Alan Victor Harold Brooke, 3rd Viscount Alanbrooke (24 November 1932 – 10 January 2018), was a British

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of April 2025, there are 800 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 108 viscounts, and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary ...

Early life and education

Known to his family and friends as Victor, Lord Alanbrooke was the younger son of

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke (23 July 1883 – 17 June 1963), was a senior officer of the British Army. He was Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom), Chief of the Imperial Gene ...

and his second wife, Benita Pelly. He was educated at

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

and the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

, from where he was commissioned into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1952.

Career

Alanbrooke gave up his

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

career in 1972, having risen only to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. On 19 December 1972, upon the death of his elder half-brother

Thomas Brooke, 2nd Viscount Alanbrooke Thomas Brooke, 2nd Viscount Alanbrooke (9 January 1920 – 19 December 1972), was a British hereditary peer. Early life and education From an Ulster Anglo-Irish aristocratic family, Brooke was the elder son of Field Marshal Alan Brooke, 1st Visco ...

, he succeeded to the viscountcy and to a seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. In 1973, he went up to

Bristol University The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had ...

and, in 1976, graduated as a

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed. or BEd) is an undergraduate academic degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. A Bachelor of Education program typically lasts three to four years and combines both coursework and practical exp ...

(BEd) and earned Qualified Teacher Status.

Interests

In his recreations in ''

Debrett's Debrett's () is a British professional coaching company and publisher and authority on etiquette and behaviour, founded in 1769 with the publication of the first edition of ''The New Peerage''. The company takes its name from its founder, John ...

'', Alanbrooke listed " enjoying post-Lloyd's poverty, rearranging the wreckage for remaining family." He was a keen walker and spent most summers hiking the Cornish Coastal Path, alternating each time between a clockwise or anti-clockwise route to ensure, he said, "That my face rusts evenly on both sides".

Death

Lord Alanbrooke lived in

Hartley Wintney Hartley Wintney is a large village and civil parish in the Hart district of Hampshire, England. It lies about northwest of Fleet and east of Basingstoke. The parish includes the smaller contiguous village of Phoenix Green as well as the ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, where his father is buried. He died on 10 January 2018 at the age of 85 and his funeral took place at St Eligius Church,

Arborfield Arborfield is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Arborfield and Newland, in the Borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England. It is about south-east of Reading, about west of Wokingham. It lies about west of the village o ...

. He was unmarried. As there were no further male line heirs of the 1st Viscount, the viscountcy and the subsidiary title of Baron Alanbrooke became extinct upon his death.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alanbrooke, Victor Brooke, 3rd Viscount Alanbrooke 1932 births 2018 deaths Alumni of the University of Bristol People educated at Harrow School Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Royal Artillery officers 3

Alanbrooke Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke (23 July 1883 – 17 June 1963), was a senior officer of the British Army. He was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army, during the Secon ...