Bernard Montgomery
Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery commanded the British Eighth Army to victory at El Alamein (1942), led the Allied ground forces in Sicily and Italy (1943), and commanded all Allied ground forces for the Normandy landings (1944). A methodical commander who demanded meticulous preparation before attacking and refused to be rushed — a source of constant friction with the American generals he worked alongside — he brought a professionalism and confidence to British command that had been shattered by a series of defeats. His egotism, tactlessness, and inability to cooperate on equal terms with American commanders made him one of the war's most difficult Allied leaders; his abrasive treatment of Patton and Bradley, and his failure at Arnhem ('Operation Market Garden'), damaged his reputation. He remains, however, the general who won the battle (El Alamein) that Churchill called the turning point of the British war, and who commanded the forces that landed in Normandy.
- Lived: 1887 CE – 1976 CE
- Nationality: British
- Roles: field marshal, commander
