Bernard Law Montgomery
Montgomery is famous for his quote: "Rule 1, on page 1 of the book of war, is: "Do not march on Moscow".[1]
Operation Market Garden
See also: Operation Market Garden
Following the breakthrough in France in August 1944 an argument broke out between the Gen Dwight Eisenhower, and the Commanding General of the 21st British Army Group, General Montgomery. Montgomery argued that a concentrated attack, which he would lead, on the northern line of advance was preferable to Eisenhower's two-pronged broad-front advance. When Eisenhower decided that as of 1 September 1944 he would assume command of the ground troops from Montgomery, the temporary ground forces commander, the debate widened to include command. Except for Operation MARKET-GARDEN, Eisenhower did not take seriously Montgomery's single-thrust proposals.[2]
References
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Chester Wilmot's Struggle for Europe (1952) told Montgomery's side of the story but focused the debate narrowly on strategy, virtually excluding the arguments over command. Montgomery did not show Wilmot his papers concerning command, only strategy, so Wilmot wrote about what he knew. Politics influenced British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's history of the war, published in 1953, which omitted Churchill's reservations over Eisenhower's exercise of ground command, owing to the fact that Eisenhower was now the US President. See G. E. Patrick Murray, Eisenhower versus Montgomery: The Continuing Debate (1996)
