Subject

Field Marshal. Born near Bristol, brought up in Birmingham. Fought and wounded in WW1. 14th Army Burma, 1943 - 1945, recaptured Burma from the Japanese in WW2. 1953 - 1960 Governor General of Australia. Commander in Chief, Allied Land Forces South East Asia, Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Governor and Constable, Windsor Castle. Died London.

In addition to the information in our Picture Source and his Wikipedia page, our colleague Andrew Behan has researched the man.

Field Marshal The Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC, KStJ, of Yarralumla in the Capital Territory of Australia and Bishopton in the City and County of Bristol, was born as William Joseph Slim on 6 August 1891 at 72 Belmont Road, St Andrews, Bristol, Gloucestershire. He was the younger child of John Benjamin Thomas Slim (1850-1916) and Charlotte Amelia Slim née Tucker (1852-1951).

In the 1901 census he was shown as living at 12 Maurice Road, Bristol, with his parents, his elder brother, Charles John Slim (b.1887), his maternal aunt Mary Elizabeth Tucker and a female general domestic servant. His father's occupation was recorded as a traveller (hardware).

The 1911 census shows him as an assistant teacher at an elementary school living in an eight-roomed property at 144 Poplar Avenue, Edgbaston, Birmingham, Warwickshire, with his parents, his maternal aunt Mary Elizabeth Tucker, together with a female general domestic servant. His father described himself as a commercial traveller (hardware).

In 1926 he married Aileen Robertson (1901-1993) in Bombay (now called Mumbai), India, and they had two children, Douglas John Slim (1927-2019) and Una Mary Slim (b.1930). Telephone directories in 1952 and 1953 listed him at Green Tops, Oxted, Surrey.

He died, aged 79 years, on 14 December 1970, his death being registered in the St. Marylebone registration district. His body was cremated and he is also commemorated by a plaque in the nave of St Paul's Cathedral, London.