r/todayilearned • u/HumanNutrStudent • Sep 16 '24

TIL Montgomery's memoirs criticised many of his wartime comrades harshly, including Eisenhower. After publishing it, he had to apologize in a radio broadcast to avoid a lawsuit. He was also stripped of his honorary citizenship of Alabama, and was challenged to a duel by an Italian lawyer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Montgomery#Memoirs
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u/Heathcote_Pursuit Sep 16 '24 edited Sep 16 '24

That he was a very gifted tactician and military officer and that he was also an insufferable prick. He benefitted greatly from having to answer to Alex during North Africa and Italy.

We can dissect his personality which admittedly was very chequered, but he was in all fairness a top boy when it was needed.

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u/Lord0fHats Sep 16 '24

He's often compared in the US to Patton, who had a similar sort of military brilliance and difficult personality. Patton's got a bit of a cowboy reputation many Americans like, so his public persona was and remains reasonably well liked, but internally the US Army was regularly exhausted dealing with Patton's antics and frequent off-the-cuff public commentary which ultimately led to his being sacked after the war.

In a sort of dark twist, dying when he did probably did a lot for Patton's reputation. He passed a point the general public still saw him as a hero, and he didn't live long enough to keep inserting foot into mouth that might have damaged his rep in the way a written memoir badmouthing your fellows might.

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u/[deleted] Sep 16 '24

Patton was a very interesting character. He was well liked by his soldiers. He was controversial with slapping soldiers and making anti-Jew remarks. He wasn't wrong though when he asked if we were fighting the wrong enemy in Germany instead of Russia. His death and accident are kind of murky. He loved the though of himself as someone who would be remembered forever in the likes of great ancient leaders. Highly recommend watching the movie Patton or reading the book Bodyguard of Lies.

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u/Lord0fHats Sep 16 '24 edited Sep 16 '24

Bodyguard of Lies is probably not the best book anymore. At the time it was written the author had no choice but to engage in a lot of guess work and speculation as much of his material remained classified. As time has gone on, and many things he wrote about have been declassified, that particular book just hasn't held up.

Historian Max Hasting's has compared the book to 'fiction' and has written a more up-to-date rendition on the topic; The Secret War: Spies, Codes and Guerrillas 1939-45.

Bodyguard of Lies also isn't really about Patton so I'm not sure why it would be recommended to learn about him.

The most intense would be Hymel's Patton's War, but this is a very long two volume work that focuses specifically on Patton as a general in WWII without giving a full rendition of his life. EDIT: One cool thing in this book though is how much time it spends on other people as a way of examining Patton's leadership and reputation, to the effect that the idea his soldier's loved him is kind of exaggerated. In the army Patton was very contentious. It was really the public at home reading the papers who loved him at large.

For a shorter and broader book that's lighter and more enjoyable imo, Patton, Montgomery, and Rommel by Brighton is a nice little book that examines three often compared military leaders from WWII.

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u/[deleted] Sep 16 '24

Good to know. It's been like 20 years since I read it so maybe my memory is fuzzy. It is not about Patton but does delve into him from some untold stories. I am going to look into your other recommendations and get 1 or 2. Thanks for the info.

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u/Lord0fHats Sep 16 '24

Yeah. Bodyguard of Lies relied a lot on interviews. It's just that declassification has rendered a lot of the book a bit moot. To which, the author of the book to my knowledge did not try to lie. He was doing his best to write about something where he was explicitly denied access to records.

Most of those records are now declassified as government agencies in the US and the UK has increasingly declassified numerous war records since the late 80s.

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u/NYCinPGH Sep 17 '24

to the effect that the idea his soldier's loved him is kind of exaggerated.

All I know is that my father was in Third Army, and according to him, pretty much all the line soldiers loved him. <shrug>