Why Did The Americans Hate Monty?

Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery was a highly capable operational commander during the Second World War, with major and critical victories in North Africa, Sicily, France, and Belgium, albiet with some high profile failures. He was loved by his men, but hated by many of his colleagues, especially the high ranking American Generals who faught alongside him in North West Europe. In this video, we look at why he was so hated by the Americans.

Source List:
Beevor, Antony. The Battle of Arnhem: The Deadliest Airborne Operation of World War II. London, UK: Penguin Books, 2019.
Beevor, Antony. Ardennes 1944: Hitler’s Last Gamble. London, UK: Penguin Books, 2016.
Bradley, Omar Nelson, and Clay Blair. A General’s Life: An Autobiography. Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 1995.
Chester B. Hansen Collection, Box 42, S-7, USAMHI
Danchev, Alex, and Dan Todman. War Diaries, 1939-1945: The Diaries of Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke. London, UK: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2001.
Delaforce, Patrick. The Battle of the Bulge: Hitler’s final gamble. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Military, 2014.
Eisenhower, Dwight D. Crusade in Europe: A Personal Account of World War II. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 2021.
Mather, Carol. When the Grass Stops Growing: A War Memoir. London, UK: Leo Cooper, 1999.
Montgomery, Montgomery of Alamein, Bernard Law. The Memoirs of Field Marshal Montgomery. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Military, 2005.
R., Crosswell D K. Beetle: The Life of General Walter Bedell Smith. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2012.

[michaelduggan]

A famous yarn about Monty. Eisenhower was having dinner with King George VI, the king asked Ike. "How are you getting on with Monty?" Ike replied "Well.. I think he wants my job." "That's a relief." replied the King. "I thought he wanted mine."

[andriharir]

Being able to handle generals with such great egos makes me think that perhaps Eisenhower was America's greatest gift to the European theater in WW II.

[TerminalConstipation]

I'm an American. It seems to me that Monty understood that while the Germans needed to win the war they had started, he only had to not lose it. He would attack a weakness that he saw, but otherwise he would prepare for the inevitable attack and how best to counterattack. Meanwhile, Patton was of the school that the judicious application of constant maximum aggression was the quickest way to victory. Neither was necessarily wrong, but seen this way, it is easy to understand their dislike of one another.

[ratherbeoutdoors]

You should do a video about in my opinion the best British commander of the WW2 Bill Slim. He waged war against the Japanese with a shoe string budget and an Army composed of different ethnicities and religions which was a nightmare for the quartermasters. He did with much support from Whitehall since it was regarded as backwater. Despite all the handicaps he was victorious over the Japanese army in India and Burma.

[Billy-I-Am-Not]

If you put MacArthur, Montgomery, and Patton in a room together, their collective egos could probably bring down the entire building

[TenOfTwenty]

On the plus side, there was less infighting between the US and British Commanders then the Japanese Army and Japanese Navy Commanders.

[MortarGuyX]

I feel bad for Eisenhower after watching this, its like he was herding cats the whole time.

[s.g.r.]

My WWII vet grandfather told me when I was a kid that Patton was a self aggrandizing prick. He said Monty was a condescending self aggrandizing prick. It drove me into a summer of reading that turned me in a history buff for life.

[simmybear]

In 1945 Churchill said of him: “Indomitable in retreat, invincible in advance, insufferable in victory.”

[rusty-sbjy]

My father was a career U.S. Army officer. He served during WWII. He said of Montgomery that he would not move his army until he had every single gallon of gas and every tent stake he wanted.

[AmericanOdyssey]

Bradley: I'm resigning.

Eisenhower: Good luck getting home.

[ronlindner]

Ike also had to deal with another very large personally, Charles de Gaulle. 0:05

[defenstrator]

To be fair the Canadians hated him too. Because he wanted the resources for Market Garden the Canadians had to take a pause. This meant they got to invade Belgium after the Germans had a chance to fortify it for a month and meant they got to push on into the Netherlands in the middle of winter.

[kyleolson]

After reading Rick Atkinson's work, it seems better to ask why Monty hated the Americans so much.

[jordansmith]

Most of the senior staff of all the armies were somewhat self centered and unlikable.

[frankmorton]

British Generals had served on the Western front and Mesopotamia in the First World War and saw horrendous casualties. The US Army fought for less than twelve months 17-18 and missed the attrition.
This made British Generals in Second World War a lot more conscious of casualties. They would rather rely on artillery than wasting manpower.

[Ikano_Kato]

"For Monty, this was a rare moment of self-reflection. 'So great were the feelings against me on the part of the American generals that whatever I said was bound to be wrong. I should therefore have said nothing.' "

I don't believe this is self-reflection. I think this is Monty thinking that he said nothing wrong, at the press conference, and that it was just the Americans hating him. Not realizing that they were angry at him for minimizing their effort in stopping the German offensive and basically telling the press that is was him, British (and maybe Canadian, not sure what was actually said in the press conference), and US forces that stopped the Germans when it was mostly US infantry doing the fighting.

[stevenmelnyk]

Interesting presentation. Two comments. When I think about Monty, I cannot help but remember Winston Churchill's statement on Monty - "In defeat, unbeatable; in success, unbearable." Second, according to Cook (a very well-known Canadian historian who specializes on Canadian military history in 20th century), the major Canadian generals also could not stand Monty. The reason - he wanted to replace the Canadian commanding officers with his own British picks. He did not seem to understand that Canada at this time was no longer a British colony but a country and a major contributor to the efforts of the Allies. As for myself, after extensive reading, I am not a fan of Monty.

[twostep]

It wasn't just the Americans, it was everyone who had to deal with him personally. The best description I've heard of him came from a British officer. To put it in American terms, if he was on a football team and didn't get to be the quarterback and call the plays, he would mess up on purpose.

[Technobabylon]

British officer Derek Mills-Roberts beat the surrendered German Field-Marshal Milch's head in when he learned about the extent of atrocities being carried out.

He reported to Montgomery to face a reprimand for his conduct, and when entering the office, Monty jokingly raised his hands over his head and said "I heard you have a thing about Field Marshals"