Montgomery (of Alamein), Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount 1887-1976
English soldier

He was born in London, the son of Bishop Montgomery, and was educated at St Paul's School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He served with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in World War I. In World War II he commanded the 3rd Division, with which he shared the retreat to Dunkirk. In North Africa in 1941 he commanded the 8th Army, restoring their bruised confidence and the will to win. Conforming to General Harold Alexander's strategic plans, he defeated Erwin Rommel at the Battle of El Alamein (October 1942). This was followed up by a series of victories that eventually drove the Axis forces back to Tunis. His subsequent activities in Sicily and Italy were solid if somewhat pedestrian. Appointed Commander for the Ground Forces for the Normandy invasion in 1944, his strategy was characterized by wariness and unflagging tenacity. By deliberately attracting the main weight of the German counteroffensive to the British flank, he freed the US armoured formations to inaugurate the joint drive across France and Belgium. His attempt to roll up the German right flank by way of Arnhem (September 1944) lacked co-ordination and the deployment of the proper means to ensure success and ended in disaster, but his timely intervention helped materially to frustrate Karl von Rundstedt's surprise offensive of December 1944. He accepted the German capitulation on L�neburg Heath, and was commander of the British occupied zone in Germany (1945-46) and Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) in 1946-48. He was deputy Supreme Commander of NATO forces (1951-58). His publications include Normandy tothe Baltic (1947), his controversial Memoirs (1958), The Path to Leadership (1961) and History of Warfare (1968). Controversial and outspoken, he was known as a 'soldier's general' and is regarded by some as the best British field commander since the Duke of Wellington.

Bibliography: R W Thompson, The Montgomery Legend (1967)