Churchill and the Montgomery Myth PDF
Preview Churchill and the Montgomery Myth
^ £** CHURCHILL MONTG MYTH Churchill and the Montgomery Myth Churchill and The Montgomery Myth R.W. Thompson “Iftheartofwarconsisted merelyin not takingrisks, glory would be at the disposal of verymediocre talent.” NAPOLEON Published by M. Evans and Company, Inc., New York, and distributed in association with B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and New York J. Copyright ©GeorgeAllen & Unwin,Ltd., 1967 Published inEngland underthe title: TheMontgomeryLegend LibraryofCongress CatalogCard Number68-18714 Note: The footnotes throughout the text make reference to the British editions of the books cited. Manufacturedin the UnitedStates ofAmerica , ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The extracts from The Mediterranean and Middle East vol. iii by Major-General I. S. O. Playfair; from GrandStrategy, vol. iii, part ii, byJ. R. M. Butler; from GrandStrategy,vol. vbyJohn Ehrman, are quoted by permission of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office; from: George F. Howe, North West Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West, United States Army in World War II (Washington, 1957), published by the Office of the ChiefofMilitary History, Department ofthe Army, by permission ofthe ChiefofMilitary History, Washington, D.G.; from The Hinge ofFate and Closing the Ring, vols. iv and v, The Second World War by Winston S. Churchill, bypermission of TheDaily Telegraph. I owe special thanks to Capt Sir Basil Liddell Hart for making private papers available for me from his archives, and for his kindness in reading the first four chapters ofthis book in manu- script before leaving England to take up an appointment in the usa. Mydebt tovol. ii, The Tanks,The HistoryoftheRoyalTank Regiment, will be obvious to all who may read this book. IhaveadebttothelateJohnConnellforhissteadfastencourage- ment over many years, and for the insights gained from his work, particularly his biography, Auchinleck. I record with gratitude, and a deep sense ofmy inadequacy, my thanks to Major-General and Mrs Eric Dorman O’Gowan for inviting me to work in their home during part of my long convalescence, and for making private papers and their military library available to me. I thank Brigadier John Stephenson for his careful reading of my book, and for his forthright and valuable criticisms, and the Librarian of the Royal United Service Institution for making many books available to me over a long period. I acknowledge gratefully the works listed in the bibliography, all ofwhich, whether referred to in the text or not, have added to my pleasure and knowledge. None ofwhich is to say that anyone but myselfagrees with or approves in the smallest degree a single word that I have written. Finally, without the generous aid ofDr A. Linnell and The J. Royal Literary Fund; without the courage of my wife, and the patience and kindness of my three youngest children, it would havebeenimpossibletohavewrittenthisbook, ortohavesurvived as a writer. R. W. THOMPSON Belchamp Walter Suffolk March ig66 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION page 15 parti: THE INHERITANCE ONE Churchill'sAgony 23 TWO Redemption 38 THREE Catharsis 52 part n: THE INHERITORS FOUR The General 75 FIVE Alam Haifa: thegeneral andthe battle 95 SIX The 15th September 107 part hi: ANATOMY OF A LEGEND SEVEN 2ndAlamein 1 19 EIGHT 2ndAlamein II i37 NINE The TriumphalMarch 156 TEN On to Tunis! i74 part iv: UNDER TWO FLAGS ELEVEN TheAlliedCommand i97 TWELVE 1Husky' 214 THIRTEEN FortressEurope 229 FOURTEEN A Soldier'sFarewell 245 NOTES 253 READING LIST 263 INDEX 266 WEST AFRICA FP j ^ " EgUATORU .G. Morton
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