There was still £13,000 to pay on a mortgage, a large debt in the 1880s (equivalent to £ in )., and Henry was at the time still only an Anglican vicar.
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty" and "The Spartan General", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the Second World War. Montgomery first saw action in the First World War as a junior officer of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
He then served as NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe until his retirement in 1958. ==Early life== Montgomery was born in Kennington, Surrey, in 1887, the fourth child of nine, to an Anglo-Irish Church of Ireland minister, The Reverend Henry Montgomery, and his wife, Maud (née Farrar).
Despite selling off all the farms that were at Ballynally, "there was barely enough to keep up New Park and pay for the blasted summer holiday" (i.e., at New Park). It was a financial relief of some magnitude when, in 1889, Henry was made Bishop of Tasmania, then still a British colony and Bernard spent his formative years there.
I don't suppose anybody would put up with my sort of behaviour these days." Later in life Montgomery refused to allow his son David to have anything to do with his grandmother, and refused to attend her funeral in 1949. The family returned to England once for a Lambeth Conference in 1897, and Bernard and his brother Harold were educated for a term at The King's School, Canterbury.
In 1901, Bishop Montgomery became secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and the family returned to London.
On graduation in September 1908 he was commissioned into the 1st Battalion the Royal Warwickshire Regiment as a second lieutenant, and first saw overseas service later that year in India.
He was promoted to lieutenant in 1910, and in 1912 became adjutant of the 1st Battalion of his regiment at Shorncliffe Army Camp. ==First World War== The Great War began in August 1914 and Montgomery moved to France with his battalion that month, which was at the time part of the 10th Brigade of the 4th Division.
He was promoted to lieutenant in 1910, and in 1912 became adjutant of the 1st Battalion of his regiment at Shorncliffe Army Camp. ==First World War== The Great War began in August 1914 and Montgomery moved to France with his battalion that month, which was at the time part of the 10th Brigade of the 4th Division.
He was promoted to lieutenant in 1910, and in 1912 became adjutant of the 1st Battalion of his regiment at Shorncliffe Army Camp. ==First World War== The Great War began in August 1914 and Montgomery moved to France with his battalion that month, which was at the time part of the 10th Brigade of the 4th Division.
At Méteren, near the Belgian border at Bailleul on 13 October 1914, during an Allied counter-offensive, he was shot through the right [lung|lung] by a sniper.
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for gallant leadership: the citation for this award, published in the London Gazette in December 1914 reads: "Conspicuous gallant leading on 13th October, when he turned the enemy out of their trenches with the bayonet.
He was severely wounded." After recovering in early 1915, he was appointed brigade major, first of the 112th Brigade, and then with 104th Brigade training in Lancashire.
He returned to the Western Front in early 1916 as a general staff officer in the 33rd Division and took part in the Battle of Arras in AprilMay 1917.
On returning to the Western Front as a general staff officer, he took part in the Battle of Arras in AprilMay 1917.
He returned to the Western Front in early 1916 as a general staff officer in the 33rd Division and took part in the Battle of Arras in AprilMay 1917.
He became a general staff officer with IX Corps, part of General Sir Herbert Plumer's Second Army, in July 1917. Montgomery served at the Battle of Passchendaele in late 1917 before finishing the war as GSO1 (effectively chief of staff) of the 47th (2nd London) Division, with the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel.
But at a tennis party in Cologne, he was able to persuade the Commander-in-chief (C-in-C) of the British Army of Occupation, Field Marshal Sir William Robertson, to add his name to the list. After graduating from the Staff College, he was appointed brigade major in the 17th Infantry Brigade in January 1921.
He returned to the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1925 as a company commander and was promoted to major in July 1925.
From January 1926 to January 1929 he served as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General at the Staff College, Camberley, in the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel. === Marriage and family === In 1925, in his first known courtship of a woman, Montgomery, then in his late thirties, proposed to a 17-year-old girl, Miss Betty Anderson.
From January 1926 to January 1929 he served as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General at the Staff College, Camberley, in the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel. === Marriage and family === In 1925, in his first known courtship of a woman, Montgomery, then in his late thirties, proposed to a 17-year-old girl, Miss Betty Anderson.
She respected his ambition and single-mindedness, but declined his proposal of marriage. In 1927, he met and married Elizabeth (Betty) Carver, née Hobart.
Montgomery's son, David, was born in August 1928. While on holiday in Burnham-on-Sea in 1937, Betty suffered an insect bite which became infected, and she died in her husband's arms from septicaemia following amputation of her leg.
From January 1926 to January 1929 he served as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General at the Staff College, Camberley, in the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel. === Marriage and family === In 1925, in his first known courtship of a woman, Montgomery, then in his late thirties, proposed to a 17-year-old girl, Miss Betty Anderson.
He eventually reached British lines on 5 December 1943, to the delight of his stepfather, who sent him home to Britain to recuperate. ===1930s=== In January 1929 Montgomery was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel.
In 1931 Montgomery was promoted to substantive lieutenant colonel and became the Commanding officer (CO) of the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment and saw service in Palestine and British India.
He was promoted to colonel in June 1934 (seniority from January 1932).
He was promoted to colonel in June 1934 (seniority from January 1932).
Montgomery's son, David, was born in August 1928. While on holiday in Burnham-on-Sea in 1937, Betty suffered an insect bite which became infected, and she died in her husband's arms from septicaemia following amputation of her leg.
He attended and was then recommended to become an instructor at the Indian Army Staff College (now the Pakistan Army Staff College) in Quetta, British India. On completion of his tour of duty in India, Montgomery returned to Britain in June 1937 where he took command of the 9th Infantry Brigade with the temporary rank of brigadier.
His wife died that year. In 1938, he organised an amphibious combined operations landing exercise that impressed the new C-in-C of Southern Command, General Sir Archibald Percival Wavell.
He was promoted to major general on 14 October 1938 and took command of the 8th Infantry Division in the British mandate of Palestine.
He returned in July 1939 to Britain, suffering a serious illness on the way, to command the 3rd (Iron) Infantry Division.
On hearing of the suppression of the revolt in April 1939, Montgomery remarked "I shall be sorry to leave Palestine in many ways, as I have enjoyed the war out here". ==Second World War== ===British Expeditionary Force=== ====Retreat to Dunkirk and evacuation==== Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939.
Clifton James (Montgomery's double during the war) Tex Banwell (another double) Irish military diaspora Panzer Army Africa ==References== ===Explanatory notes=== ===Citations=== ===Bibliography=== ====Primary sources==== ==External links== British Army Officers 1939–1945 Generals of World War II Montgomery and Anglo Polish relations during WWII Biography of Montgomery, Jewish Virtual Library website.
Montgomery's training paid off when the Germans began their invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May 1940 and the 3rd Division advanced to the River Dijle and then withdrew to Dunkirk with great professionalism, entering the Dunkirk perimeter in a famous night-time march that placed his forces on the left flank, which had been left exposed by the Belgian surrender.
These invasion plans, like those of the Portuguese islands, also did not go ahead and in July 1940, Montgomery was appointed acting lieutenant-general, and placed in command of V Corps, responsible for the defence of Hampshire and Dorset, and started a long-running feud with the new Commander-in-chief (C-in-C) of Southern Command, Lieutenant General Claude Auchinleck. In April 1941, he became commander of XII Corps responsible for the defence of Kent.
These invasion plans, like those of the Portuguese islands, also did not go ahead and in July 1940, Montgomery was appointed acting lieutenant-general, and placed in command of V Corps, responsible for the defence of Hampshire and Dorset, and started a long-running feud with the new Commander-in-chief (C-in-C) of Southern Command, Lieutenant General Claude Auchinleck. In April 1941, he became commander of XII Corps responsible for the defence of Kent.
He was taken prisoner at Mersa Matruh on 7 November 1942.
During this time he further developed and rehearsed his ideas and trained his soldiers, culminating in Exercise Tiger in May 1942, a combined forces exercise involving 100,000 troops. ===North Africa and Italy=== ====Montgomery's early command==== In 1942, a new field commander was required in the Middle East, where Auchinleck was fulfilling both the role of Commander-in-chief (C-in-C) of Middle East Command and commander Eighth Army.
He had stabilised the Allied position at the First Battle of El Alamein, but after a visit in August 1942, the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, replaced him as C-in-C with General Sir Harold Alexander and William Gott as commander of the Eighth Army in the Western Desert.
Taking command on 13 August 1942, he immediately became a whirlwind of activity.
Both Brooke and Alexander were astonished by the transformation in atmosphere when they visited on 19 August, less than a week after Montgomery had taken command. ====First battles with Rommel==== Rommel attempted to turn the left flank of the Eighth Army at the Battle of Alam el Halfa from 31 August 1942.
By the time the offensive was ready in late October, Eighth Army had 231,000 men on its ration strength. ====El Alamein==== The Second Battle of El Alamein began on 23 October 1942, and ended 12 days later with one of the first large-scale, decisive Allied land victories of the war.
Rommel, having been in a hospital in Germany at the start of the battle, was forced to return on 25 October 1942 after Stumme—his replacement as German commander—died of a heart attack in the early hours of the battle. ====Tunisia==== Montgomery was advanced to KCB and promoted to full general.
Like many British POWs, the most famous being General Richard O'Connor, Dick Carver escaped in September 1943 during the brief hiatus between Italy's departure from the war and the German seizure of the country.
He eventually reached British lines on 5 December 1943, to the delight of his stepfather, who sent him home to Britain to recuperate. ===1930s=== In January 1929 Montgomery was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel.
On 6 March 1943, Rommel's attack on the over-extended Eighth Army at Medenine (Operation Capri) with the largest concentration of German armour in North Africa was successfully repulsed.
However, while all three were considered three of the greatest soldiers of their time, due to their competitiveness they were renowned for "squabbling like three schoolgirls" thanks to their "bitchiness", "whining to their superiors" and "showing off". ====Italian campaign==== During late 1943, Montgomery continued to command the Eighth Army during the landings on the mainland of Italy itself, beginning with Operation Baytown.
Montgomery abhorred what he considered to be a lack of coordination, a dispersion of effort, a strategic muddle and a lack of opportunism in the Allied effort in Italy, and he said that he was glad to leave the "dog's breakfast" on 23 December 1943. ===Normandy=== Montgomery returned to Britain in January 1944.
He subsequently commanded the British Eighth Army during the Allied invasion of Sicily and the Allied invasion of Italy and was in command of all Allied ground forces during the Battle of Normandy (Operation Overlord), from D-Day on 6 June 1944 until 1 September 1944.
Montgomery abhorred what he considered to be a lack of coordination, a dispersion of effort, a strategic muddle and a lack of opportunism in the Allied effort in Italy, and he said that he was glad to leave the "dog's breakfast" on 23 December 1943. ===Normandy=== Montgomery returned to Britain in January 1944.
A memo summarising Montgomery's operations written by Eisenhower's chief of staff, General Walter Bedell Smith who met with Montgomery in late June 1944 says nothing about Montgomery conducting a "holding operation" in the Caen sector, and instead speaks of him seeking a "breakout" into the plains south of the Seine.
The Canadian historians Terry Copp and Robert Vogel wrote about the dispute between the "American school" and "British school" after having suffered several setbacks in June 1944: Hampered by stormy weather and the bocage terrain, Montgomery had to ensure that Rommel focused on the British in the east rather than the Americans in the west, who had to take the Cotentin Peninsula and Brittany before the Germans could be trapped by a general swing east.
On the early morning of 18 July 1944, Operation Goodwood began with British heavy bombers beginning carpet bombing attacks that further devastated what was left of Caen and the surrounding countryside.
By the end of Goodwood on 25 July 1944, the Canadians had finally taken Caen while the British tanks had reached the plains south of Caen, giving Montgomery the "hinge" he had been seeking, while forcing the Germans to commit the last of their reserves to stop the Anglo-Canadian offensive.
Power noted that Goodwood and Cobra were supposed to take effect on the same day, 18 July 1944, but Cobra was cancelled owing to heavy rain in the American sector, and argued that both operations were meant to be breakout operations to trap the German armies in Normandy.
Following the American breakout, there followed the Battle of Falaise Gap, as the British, Canadian and Polish soldiers of 21st Army Group commanded by Montgomery advanced south, while the American and French soldiers of Bradley's 12th Army Group advanced north to encircle the German Army Group B at Falaise, as Montgomery waged what Urban called "a huge battle of annihilation" in August 1944.
Knowing via Ultra that Hitler was not planning to retreat from Normandy, Montgomery, on 6 August 1944, ordered an envelopment operation against Army Group B—with the First Canadian Army under Harry Crerar to advance towards Falaise, the Second British Army under Miles Dempsey to advance towards Argentan, and the Third American Army under George S.
In view of the slow Canadian advance, Patton requested permission to take Falaise, but was refused by Bradley on 13 August, which prompted much controversy, many historians arguing that Bradley lacked aggression and that Montgomery should have overruled Bradley. The so-called Falaise Gap was closed on 22 August 1944, but several American generals, most notably Patton, accused Montgomery of being insufficiently aggressive in closing it.
In September 1944, Montgomery ordered Crerar and his First Canadian Army to take the French ports on the English Channel, namely Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk.
The Scheldt was wide enough and dredged deep enough to allow the passage of ocean-going ships. On 3 September 1944 Hitler ordered the 15th German Army, which had been stationed in the Pas de Calais region and was withdrawing north into the Low Countries, to hold the mouth of the river Scheldt to deprive the Allies of the use of Antwerp.
Alone among the senior commanders, only Ramsay saw opening Antwerp as crucial. On 6 September 1944, Montgomery told Crerar that "I want Boulogne badly" and that city should be taken no matter what the cost.
On 10 September 1944, Bomber Command dropped 4,719 tons of bombs on Le Havre, which was the prelude to Operation Astonia, the assault on Le Havre by Crocker's men, which was taken two days later.
Montgomery was able to insist that Eisenhower adopt his strategy of a single thrust to the Ruhr with Operation Market Garden in September 1944.
The offensive was strategically bold. On 22 September 1944, General Guy Simonds's II Canadian Corps took Boulogne, followed up by taking Calais on 1 October 1944.
The only port that was not captured by the Canadians was Dunkirk, as Montgomery ordered the 2nd Canadian Division on 15 September to hold his flank at Antwerp as a prelude for an advance up the Scheldt. ===Operation Market Garden=== Montgomery's plan for Operation Market Garden (17–25 September 1944) was to outflank the Siegfried Line and cross the Rhine, setting the stage for later offensives into the Ruhr region.
As it was, Simonds made only slow progress in October 1944 during the fighting in the Battle of the Scheldt, although he was praised by Copp for imaginative and aggressive leadership who managed to achieve much, despite all of the odds against him.
On 9 October 1944, at Ramsay's urging, Eisenhower sent Montgomery a cable that emphasized the "supreme importance of Antwerp", that "the Canadian Army will not, repeat not, be able to attack until November unless immediately supplied with adequate ammunition", and warned that the Allied advance into Germany would totally stop by mid-November unless Antwerp was opened by October.
Eisenhower further told Montgomery to either obey orders to immediately clear the mouth of the Scheldt or he would be sacked. A chastised Montgomery told Eisenhower on 15 October 1944 that he was now making clearing the Scheldt his "top priority", and the ammunition shortages in the First Canadian Army, a problem which he denied even existed five days earlier, were now over as supplying the Canadians was henceforth his first concern.
Simonds, now reinforced with British troops and Royal Marines, cleared the Scheldt by taking Walcheren island, the last of the German "fortresses" on the Scheldt, on 8 November 1944.
With the Scheldt in Allied hands, Royal Navy minesweepers removed the German mines in the river, and Antwerp was finally opened to shipping on 28 November 1944.
Reflecting Antwerp's importance, the Germans spent the winter of 1944–45 firing V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets at it in an attempt to shut down the port, and the German offensive in December 1944 in the Ardennes had as its ultimate objective the capture of Antwerp.
Urban wrote that Montgomery's most "serious failure" in the entire war was not the well publicised Battle of Arnhem, but rather his lack of interest in opening up Antwerp, as without it the entire Allied advance from the North Sea to the Swiss Alps stalled in the autumn of 1944 for logistical reasons. ===Battle of the Bulge=== On 16 December 1944, at the start of the Battle of the Bulge, Montgomery's 21st Army Group was on the northern flank of the allied lines.
The 21st Army Group scarcely possessed sufficient forces to achieve such a military prominence, and the remaining divisions had to be expended sparingly. Britain, in 1944, did not possess the manpower to rebuild shattered divisions and it was imperative for Montgomery to protect the viability of the British army so that Britain could still play an important part in the final victory.
When Montgomery protested that he had told his protégé, General Sir John Crocker, former commander of I Corps in the 1944–45 North-West Europe Campaign, that the job was to be his, Attlee is said to have retorted "Untell him". ====Western Union Defence Organization==== Montgomery was then appointed Chairman of the Western Union Defence Organization's C-in-C committee.
John's School in Leatherhead, Surrey, from 1951 to 1966, and a generous supporter. He was also President of Portsmouth Football Club between 1944 and 1961. ===Opinions=== ====Memoirs==== Montgomery's memoirs (1958) criticised many of his wartime comrades in harsh terms, including Eisenhower.
This included temporary command of the US First Army and the US Ninth Army, which held up the German advance to the north of the Bulge while the US Third Army under Patton relieved Bastogne from the south. Montgomery's 21st Army Group, including the US Ninth Army and the First Allied Airborne Army, crossed the Rhine in Operation Plunder in March 1945, two weeks after the US First Army had crossed the Rhine in the Battle of Remagen.
On 4 May 1945, Montgomery accepted the surrender of the German forces in north-western Europe at Lüneburg Heath, south of Hamburg, after the surrender of Berlin to the USSR on 2 May. After the war he became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in Germany and then Chief of the Imperial General Staff (1946–1948).
It crossed the Rhine on 24 March 1945, in Operation Plunder, which took place two weeks after the First United States Army had crossed the Rhine after capturing the Ludendorff Bridge during the Battle of Remagen. 21st Army Group's river crossing was followed by the encirclement of the Ruhr Pocket.
Even Brooke thought it crass stupidity. In August 1945, while Brooke, Sir Andrew Cunningham and Sir Charles Portal were discussing their possible successors as "Chiefs of Staff", they concluded that Montgomery would be very efficient as CIGS from the Army's point of view but that he was also very unpopular with a large proportion of the Army.
From 1948 to 1951, he served as Chairman of the Commanders-in-Chief Committee of the Western Union.
I don't suppose anybody would put up with my sort of behaviour these days." Later in life Montgomery refused to allow his son David to have anything to do with his grandmother, and refused to attend her funeral in 1949. The family returned to England once for a Lambeth Conference in 1897, and Bernard and his brother Harold were educated for a term at The King's School, Canterbury.
After an initial meeting in the early 1950s, Montgomery met Dayan again in the 1960s to discuss the Vietnam War, which Dayan was studying.
The drink was facetiously named for Montgomery's supposed refusal to go into battle unless his numerical advantage was at least fifteen to one, and it appeared in Hemingway's 1950 novel Across the River and into the Trees.
From 1948 to 1951, he served as Chairman of the Commanders-in-Chief Committee of the Western Union.
The American LIFE magazine quoted Bradley in 1951: With Goodwood drawing the Wehrmacht towards the British sector, the First American Army enjoyed a two-to-one numerical superiority.
John's School in Leatherhead, Surrey, from 1951 to 1966, and a generous supporter. He was also President of Portsmouth Football Club between 1944 and 1961. ===Opinions=== ====Memoirs==== Montgomery's memoirs (1958) criticised many of his wartime comrades in harsh terms, including Eisenhower.
Montgomery did not attend the funeral, claiming he was "too busy". Montgomery was an Honorary Member of the Winkle Club, a charity in Hastings, East Sussex, and introduced Winston Churchill to the club in 1955. He was chairman of the governing body of St.
He then served as NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe until his retirement in 1958. ==Early life== Montgomery was born in Kennington, Surrey, in 1887, the fourth child of nine, to an Anglo-Irish Church of Ireland minister, The Reverend Henry Montgomery, and his wife, Maud (née Farrar).
After an initial meeting in the early 1950s, Montgomery met Dayan again in the 1960s to discuss the Vietnam War, which Dayan was studying.
John's School in Leatherhead, Surrey, from 1951 to 1966, and a generous supporter. He was also President of Portsmouth Football Club between 1944 and 1961. ===Opinions=== ====Memoirs==== Montgomery's memoirs (1958) criticised many of his wartime comrades in harsh terms, including Eisenhower.
John's School in Leatherhead, Surrey, from 1951 to 1966, and a generous supporter. He was also President of Portsmouth Football Club between 1944 and 1961. ===Opinions=== ====Memoirs==== Montgomery's memoirs (1958) criticised many of his wartime comrades in harsh terms, including Eisenhower.
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty" and "The Spartan General", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the Second World War. Montgomery first saw action in the First World War as a junior officer of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
and a Christian. ==Death== Montgomery died from unspecified causes in 1976 at his home Isington Mill in Isington, Hampshire, aged 88.
Retrieved 10 April 2014. Profile, desertwar.net.
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