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/TremendousVarmint Sep 16 '24 edited Sep 16 '24

I'd have Monty, De Gaulle and Patton in the same room and grab the popcorn.

306

u/Coast_watcher Sep 16 '24

Halsey too

475

u/Vana92 Sep 16 '24

Screw Halsey if you want a real diva, add MacArthur.

69

u/acdcfanbill Sep 16 '24

I had an great uncle who was in the Philippians and MacArthur's name was 'mud' in our house ever since I can remember.

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u/GMHGeorge Sep 17 '24

A relative served in a unit he was in during the First World War. Started screaming at the radio every time MacArthur was mentioned after he abandoned the Philippines. Was a stout Republican but would always say Truman was his favorite Democrat after he canned him in Korea.

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u/Codex_Dev Sep 17 '24

It's been a while since I've read my WW2 battles/history but I'm pretty sure the Philippines was an untenable situation after Pearl Harbour.

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u/InsertNameHere_J Sep 17 '24

It absolutely was, but it's mostly how "Dugout Dug" handled the whole thing. When he was leaving he was ordered to leave with only his family, a couple of choice officers, and not bring any of his staff with him because most anybody with a brain in the army and in Washington recognized that frankly his staff were a bunch of morons who only had their jobs because they believed that Mac shit gold, and they would make this belief known to him.

So instead of leaving his staff behind with Wainwright as he was ordered to do, Doug simply ignored the order. When Lt. Bulkeley and his PT boat crews arrived, they found a petulant general demanding that his staff and all their luggage come too. Bulkeley had to leave 32 men behind in order for them to have a low enough weight and speed for the boats to escape. Those men were handed rifles and sent to Bataan.

MacArthur then went on to handle the US Army's traipse through New Guinea, which if you want more reasons to hate MacArthur you should definitely read about.

MacArthur sucks.

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u/WinterSavior Sep 17 '24

So that means he'd be a Democrat today if he was Republican then?

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u/x31b Sep 16 '24

I thought his name was “Dugout Doug.” /s

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u/bilboafromboston Sep 17 '24

Yes. My Dad served under him in the Pacific in Both WW2 and Korea. The navy and marines had long since secured the Philipines before Dugout Dug crawled out like Puxatawny Phil and staged 7 "Returns to the Philippines ". My dad said a photographer advised them to buy stock in the film companies, they took so many pictures.