Was General Montgomery really overrated in WW2?

Fair enough Craig, but I wouldn't have called him a coward. Definitely a traitor to the Nazis after his capture. (and weak with Hitler like some other German Generals).

The German Nation would have been mighty relieved if they had broken the ring at Stalingrad.

Anyway a discussion on Von Paulus would be good for another topic on its own.

Monty had plenty of good points as well as bad. He was also on the winning side.
 
Hi, i am new to this forum and found it while researching for a history project, which happens to be on Montgomery. I know some basic information about him but my project focuses on how he is viewed by historians, particularly those from the UK and US. If anyone could give me some references to some good books, especially ones which are critical of him and from an American viewpoint, i would gladly appreciate the help.
 
schoolnoob said:
Hi, i am new to this forum and found it while researching for a history project, which happens to be on Montgomery. I know some basic information about him but my project focuses on how he is viewed by historians, particularly those from the UK and US. If anyone could give me some references to some good books, especially ones which are critical of him and from an American viewpoint, i would gladly appreciate the help.
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Just curious,but why a critical point of view and why American?Do you believe the American view of Monty is more accurate?
 
Uncle_Sam said:
I think of him as a very bad general! If he was commander instead of Eisenhower, we would have lost the war!
Nazis would be marching in Europe like an angry bull in a Texas Rodeo!

He won in Africa simply because Romell was sick in Berlin(Tifus), and when he came back everything went wrong for nazis( :D ), other wise we would certainly loose Africa :( , 'till operation "Torch", where Eisenhower would command, and everything would be O.K. !
Eisenhower(my favourite general :D ) & Monti were not so well friends, 'cause Dwight knew he wasn't a good General.... Every operation he started was failure from the begining! More of our men died brcause of him!
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No Prizes for guessing where your from :roll:
 
I need to look at the different perspectives on him and from what i know the British seem to admire and overate him while American historians are more critical. I am looking for books with an American perspective because i need to try to determine why this is the case. So if anyone out there can suggest something it would give me a good boost.
 
I have personally found Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery one of the most intriguing leaders and personalities of military history.

When I was younger I tended to be very critical of particular military leaders such as Montgomery. Another general that springs to mind is Douglas Haig of WW1 fame. As you may have noticed, I have also had a fascination for George Patton, a rather crazy guy. As I got older and with a bit more reading, I began to realise that these men lived in very complex and dangerous times. The problems encountered demanded very extraordinary men to come to the surface. They had lots of faults but had substantial qualities as well which got them to the top.

I don’t know of any American authors who have done any serious studies of Montgomery. There could be quite a number out there. The prevailing American view is usually a critical one of Monty and that may be warranted in some instances. He could be quite an insufferable character to his contempories and he did make mistakes.

One of the best books I have ever read about Monty and it critically appraises his good points as well as his bad is

MONTGOMERY OF ALAMEIN by Alun Chalfont. (Magnum Books). An English Publication.
ISBN 0 417 01910 6

I thought it was a great book.. It was first published in 1976. If you are looking for criticism of Monty there is plenty here. I came away with more admiration of a very complex man.


I bought my copy in a street market. Try your library. Amazon may be of some help.
 
Without studying all perspectives, I don't think you're going to get a very good study of ANY military leader. What did the Russians think of Montgomery? The Germans? And yes, the bloody Americans too. What did they think of Monty? While knowing the British point of view is absolutely essential, you're opening yourself up to hometown bias. Hard to be objective in that case.

If the American views are drastically unfair, the more intersting quesiton is: Why is America seeking so dilligently to under-rate Montgomery?
 
godofthunder9010 said:
Without studying all perspectives, I don't think you're going to get a very good study of ANY military leader. What did the Russians think of Montgomery? The Germans? And yes, the bloody Americans too. What did they think of Monty? While knowing the British point of view is absolutely essential, you're opening yourself up to hometown bias. Hard to be objective in that case.

If the American views are drastically unfair, the more intersting quesiton is: Why is America seeking so dilligently to under-rate Montgomery?
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Your question "Why is America seeking so diligently to under-rate Montgomery?" is one of the sub questions im trying to address. However it is somewhat difficult without any American sources. Perhaps you could tell me the names of some notable US historians who have written about WW2. The only one i can think of is Stephen Ambrose.
As for looking at other perspectives, I'll keep that in mind.
 
Two other excellent books on Monty are

Monty: The Battles of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery by Nigel Hamilton (Random House)

The Lonely Leader 1944/1945 by Alistair Horne (Harper Collins).

You will get plenty of criticism of Monty in these two and reasons why he fell out with the Americans in WW2 as well as a lot of other people. Even so, he was still adored by his troops!!!

Can't understand your fixation on finding an American author. Maybe you better stick to Stephen Ambrose.
 
aussiejohn said:
Two other excellent books on Monty are

Monty: The Battles of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery by Nigel Hamilton (Random House)

The Lonely Leader 1944/1945 by Alistair Horne (Harper Collins).

You will get plenty of criticism of Monty in these two and reasons why he fell out with the Americans in WW2 as well as a lot of other people. Even so, he was still adored by his troops!!!

Can't understand your fixation on finding an American author. Maybe you better stick to Stephen Ambrose.
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If the guy wants to offer any decent explanations about why American contemporaries and American soldiers didn't think as highly of Monty as the Brits did -- well you're going to have to read some American sources, compare them to British sources and do some filtering to sort out the truth of it. Both the UK and the USA are likely to be guilty of unfair bias.
 
Apart form Ambrose, got any other suggestions. I have been looking but no luck on finding American writers who have written directly on Monty. Must be some out there.

The amount of info on Montgomery already is very substantial. Good and bad, biased and unbiased.

As I have already stated, some of the English authors I have read go to great lengths to discuss the documented American view, particularly Normandy and beyond.

Books on Patton also give plenty of American viewpoints on Monty.
 
I believe the reason Americans are so critical of Montgomery is because of operation "Market Garden". American troops really do not like serving under anyone that isn't American. Montgomery screwed up real bad with this operation and it costed 10,000 lifes who happened to be some of America's and the UK's finest [Paratroopers] amongst other units as well. Sorry if this has already been said, I haven't read the entire topic.

Aussiejohn - I thought Battle of the bulge was mainly Americans.
 
I thought it was too. Monty did have commmand of some of the American forces that helped defend at the B of B. He did a good job.

We were talking about American authors who have written opinions/biographical material about Monty. I haven't found any as yet.


Most books I have read about Monty cover plenty of reasons why the Americans didn't like him. Opinions are well documented. Patton had plenty to say about him.

Reasons for ill feeling:

e.g Caen, Falaise, his crticism of Eike and how the campaign was conducted after Normandy, Arnhem, his boastful personality and more!!!
 
Sorry I must had misread your post, I thought you were saying it was mainly brits. Liquor does funny things to the mind.
 
I could really use a dring right now, and I don't even drink. 8 hours of tech support for an ISP, its likely to make you think suicide is a great idea.
 
The reason Americans don't like Monty is cuz he commanded D/Day.
The fact that D/Day was always a British plan( the architect was Lt Gen Frederick Morgan) goes right over American heads.

In reality Eisenhower never commanded one battle in his entire career.

Watch 'A Bridge Too Far' it's a hoot.The Americans have serious issues with Monty,he was an arrogant so&so,but he was as good as the next best allied commander.
 
If you read Chalfont's book, he explains clearly why the Americans didn't like Monty (see my previous post).

His "Big Thrust on Berlin" Plan caused the biggests headaches for Eisenhower. He never got the hint until Eisenhower nearly sacked him, that it wasn't a goer.

Monty's comments after the Battle of the Bulge about American Command was very insulting to the Americans.
 
Aussie John - I like your suggestion on books about Patton. I never quite thought of that. Perhaps i could also look at books on Ike and other US generals.

I've been sifting around for material on key battles involving Monty. So far ive found plenty on D-day and El Alamein but books on Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge come up short. It seems to me that a lot of them are narrative books dealing with soldiers experiences rather than an analytical book which accounts for the battle and offers opinions on certain leaders etc. Any Suggestions.

I certainly agree to the point that market garden may be the reason why US does not like Monty as it was a dismal failure and in my opinion an ill conceived plan. Not too sure about the Bulge, i dont quite know enough about his role there.

btw, what exactly did Monty say about the American high command?
 
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