General Bernard L. Montgomery watches his tanks move up. North Africa, November 1942. Paul Reynolds / mediadrumworld.com
Monty, or the “Spartan General” as he was nicknamed, was described as a man with no diplomacy skills due to his directness. However, he remains one of the greatest British generals of his time.
Born in Kennington, South London in 1887, Bernard Law Montgomery would ultimately join the Royal Military College, Sandhurst but during his young days, he was characterized by unruliness and violence, for which he was almost expelled.
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. His affectionate nickname is “Monty” and he served Britain for 50 years – 1908-1958.
In September 1908, he became a second lieutenant of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment after graduation from military school. Two years later he became a lieutenant.
Following the outbreak of the First World War, he led troops into a number of battles including the Battle of Le Cateau, the retreat at Mons, and the counter-offensive of the Allies on 13th October 1914.
Bernard L. Montgomery, (pictured on the right as a captain), with a fellow officer of 104th Brigade, 35th Division. Montgomery served with the brigade from January 1915 until early 1917.
In World War I’s First Battle of Ypres, his right lung was pierced by a sniper’s bullet, and another shot got him in the knee. The injury was severe, but he survived and received an award for gallant leadership.
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Three years later, he was back on the Western Front for the Battles of Arras and Passchendaele. He served until the end of the Great War, rising through the ranks until he became a Chief of Staff.
General Montgomery with Lieutenant Generals George S. Patton (left) and Omar Bradley (center) at 21st Army Group HQ, 7 July 1944.
The outbreak of the Second World War saw Montgomery back on the fronts. In 1940, he was sent to Belgium alongside the 3rd Division which had joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Having experienced a terrible outcome from this mission, he undertook some training on strategic retreats.
General Sir Bernard Montgomery, wearing his ‘battle sweater’ and tank beret, in the UK, 1943.
On 10th May that year, Germany’s invasion of the Low Countries began. In Operation Dynamo, Montgomery’s training came in useful as he was able to direct a retreat of the 3rd Division from the River Dijle to Dunkirk and, ultimately, to Britain.
Montgomery (left), Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham (center) and the Commander of the British Second Army, Lieutenant General Sir Miles Dempsey, talking after a conference in which Montgomery gave the order for the Second Army to begin Operation Plunder.
Montgomery would openly criticize his superiors for their war philosophies and would often get into trouble for it. In particular, when he was given command of the V Corps, he began a protracted vendetta with the Lt. Gen. Claude Auchinleck who was the new Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) serving with the Southern Command.
Montgomery was awarded the Order of Victory on June 5, 1945. Dwight Eisenhower, Georgy Zhukov, and Sir Arthur Tedder were also present.
Montgomery became the commander of the South Eastern Army. He was strict in maintaining optimal physical and mental states in his troops, and he was intolerant of any form of unfitness among his officers. His routines developed into Exercise Tiger in mid-1942, in which 100,000 soldiers participated.
In 1942 he was sent to North Africa. The successes of Erwin Rommel, a German general, had forced the British Eighth Army to retreat into Egypt. On arrival, Montgomery set to work motivating his men and, in the Second Battle of El Alamein, his troops defeated the Germans. There were about 30,000 Axis captives after this battle. Montgomery continued to fight relentlessly against German forces until May 1943.
Erwin Rommel in 1942. By Bundesarchiv Bild CC-BY-SA 3.0
After his success in Egypt, he commanded troops in the invasion of Sicily and Italy. During Operation Overlord, the Invasion of Normandy, he was in control of all the Allied ground forces. The success of the invasion brought about the surrender of the German northern army to the Allies.
By then, Montgomery had become a Field Marshal. He also became a Knight of the Order of the Garter. In 1946 he was made First Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.
British night artillery barrage which opened the second Battle of El Alamein
After the war, he had a number of top positions in the army and, before his retirement, he served the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
His memoir was published in 1958, and following this, he released his second book entitled: “Path to Leadership.” He retired in 1958, and died at the age of 88 in 1976, having fought in many battles for his country during both the First and Second World Wars.
Winston Churchill pays a visit to Monty (and Rommel) at his HQ in Chateau Creully, Normandy in August 1944
Meeting of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), 1 February 1944. Front row: Air Chief Marshal Arthur Tedder; General Dwight D. Eisenhower; General Bernard Montgomery. Back row: Lieutenant General Omar Bradley; Admiral Bertram Ramsay; Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory; Lieutenant General Walter Bedell Smith.
Lord Trenchard (Marshal of the RAF) with Lieutenant General Montgomery on a visit to the Western Desert, 20 October 1942.
Gen. Bernard Law Montgomery and Lt. Gen. George S. Patton in Palermo, July 28, 1943
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery and Major General Arne Dagfin Dahl in Narvik July 5, 1951.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill, accompanied by Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery and Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, inspects tanks of the “Desert Rats” from a half-track vehicle which moved slowly along the long line of troops and armor, during the British Victory parade in Berlin, 21 July 1945.
Prime Minister Churchill with General Montgomery at the latter’s HQ in Normandy, July 1944.
Montgomery and Soviet generals Zhukov, Sokolovsky and Rokossovsky at the Brandenburg Gate on 12 July 1945
Montgomery, Wavell, Auchinleck
Winston Churchill with Gen. Alan Brooke visits Normandy and Gen. Bernard Montgomery shortly after the landings, 12 June 1944.
The British Army in North Africa 1942 General Montgomery enjoys a cup of coffee with the Tank Protection Troop of his Grant tank in the Western Desert, 6 November 1942.
Bernard Law Montgomery
The Minister of Munitions, Winston Churchill, watching the march past of the 47th (2nd London) Division in the Grande Place, Lille. In front of him is the Chief of Staff of the 47th Division, Lieutenant-Colonel Bernard Montgomery.
Senior officers discuss operations during Exercise ‘Bumper’, 2 October 1941. On the left the Chief Umpire, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery, talks to the C-in-C Home Forces, General Sir Alan Brooke
Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery, the new commander of the British Eighth Army, and Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks, the new GOC XIII Corps, discussing troop dispositions at 22nd Armoured Brigade HQ, 20 August 1942
General Montgomery with his pets, the puppies ‘Hitler’ (left) and ‘Rommel’, and a cage of canaries which also travelled with him (France; date unknown).
The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill with military leaders during his visit to Tripoli. The group includes: Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese, General Sir Harold Alexander, General Sir Alan Brooke and General Sir Bernard Montgomery.
Wartime photograph of General Sir Bernard Montgomery with his Miles Messenger aircraft (location and date unknown).
General Montgomery inspects men of the 5th/7th Battalion, Gordon Highlanders of the 51st (Highland) Division, at Beaconsfield, February 1944.
Montgomery with officers of the First Canadian Army. From left, Major-General Vokes, General Crerar, Field Marshal Montgomery, Lieutenant-General Horrocks, Lieutenant-General Simonds, Major-General Spry, and Major-General Matthews.
General Montgomery passes German POWs while being driven along a road in a jeep, shortly after arriving in Normandy, 8 June 1944.
General Montgomery in conversation with Major General Douglas Graham, GOC 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, pictured here in Normandy, 20 June 1944.
The King with Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey, GOC British Second Army, and General Montgomery, 16 June 1944.
General Montgomery stops his car to chat to troops during a tour of I Corps area near Caen, 11 July 1944.
The Supreme Commanders on 5 June 1945 in Berlin: Bernard Montgomery, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Georgy Zhukov and Jean de Lattre de Tassigny. By Bundesarchiv Bild CC-BY-SA
Montgomery (left), Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham (centre) and the Commander of the British Second Army, Lieutenant General Sir Miles Dempsey, talking after a conference in which Montgomery gave the order for the Second Army to begin Operation Plunder.
