Editing Claude Auchinleck (section)

==Early life and career==
Born at 89 Victoria Road in [[Aldershot]], [[Hampshire]], the son of John Claud Alexander Auchinleck and Mary Eleanor (Eyre) Auchinleck. His father, a colonel in the [[Royal Horse Artillery]] of the [[British Army]], was posted to [[Bangalore]] in [[British Raj|British India]], with his family accompanying him, while Claude was very young. It was from here that he developed a love for the country that would last for most of his life.{{sfn|Doherty|2004|p=34}} Returning to England after the death of his father in 1892, Auchinleck attended [[Eagle House School]] at [[Crowthorne]] and then [[Wellington College, Berkshire|Wellington College]] on scholarships.<ref name=heath29>Heathcote, p. 29</ref> From there he went on to the [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst]] and was commissioned as an unattached second lieutenant in the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] on 21 January 1903,<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=27517| date=20 January 1903|page=390}}</ref> and joined the [[62nd Punjabis]] in April 1904.<ref name=heath29/>{{sfn|Doherty|2004|p=34}} He soon learned several Indian languages,<ref>Warner (1981), p. 17</ref> and, able to speak fluently with his soldiers, he absorbed a knowledge of local dialects and customs: this familiarity engendered a lasting mutual respect, enhanced by his own personality.<ref>Warner (1991), pp. 131–132</ref>

He was promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 21 April 1905,<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=28376| date=24 May 1910|page=3640}}</ref> and then spent the next two years in [[Tibet]] and [[Sikkim]] before moving to [[Varanasi|Benares]] in 1907 where he caught [[diphtheria]].<ref name=heath29/> After briefly serving with the [[Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers]] at Aldershot he returned to Benares in 1909 and became adjutant of the 62nd Punjabis with promotion to [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] on 21 January 1912.<ref>{{London Gazette| issue=28590| date=15 March 1912|page=1922}}</ref> Auchinleck was an active [[freemason]].<ref>{{cite news|url= http://blackpool.westlancsfreemasons.org.uk/about-freemasonry/famous-masons/|title= Famous Freemasons|date= 10 December 2015|work= Blackpool Group of Lodges and Chapters|access-date= 16 October 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191226225351/http://blackpool.westlancsfreemasons.org.uk/about-freemasonry/famous-masons/|archive-date= 26 December 2019}}</ref>

[[File:62nd Punjabis, Ismailia, Egypt, 1914.jpg|thumb|left|Officers of the 62nd Punjabis in Ismailia, Egypt, 1914. Captain Claude Auchinleck is standing on the far right.]]