Allied Commanders of World War Two/Montgomery

"Sir Bernard Law Montgomery"

By far the most famous British commander of World War Two, Montgomery was born in London, the son of an Anglican clergyman. He later studied at Sandhurst Military Academy. After graduation his unit was sent to India, then a British colony, but the unit was then sent to France when World War One started, and Montgomery was severely wounded and almost killed there in the fall of 1914. After recuperating, he was again sent to France as a staff officer. After the war he received various promotions and assignments, including service in Ireland prior to its independence from Britain, but he also returned to India and served in the Middle East. By 1938 Montgomery was in command of a division in Palestine, then under British rule (termed a "mandate"), and his division was involved in suppressing revolts by the local non-Jewish, mainly Arab, population.

Montgomery returned to Britain not long before the outbreak of World War Two. He and his new division were sent to France right after Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939. Montgomery and his division were returned to Britain as part of the massive (and highly successful) evacuation from Dunkirk, a northern coastal French city, which had been surrounded by the Germans in 1940. He was given command of an area of southern England, as the country prepared for what seemed a likely German invasion. The seesaw British fortunes in North Africa against German and Italian troops, primarily under the command of General (Field Marshal from summer 1942) Erwin Rommel, "The Desert Fox," brought a decision by Prime Minister Winston Churchill to make major command changes in North Africa and the Middle East. When the newly appointed commander of the British Eighth Army* was killed when the Germans shot down his plane, Montgomery, then a Lieutenant-General, was given command of the army in mid August 1942.

Within a short time, Montgomery's energy had lifted the spirits of troops, as he made many a personal visit to the troops in the field. He also received reinforcements and strengthened defensive positions to keep Rommel's forces from further advances, while he plotted offensive operations to inflict a decisive defeat on the Desert Fox. Military historians have debated Montgomery's slow, but steady going as he built up toward the launching of his offensive.** Just a couple of weeks after assuming command, Montgomery's forces halted a major German-Italian attack, inflicting stinging casualties on the enemy, and forcing Rommel to order a withdrawal to his own defensive positions, thus ending Rommel's drive to capture Cairo and the Suez. British air attacks on Rommel's forces were more than a little helpful in the Allied victory.***

Montgomery finally unleashed his offensive against Rommel on October 23, 1942. After heavy fighting, Allied forces broke through the fortified Axis lines (Rommel loved minefields and barbed wire!), and Rommel, contrary to orders from nutcase-in-chief, Hitler, for Rommel's men to fight to the death, ordered a general retreat. As the remnants of the German and Italian forces retreated from Egypt and into Libya, Allied forces invaded French North Africa, far to the rear of Rommel's retreating army. By May 1943, the Axis forces in North Africa surrendered.

The Allies decided to invade the major Italian island of Sicily in July 1943, based largely upon plans put forth by Montgomery. The role given American forces of supporting Montgomery's main effort brought controversy to the Allied commanders, as Americans saw Montgomery as egotistical and condescending. The successful landing was followed by a grueling effort to clear the island of stubborn and effective German resistance.**** Mainland Italy was then invaded in September 1943, including by Montgomery's Eighth Army in the extreme southern part ("heel") of Italy. The Allied advance was halted by stiff German opposition south of Rome, and Montgomery was recalled to Britain to help prepare for the invasion of France.

Montgomery's plan called for the capture of the French city of Caen (in Normandy) by British forces and then a thrust northward, with American forces coming around the outside of advance. Caen was only taken much later than Montgomery anticipated, and after very heavy casualties, and the Allies didn't breakout of Normandy until August (they had landed on June 6, 1944). This was followed by a Montgomery plan to land airborne forces behind the German lines in the Netherlands in mid September 1944, combined with a ground offensive to link up with those forces. A follow up offensive would carry the Allies into Germany to capture the German industrial region (the Ruhr) and end the war quickly. Montgomery's reputation took a tumble, as part of the airborne landing force was cut to pieces by the Germans. The Germans launched a major offensive in mid December 1944 (known to the Allies as the "Battle of the Bulge," due to the 'bulge' created in the American line by the advancing Germans). Montgomery was temporarily given overall command of American forces in the area, and British troops were positioned to prevent a German breakthrough toward their ultimate (and overly optimistic) objective of Antwerp, which would have cut the Allied forces in two. In the later stages of the battle, Montgomery was criticized for not acting to cut off German forces retreating from the "bulge." Eventually British forces crossed the Rhine River into northern Germany and the war ended in May 1945. Montgomery was then commander of the British occupation forces in Germany, and later was named Chief of the Imperial General Staff. He remained controversial for the rest of his life, offering opinions on segregation in South Africa (he supported it) and even on gay rights (he opposed them), and his memoirs caustically criticized many of his associates from the war, including (by then) American President, Dwight Eisenhower, who had been the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. Outraged Americans wanted the head of "Monty" (as he was more often known), and Eisenhower never contacted him again. Montgomery died in 1976 in England, age 88.

* The Eighth Army was the army headquarters in charge of British and Commonwealth troops in Egypt. At that time, August 1942, Rommel's advance had been halted near the railway station of El Alamein.

** Montgomery's experiences of the terrible casualties of World War One, when waves of men were sacrificed for little or no gain, made him cautious in his operations. He chose to build up his forces to a point where they were pretty much guaranteed victory, due to overwhelming numbers. Some military people criticize his caution; others admire his deliberate pace and attempts to avoid heavy casualties. To be quite honest, there isn't any one correct answer. If you have seen the superb movie, "Patton," this same debate is depicted between Patton and General Omar Bradley during operations on Sicily. Patton, ever the "keep advancing, regardless of casualties" kind of commander, is confronted by the more deliberate Bradley. Patton, Bradley's superior, prevails, and so do the American forces, but at high cost. Patton tells Bradley the casualties would have been even higher had they waited, but these arguments are really never ending.

*** The decisive use of air power by the Allies in ground operations was something of a rarity at that time, as the German use of air power to support their ground forces had been a key component in their victories since the beginning of the war. Montgomery and other Allied commanders took note of the German tactics and turned them to their own advantage, something that lasted until the end of the war. Allied air power was often cited by Rommel for his pessimistic view of the eventual outcome of the war, although he believed a defeat of an Allied landing in France could still save Germany from total defeat. When that landing came (D-Day), Allied air power was so overwhelming, it prevented the timely arrival of German reinforcements to the invasion area, as German armored units (Panzer units), especially, had to do most of their travel at night to avoid being sitting ducks for Allied fighter-bombers. Even when the units arrived at their destinations, they had often already suffered losses to their tank strength from air attacks.

**** While Italian troops far outnumbered German troops on Sicily, many, but certainly not all, Italians chose to give up the fight and surrendered at first chance. Most Italian units involved were composed of reservists. On the other hand, many of the Germans were first class troops, including reinforcements by the highly regarded German paratroopers.

WORD HISTORY:
Small-This word traces back to Indo European "smalo," which had the general meaning "small," a meaning apparently often used of animals. This gave its Old Germanic offspring "smalaz," also with the meaning "small, narrow." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "smael," with the same basic meaning. This then later became "smal," before the modern version. Its other Germanic relatives are: German "schmal," Low German Saxon "small," other Low German "schmaul," Dutch "smal," Frisian "smel," all tending more toward the meaning "narrow," but also in "small," in some cases. Swedish, Danish and Norwegian have two forms, "små" (“small”) and also "smal" ("narrow"). I could not find a form in Icelandic, so I assume it has died out.