brigadier, general staff chief staff officer to Sir H. M. Wilson. He made an important contribution to the desert victory of 1940 and also to the evacuation from Greece in 1941. In Egypt he became chief staff officer to the new Eighth Army under Lieutenant-General Sir Alan Cunningham, whose task it was to destroy the combined German-Italian army. Operation Crusader began in November 1941 with great success but the situation then reversed and an exhausted Cunningham decided to withdraw. Galloway decided to withhold the order, believing that such a move would be disastrous. He told the commander-in-chief, Sir Claude Auchinleck, that they must fight on. His advice was taken and resulted in a British success. Galloway was promoted and sent to the United States to select equipment for the Eighth Army. However, the incident brought him to the attention of General Sir Alan Brooke who needed a major-general to become director of staff duties and ordered Galloway to London. In 1944, Galloway was sent to 1st armoured division in the Mediterranean which remained in reserve during the campaign through the Italian mountains. He took temporary command of 4th Indian division at Cassino before being recalled to the staff, this time at the wish of Field Marshal Montgomery. He was in north-west Europe at the end of the war when he was promoted and given the following commands: 30th corps, the army in Malaya. In 1947 he was appointed high commissioner and commander-in-chief, British forces in Austria, where he stayed until 1949. He retired in 1950. He was twice mentioned in dispatches and was awarded the first class Military Cross of both Greece and Czechoslovakia, the orders of Merit and the White Lion of Czechoslovakia, and the order of Orange-Nassau of the Netherlands. Galloway died 28 January 1977.

This collection consists of correspondence with colleagues from the Eighth Army, historians and key figures from World War II.

Lady Galloway deposited these papers at Churchill Archives Centre in June 1977.

This collection is owned by Churchill College.

The collection is open for consultation by researchers using Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge. Churchill Archives Centre is open from Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. A prior appointment and two forms of identification are required.

Researchers wishing to publish excerpts from the papers must obtain prior permission from the copyright holders and should seek advice from Archives Centre staff.

Please cite as Churchill Archives Centre, Personal Papers of Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Galloway, GLWY

This catalogue is available at Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, and the National Register of Archives, London. The catalogue is also available on the Janus website http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk.

This collection (fonds) level description of the papers was compiled by Louise King of Churchill Archives Centre in March 2005, using from the papers themselves and from Galloway's entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.