R.W. Thompson - The Montgomery Legend

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ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: WW2

Volume 18

THE MONTGOMERY LEGEND

THE MONTGOMERY LEGEND

R.W. THOMPSON

First published in 1967 by George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

This edition first published in 2022

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

1967 George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-03-201217-9 (Set)

ISBN: 978-1-00-319367-8 (Set) (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-03-204534-4 (Volume 18) (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-03-204535-1 (Volume 18) (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-00-319366-1 (Volume 18) (ebk)

DOI: 10.4324/9781003193661

Publishers Note

The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer

The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace.

The Montgomery Legend

BY
R.W. THOMPSON

BOOK I

If the art of war consisted
merely in not taking risks,
glory would be at the disposal of
very mediocre talent.

NAPOLEON

ILLUSTRATED

FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1967

This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, 1956, no portion may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the publishers.

George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1967

printed in great britain

in 11 pt. Baskerville type

by c. tinling and co

prescot

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The extracts from The Mediterranean and Middle East, vol. iii by Major-General I. S. O. Playfair; from Grand Strategy, vol. iii, part ii, by J. R. M. Butler; from Grand Strategy, vol. v by John Ehrman, are quoted by permission of Her Majestys Stationery Office; from: George F. Howe, North West Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West, United States Army in World War II (Washington, 1957), published by the Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, by permission of the Chief of Military History, Washington, D.C.; from The Hinge of Fate and Closing the Ring, vols. iv and v, The Second World War by Winston S. Churchill, by permission of The Daily Telegraph.

I owe special thanks to Capt Sir Basil Liddell Hart for making private papers available for me from his archives, and for his kindness in reading the first four chapters of this book in manuscript before leaving England to take up an appointment in the usa . My debt to vol. ii, The Tanks, The History of the Royal Tank Regiment, will be obvious to all who may read this book.

I have a debt to the late John Connell for his steadfast encouragement over many years, and for the insights gained from his work, particularly his biography, Auchinleck. I record with gratitude, and a deep sense of my inadequacy, my thanks to Major-General and Mrs Eric Dorman OGowan for inviting me to work in their home during part of my long convalescence, and for making private papers and their military library available to me. I thank Brigadier John Stephenson for his careful reading of my book, and for his forthright and valuable criticisms, and the Librarian of the Royal United Service Institution for making many books available to me over a long period.

I acknowledge gratefully the works listed in the bibliography, all of which, whether referred to in the text or not, have added to my pleasure and knowledge.

None of which is to say that anyone but myself agrees with or approves in the smallest degree a single word that I have written.

Finally, without the generous aid of Dr J. A. Linnell and The Royal Literary Fund; without the courage of my wife, and the patience and kindness of my three youngest children, it would have been impossible to have written this book, or to have survived as a writer.

r. w. thompson
Belchamp Walter
Suffolk
March 1966

CONTENTS

introduction

one Churchills Agony

two Redemption

three Catharsis

part ii : THE INHERITORS

four The General

five Alam Halfa: the general and the battle

six The 15th September

part iii : ANATOMY OF A LEGEND

seven 2nd Alamein

eight 2nd Alamein II

nine The Triumphal March

ten On to Tunis!

part iv : UNDER TWO FLAGS

eleven The Allied Command

twelve Husky

thirteen Fortress Europe

fourteen A Soldiers Farewell

notes

reading list

ILLUSTRATIONS

1. All the talents on the lawn of the British Embassy, Cairo, August, 1942.

2. General Sir Alan Brooke, chatting with Major-General Dorman Smith at El Alamein, August, 1942.

Mr Winston Churchill with Major-General Dorman Smith during his visit to the Western Desert.

Mr Churchill giving the V sign to Australian troops, August, 1942.

3. Lieutenant-General Montgomery talking with officers of the 22nd Armoured Brigade.

The Army Commander looking at a wrecked German tank.

General Montgomery and the Padre, December, 1942.

4. The Army Commander speaking to junior officers of the 1st Armoured Division.

Lieutenant-General Montgomery announcing the destruction of the Afrika Korps to war correspondents.

5. General Montgomery in his famous hat.

6. General Montgomery inspecting men of the 5th Brigade, N.Z. Division.

Outside Horns. General Montgomery talking to the B.G.S. Brigadier Erskine.

7. General Montgomery with Marshal Messe.

Italy: December 1943. General Montgomery after his farewell address.

8. General Eisenhower decorating General Montgomery with the Legion of Merit.

General Montgomery addressing war correspondents, 1943.

Introduction

C ontemporary history is dangerous stuff. It has been always so. It is doubly dangerous to attempt to discover the substance of famous personalities, especially when such personalities have become the symbols of myth and legend.

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