Who was Monty's double

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Q.� Yes. That was all hogwash, wasn't it

A.� No. All true. The double in question was Lieut� M E Clifton James. He was at his desk at the Royal Army Pay Corps in 1944, when he received a telephone call from the film star David Niven, who was serving as a colonel with the army's cinema section.

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Q.� So it was Niven's idea

A.� That is not recorded. However, somebody had spotted that James bore an uncanny resemblance to General Bernard Montgomery (later Field Marshal, later Viscount), the victor of El Alamein, one of the great turning points of the Second World War.

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Q.� So...

A.� Monty had also been chosen as commander-in-chief of all ground forces for the invasion of France. The Nazis expected an invasion imminently, but had no idea where it would be launched. So a cunning plan was put into action to confuse them.

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Q.� Hang on. I'd like to heard a little more about Lieut Clifton James and Monty himself.

A.� OK.� Monty first.� Son of an Ulster clergyman, educated at St. Paul's School, London, and Sandhurst. Distinguished service in the First World War. Early in Second World War, he led a division in France, and after� Dunkirk he commanded the south-eastern section of England in anticipation of a German invasion. In August 1942, Winston Churchill appointed him commander of the 8th Army in North Africa, which had been pushed back to Egypt by Rommel. Montgomery contained the German offensive and forced Rommel from Egypt in the Battle of El Alamein, November, 1942. The Germans surrendered to him in Tunisia in May, 1943. After the successful Allied invasion of Sicily in July, 1943, he led the Allied invasion of France in 1944. He received the surrender of the German northern armies, on L�neburg Heath, on 4 May, 1945.

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Q.� And the lieutenant

A.� He was an actor who had fought in the trenches in the Great War. In utmost secrecy, James was posted as a sergeant of the Intelligence Corps to Monty's staff so that he could study the general's voice, gestures and mannerisms. James shaved off his moustache as a primitive disguise. He observed: the way he saluted and clasped his hands behind his back. That was the easy part. James was more worried about capturing Monty's personality.

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Q. And did he

A.� Yes - he had underestimated his skills considerably. After several rehearsals, he flew as General Montgomery to Gibraltar, where he was greeted by the British governor and deliberately introduced to several men known by the British Secret Services as Hitler's secret agents. A similar performance was then repeated in Algiers. News of Monty's whereabouts travelled fast - transmitted by enemy agents back to the Nazi chiefs.

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Q.� What did that achieve

A.� The Nazis were distracted away from Normandy as an invasion target. And the rest, as they say, is history. The story was made into a 1958 film starring Clifton James, John Mills, Cecil Parker, Marius Goring, Michael Horden, John Le Mesurier, Bryan Forbes and Leslie Phillips.

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By Steve Cunningham

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