The Pittsburgh Press (April 1, 1946)
Lord Gort, hero of Malta, dies in London at 59
Won fame in France, India and China
LONDON (UP) – Field Marshal Viscount Gort, veteran professional soldier who commanded the British Expeditionary Forces before the Dunkerque evacuation and who resigned last fall as high commissioner of Palestine, died yesterday. He was 59.
A veteran of both World Wars and former chief of the British Imperial Staff, Lord Gort died at London’s Guys Hospital. He had contracted a liver infection while serving in the Middle East. He underwent an operation last November 15 and had been in poor health since.
Known as “The Tiger,” Lord Gort was a legendary figure in military circles. His exploits, in France in 1914-18, and later in China, India, England, Belgium and Malta, where he was governor in 1942, have been told and retold by admiring soldiers throughout the world.
A descendant of one of the Norman knights who invaded Ireland in the 12th century, Lord Gort was born July 10, 1886. He entered the army when he was 19.
He won the Victoria Cross in September 1918 – the only peer so honored in World War I.
Lord Gort was made field marshal in 1943. He succeeded his father to his title when he was in his teens. He graduated from Harrow and Sandhurst.