Lord Rennell, Chief of AMGOT: A Study of His Approach to Politics and Military Government (c.1940–43)

Abstract

Following Operation Husky in 1943, Francis Rodd, Lord Rennell (1895–1978) was Chief Civil Affairs Officer of AMGOT (Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories) in Sicily and Southern Italy. He had previously held important posts in civil affairs in Africa. This article examines his approach to politics and military government, with particular reference to his support for ‘indirect rule’. This doctrine helped rationalize the fact that British/Allied military rule often rested on a small number of staff. Rennell’s thoughts on AMGOT’s administrative structures are also covered. A geographer and banker by background, Rennell emerges here as a reform-minded pragmatist.