General Sir Bernard Charles Tolver Paget, was a British Army officer who served with distinction in the First World War, and then later during the Second World War, when he commanded the 21st Army Group from June to December 1943 and was Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) Middle East Command from January 1944 to October 1946. He was the senior serving general in the British Army and, in Richard Mead's words, "he was possibly the most talented and well-qualified senior British general never to have held a top active service field command, but his contribution to the development of the Army during the War was nevertheless immense."

Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to defend British interests in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean region.