immediately impressed Brooke, as on 3 January 1940 the latter wrote in his diary that "Ritchie, my new BGS, seems to be turning out well and should, I think, be good". When the so-called "Phoney War" came to an end in May 1940 with the German invasion of western Europe, Ritchie further impressed Brooke by controlling the corps HQ in a calm and confident manner, thus enabling Brooke to concentrate on running the battle on his corps' front. After being evacuated to England Ritchie was again requested by Brooke when the latter was appointed to command a new "Second BEF". Accompanying Brooke to France, he was again sent back to England, after Brooke realised that further efforts to fight the Germans were pointless and, in his words, "I sent Neil Ritchie off home this evening [16 June] as I did not feel that any useful purpose could be served by retaining him any longer". For his services in France and Belgium Ritchie was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 11 July 1940, and was mentioned in despatches on 26 July. Service in the United Kingdom Shortly afterwards Ritchie was made BGS with Southern Command, commanded by Lieutenant-General Claude Auchinleck who, like Brooke, thought highly of him. Ritchie was not there long, however, at the relatively young age of forty-three, he received a promotion to the acting rank of major-general on 28 October 1940 and was made General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division on the same date. He held this post until June 1941 when he handed over to Major-General Douglas Wimberley. North Africa and the Middle East Ritchie's next posting was to the Middle East, where he served as Deputy Chief of the General Staff to General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief of Middle East Command. It was Auchinleck, who soon succeeded Wavell as C-in-C Middle East, who was to give Ritchie his highest field command, the British Eighth Army, in November 1941, following the dismissal of Lieutenant-General Alan Cunningham from that position. On 27 November 1941 Ritchie, whose rank of major-general was made temporary on 28 October 1941, was promoted to the acting rank of lieutenant general. For his period of service in the Middle East from July−October 1941, he was mentioned in despatches. Ritchie's rise through the ranks coincided with the earliest phases of the war when British fortunes were at