Thomas Edward Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)
One of the 20th century's most iconic characters was Thomas Edward Lawrence (1888–1935),…
- Military History
- Biographies
Biographies
Personalities, distinguished commanders, military geniuses, historic figures and personalities
Our list of biographies includes not only military personalities and distinguished battle commanders in history, but also men whose genius has earned them an unquestionable place in history or played a significant role in one of the many wars.
The biographies are not intended to be detailed essays of each individual but a compact approach to learn more about the character, strategy, talents, values, beliefs and eccentricities. When trying to analyze the outcome of many famous battles, these biographies will give us many clues on how much certain individuals directly affected the outcome through their personal contributions and the relationship with other leaders of the same periods.
Field Marshal Julian Hedworth George Byng
Militarians Biographies
Byng was born into a privileged life at Wrotham Park (Barnet) as the son of George Stevens Byng, Second Earl of Strafford, and was educated in Eton. He entered the militia, where he distinguished himself sufficiently to be posted into the elite Tenth Hussars in 1883.
Major General Adna Romanza Chaffee Jr.
Militarians Biographies
Chaffee was the only son of the remarkable Adna Chaffee Sr. who had joined the army as a private during the Civil War and by the end of his career would become chief of staff of the army with the rank of lieutenant general. The junior Chaffee steeped in the military and graduated from West Point in the upper hall of his 1906 class.
Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault
Militarians Biographies
Claire Chennault organized an ace group of volunteer American fighter pilots who risked their lives in China before the United States and Japan were at war. His Flying Tigers made military history even before the war officially started for the United States. They then struck one of the first blows against Japan after its attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill
Politicians Biographies
Winston Churchill was the son of Lord Randolph Churchill, descended from the First Duke of Marlborough and Jennie Jerome (an American). Young Churchill did not take well to schooling (at Harrow) and rejected the university education that befitted his aristocratic station. Instead, he enrolled at Sandhurst (the "British West Point") graduating in 1894 and receiving a commission in the Fourth Hussars.
General Mark Wayne Clark
Militarians Biographies
Clark was a son of the army, born at Madison Barracks in Sackets Harbor, New York, into the family of a career army officer. As a young man, he graduated from West Point and entered the infantry as a second lieutenant in 1917 and in April of the following year was sent to France with the Fifth Infantry Division. They thrust him into the thick of World War I during the Aisne-Marne offensive.
Colonel Jacqueline Cochran
Militarians Biographies
Jacqueline Cochran, an American pilot, was best known as the wartime head of the Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) (1943-44) in which about 1000 civilian American women ferried planes from factories to port cities in non-combat roles. She also set many records and was the first woman to break the sound barrier in 1953.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Browne Cunningham
Militarians Biographies
Cunningham joined the Royal Navy in 1898 and saw a wide variety of service prior to World War I when he was skipper of the destroyer Scorpion during the Dardanelles campaign (February 19 to November 23 of 1915). He showed great skill and initiative in the raid on the German U-boat base at Zeebrugge on April 23, 1918.
Édouard Daladier
Politicians Biographies
Born in Carpentras and educated at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris and the Collège-lycée Ampère, Edouard Daladier became known as a French Radical Socialist politician and protégé of radical leader Edouard Herriot. Daladier entered politics in 1919. Three times Premier, in 1933, 1934 and, his longest tenure, 1938-40, the misnamed "Bull of Vaucluse" was also Minister of War between 1936 and 1940 and thus bore the greatest political responsibility for France's defense preparations.
General Moshe Dayan
Militarians Biographies
Dayan was born in the first kibbutz collective agricultural settlement established by Zionists in Palestine. As a teenager he joined the Haganah, an underground army working toward establishing a nation independent from British rule. The kibbutz was vulnerable to Arab attack and therefore the Haganah also served as a perimeter patrol.
General & Warlord Zhu De (also known as Chu Teh)
Militarians Biographies
Zhu was born into extreme poverty in Yunnan; however, his early potential was recognized by his clan, which funded a classical Confucian education for the boy. After graduation, Zhu entered the civil service system but soon turned to the military, instead of gaining admission to the Yunnan Military Academy. Upon graduation, he was commissioned in the Yunnan provincial army about 1906. In October 1911, with the outbreak of revolution, Zhu seized control of several military local units and led them in an invasion of the neighboring Szechwan province.
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