Middle East Command

Middle East Command Middle East Land Forces
area under the command before separation of Persia and Iraq Command
Active	Middle East Command: June 1939 – c. 1946 Middle East Land Forces: 1946–67
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Command
Size	1 million in Second World War
Part of	War Office Ministry of Defence (Army)
Garrison/HQ	Cairo Suez Canal Zone Cyprus
Engagements	Second World War Western Desert Campaign East African Campaign Suez Crisis
Commanders
Notable commanders	Archibald Wavell Claude Auchinleck Harold Alexander

Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to defend British interests in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean region.

During the Second World War, Middle East Command supervised military operations in and around the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East. Following the defeat of the Axis forces in the Western Desert at the Battle of El Alamein and the landing of additional Anglo-American forces during Operation Torch, it transferred control of land forces to the newly created Allied Forces Headquarters.