Monty

[123everton]

Was Montgomery as overrated as the Americans liked to think, or just unlucky?

[16AFA]

He was brilliant.
As a Battalion Commander in India between the wars his Brigade was taking part in a parade, the Brigade Commander told Monty that he was three paces too far to the left of his Bn (650 men). Monty marched his Bn three paces to their right.

Hi ego was almost as great as his tactical acumen. The Americans (IE Patton, Eisenhower et al) were in awe of the great man and used every opportunity to make him look small. Montgomery was undoubtedly the greatest allied General of WW2

Point to note, it was 100 (British) Churchill tanks that came to the 'battling b4stards of Bastion's' rescue during the battle of the Bulge at the near end of WW2, where the almost defeated Germans encircled the American Army in the Arrdennes.

[123everton]

I tend to agree with you, but he was'nt a lucky commander by any stretch of the imagination.
During "Overlord" British and Canadian troops faced SS and regular Wehrmacht troops whereas the American faced a more mixed bag (some SS and regulars) with far more reservists, he defeated Rommel (twice) and during "Market Garden" it was only because an SS unit was being reorganised that Arnhem did'nt fall to us.
Any dissenters?......

[Lonnie]

He was definately overrated, as an example, look at Alamein, if it wasn't for General Auchineck holding the Gemans at the first battle, and his defensive preparations, Montgomery wouldn't have won the second battle,

Churchill only replaced Auchinleck, (who was arguably our best general), because he wouldn't attack when Chuchill wanted him to.

And how about Market Garden, In retrospect, he was in well over his head.

[123everton]

The biggest problem with "Market Garden" was the sheer bad luck that a Panzer battalion were in Arnhem being refitted.
It was 90% successful, and the column did'nt advance when it could've, due to lack of infantry support, the Germans would never have done that they always reinforced success, indeed in the invasion of Belgium Guderian often advanced without infantry.
I feel perhaps Auchenleck was overlooked especially when if memory serves he disposessed (spelt that right?) of his troops for the campaign in Salonika wh could of pushed the Italians out.

[helpmetoo]

definitely overrated, but unlucky not to win the us open on one occasion

[shomer42]

Who?

[claymore]

Stubborn , impatient ,egotistical. Didn`t like waiting in the wings while Patton was storming towards the Rhine, so came up with Market Garden. Poor planning poor intelligence cost them dearly. General staff were warned that an ss panzer division was in the vicinity of the Arnhem bridge but they decided that they weren t much of a threat. The Polish parachute regiment for one would beg to differ. there is no such thing as being 90% successful, you win or you loose, Montgomery lost.

[123everton]

The relief column waiting for the armour to catch up did'nt help, admittedly someone like Guderian would have pressed on regardless, all Generals are egotistical none more so than U.S General Mark Clark.
He did beat Rommel twice, not a bad achievement in itself.

[123everton]

Armour, infantry one or the other I've had a long day....

[11nytram11]

Montgomery was an execellent general at all levels of command. As a divisional and Corps commander in France he performed brilliantly, in England he was instrumental in retraining the British Army after Dunkirk, he defeated Rommel on relatively even footing at Alam Halfa, defeated him again at El Alamein, advanced 720 miles in 20 days across the desert in persuit of Rommel, defeated him again at Medinine then the Africa Korp at the Mareth Line. He advanced well against the stiffest opposition in Sicily and breached the Gustav line in Italy before coming to England to take over the planning of Overlord and oversee both the preparation for it and its execution. He advanced as fast if not faster than Patton across Europe in more difficult terrain but was hampered by being undermanned. His plan for Market Garden could have worked but he did not recieve as much support as he should have (due to Bradley ignoring Ike's orders to halt and pushing his whole Army Group forward), when Bradley lost control at the Bulge Monty came to the rescue but was a bit condisending about it afterward. When entering Germany he penetrated further than the other Allied Generals and took more land. He gets marked down just because he wasn't a nice man and becuase he was British - I say that because Patton wasn't a nice man and accomplished nothing to equal Montgomery but is treated like a god of war because he was an American.