William Gott

Lieutenant-General William Henry Ewart Gott, & Bar, MC, nicknamed "Strafer", was a senior British Army officer who fought during both World War I and World War II, reaching the rank of lieutenant-general while serving with the British Eighth Army. In August 1942 he was appointed as successor to General Claude Auchinleck as commander of the Eighth Army. 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.