<Li> George Brink was a lieutenant - general in the South African military who commanded the 1st Infantry Division during the war . Brink successfully led the 1st Infantry Division during the East African Campaign . After the war he was responsible for the demobilization . </Li> <Li> Isaac Pierre de Villiers was a major - general in the South African military who commanded the 2nd Infantry Division . Prior to the war, de Villiers served as a lieutenant in the South African Police and so the 2nd Infantry Division was responsible for internal security operations at the beginning of the war . </Li> <Ul> <Li> Neville Chamberlain, who had formerly led a policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany, was Prime Minister during the first stages of the war, taking office in 1937 and resigning on 10 May 1940 after the failed Norwegian campaign . Chamberlain, who remained Conservative Party leader, then became Lord President of the Council . He died of cancer on 9 November 1940, half a year after resigning . </Li> <Li> Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during most of the war, from 1940 to 1945 . An early opponent of Hitler, he opposed appeasement of Germany . He was First Lord of the Admiralty at the outbreak of war, then came into power at the start of the Nazi invasion of France . During the Battle of Britain, Churchill's speeches boosted the British morale during the darkest moments . </Li> <Li> Clement Attlee was the Labour Party leader during the war, and was generally responsible for domestic politics throughout the war as a member of Churchill's War Cabinet . He served as Deputy Prime Minister under Churchill . After the end of the war in Europe, he was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following his party's victory in the 1945 general elections and served from 1945 to 1951 . He attended the second half of the Potsdam Conference and announced the Defeat of Japan . </Li> <Li> Dudley Pound was First Sea Lord and as such the professional head of the Royal Navy from June 1939 to September 1943, shortly before his death . He chaired the Chiefs of Staff Committee, which was responsible to Winston Churchill for the British military's conduct of the war, until March 1942 . </Li> <Li> Alan Brooke was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (head of Britain's army) from December 1941 and from March 1942 also chaired the British Chiefs of Staff Committee . He held the posts until the war's end and was as such Churchill's foremost military advisor . He was promoted Field Marshal in January 1944 . </Li> <Li> Andrew Cunningham succeeded Dudley Pound as First Sea Lord and naval member of the British Chiefs of Staff Committee in 1943 . He remained in the post for the rest of the war . </Li> <Li> James Somerville was commander - in - chief of the Eastern Fleet who was defeated by the Japanese in the Indian Ocean raid and commanded them at the Battle of Cape Spartivento . </Li> <Li> Charles Portal in October 1940 succeeded Cyril Newall as Chief of the Air Staff, the head of the Royal Air Force, and member of the British Chiefs of Staff Committee . He continued in this role for the rest of the war . He was promoted Marshal of the Royal Air Force in June 1944 . </Li> <Li> Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis at the end of the War was a Field Marshal and Commander - in - Chief of AFHQ responsible for the direction of Allied troops in the Mediterranean theatre . Previously he had commanded 15th Army Group which conducted the Allied invasion of Sicily and the Italian Campaign . Prior to this he commanded 18th Army Group which directed the Allied forces during the culmination of the Tunisia Campaign leading to the surrender of Axis forces in North Africa . Before that was Commander - in Chief British Middle East Command, overseeing Montgomery's Eighth Army successful campaign to defeat the Axis forces in the Western Desert Campaign . </Li> <Li> Viscount Gort relinquished the role of Chief of the Imperial General Staff on the outbreak of war to command the British Expeditionary Force in France from 1939 to 1940 . He later served in a variety of less prominent posts, including Governor of Gibraltar and of Malta . </Li> <Li> Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein was a General (later Field Marshal) who led the Allied forces in North Africa . Under his command the Allies were able to defeat the Afrika Korps and their Italian allies . He later commanded the 21st Army Group and all Allied ground forces during Operation Overlord . He was also the primary mind behind the failed Operation Market Garden . He accepted the surrender of German forces on the 4 May 1945 . </Li> <Li> Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding was an Air Chief Marshal who commanded RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain . He ended the sacrifice of aircraft and pilots in the attempt to aid troops during the Battle of France, which was weakening the home defence . He developed the "Dowding System"--an integrated air defence system of radar, raid plotting and radio control of aircraft . He introduced modern aircraft into service such as the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane . During the battle he led resources behind the scenes and maintained a significant fighter reserve, while leaving his subordinate commanders' hands free to run the battle . </Li> <Li> Keith Park was an Air Chief Marshal who commanded 11 Group RAF, the fighter formation tasked with the defence of London during the Battle of Britain . Later he was in charge of the defence of Malta . </Li> <Li> Arthur Harris was an Air Chief Marshal commonly known as "Bomber" Harris by the press . He was Air Officer Commanding - in - Chief of RAF Bomber Command and later a Marshal of the Royal Air Force during the latter half of World War II . </Li> <Li> Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Admiral of the Fleet, was Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in South East Asia, 1943--1945 . </Li> <Li> William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim was a General who led the British Fourteenth Army (often referred to as the "Forgotten Army") during the Burma Campaign from 1942 to 1945 . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Neville Chamberlain, who had formerly led a policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany, was Prime Minister during the first stages of the war, taking office in 1937 and resigning on 10 May 1940 after the failed Norwegian campaign . Chamberlain, who remained Conservative Party leader, then became Lord President of the Council . He died of cancer on 9 November 1940, half a year after resigning . </Li>

Who was the leader of great britain during wwii