MONTGOMERY AFTER THE WAR As far as the British public were concerned Churchill and Montgomery had won the war, and although Churchill lost the 1945 election, Montgomery was raised to the peerage as Viscount Montgomery of Alamein and became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army occupying the British sector of Germany, that nation now divided into Russian, American, French and British zones. Then, in June 1946 he succeeded Brooke, now Field Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke, as Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the army, and proceeded to surround himself and pack the army council with his own favourites. Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templar said that Montgomery had been ‘the worst CIGS for fifty years’, knowing full well that the appointment had existed for a lot less than fifty years.
Thanks for the illuminating essay, Gordon. My knowledge of Monty only goes as far as the Battle of the Bulge when he famously "tidied up" the battlefield for the Americans (his own words, I believe). Interesting to see that, long after the pressures of war had faded, he continued to fall out with his peers left, right, and centre. Though I can at least sympathize in the case of de Lattre; I believe General George C. Marshall lost his cool with the man on more than one occasion during Operation Dragoon in the south of France in '44. Plus ca change.
Thanks for the illuminating essay, Gordon. My knowledge of Monty only goes as far as the Battle of the Bulge when he famously "tidied up" the battlefield for the Americans (his own words, I believe). Interesting to see that, long after the pressures of war had faded, he continued to fall out with his peers left, right, and centre. Though I can at least sympathize in the case of de Lattre; I believe General George C. Marshall lost his cool with the man on more than one occasion during Operation Dragoon in the south of France in '44. Plus ca change.