William Gott

William Gott
Nickname(s)	"Strafer"
Born	(1897-08-13)13 August 1897 Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England
Died	7 August 1942(1942-08-07) (aged 44) near Alexandria, Egypt
Buried	Alamein Memorial, El Alamein, Egypt
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1915–1942
Rank	Lieutenant-general
Service number	1798
Unit	King's Royal Rifle Corps
Commands held	XIII Corps (1942) 7th Armoured Division (1941–42) 2nd Support Group (1941) 7th Support Group (1940–41) 1st Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps (1938–39)
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War North African campaign Western Desert campaign  †
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire[1] Distinguished Service Order & Bar[2][3] Military Cross[4] Mentioned in despatches

Lieutenant-General William Henry Ewart Gott, CB, CBE, DSO & Bar, MC (13 August 1897 – 7 August 1942), nicknamed "Strafer", was a senior British Army officer who fought during both the First and the Second World Wars, reaching the rank of lieutenant-general while serving with the British Eighth Army in the Western Desert and North Africa from 1940 to 1942. In August 1942 he was appointed as successor to General Claude Auchinleck as commander of the Eighth Army but, on the way to take up his command, he was killed when his plane was shot down. His death led to the appointment of Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery in his place.