Montgomery of Alamein, Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount

b. 1887; d. 1976

Born at Kennington, London, son of the Right Reverend H. H. Montgomery, Bishop of Tasmania. Educated at St Paul's School and Sandhurst, he entered the army in 1908 and served in the First World War, being mentioned in dispatches. He commanded the 1st Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 1931-34, was GSO 1, Staff College, Quetta, 1934-37, and was commander of the 9th Infantry Brigade, Portsmouth, 1937-38. He commanded the 3rd Division, 1938-39, participating with it in the Dunkirk evacuation and was corps commander, 1940-41. In August 1942 with the rank of lieutenant-general, he succeeded General Ritchie as commander of the British Eighth Army under General Sir Harold Alexander, Commander-in-Chief, Middle East.

Under his command the Eighth Army won one of the most brilliant victories in the history of the British army, when between 23 October and 7 November, the British forces at El Alamein, after repelling all the assaults of Marshal Rommel's mixed Axis forces, turned to the offensive and completely routed the German marshal. Montgomery was knighted in November 1942. In the winter of 1943, after a brilliant pursuit of Rommel's army across Libya and Tripolitania, he entered Tripoli and thereby completed the conquest of all Italy's African empire. In March 1943 he again defeated Rommel's reinforced army at the battle of El Mareth line and followed this with another defeat at Akarit and the capture of the Tunisian ports of Gabes, Sfax, and Sousse.

In the summer of 1944 he led the Allied armies in the great victory of the battle of Normandy and led the 21st Army Group to the Rhine and across that river to the Elbe in March 1945. Until early 1946 Montgomery commanded the British army of occupation and was military governor of the British zone in Germany. He was raised to the peerage in the same year, made a knight of the garter, and appointed chief of the Imperial General Staff. In 1948 he became chairman of the commanders-in-chief of the Western Alliance, formed for the defence of Western Europe, and from 1951 to 1958 was deputy supreme commander, SHAPE.

After his retirement and until his death, Montgomery retained his interest in world affairs and frequently visited world leaders, such as Mao Tse-tung, whom he much admired, for informal talks. Montgomery was a superb and resolute tactician with an intuitive sense of when to make use of an opportunity; he was also a charismatic figure and, with his profound belief in the importance of winning the confidence and trust of his troops and fellow-countrymen, was one of the best-known figures of his day.

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