Montgomery Of Alamein Quotes

Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, victor of El Alamein and commander of land forces on D-Day, wrote extensively on The Art of War in his monumental A History of Warfare.

Maybe I'm not telling this part too well. The whole thing was so unexpected and shocking that for a time I deliberately tried not to remember the details. Just then I was feeling much as though it were a nightmare from which I was desperately but vainly seeking the relief of waking myself. As I stepped out into the yard I still half-refused to believe what I had seen. But one thing I was perfectly certain about. Reality or nightmare, I needed a drink as I had seldom needed one before. There was nobody in sight in the little side street outside the yard gates, but almost opposite stood a pub. I can recall its name now - 'The Alamein Arms.' There was a board bearing a reputed likeness of Viscount Montgomery hanging from an iron bracket, and below, one of the doors stood open. I made straight for it.

I was not aware of the weaver fish, with its highly poisonous spines, whose venom can cause acute agony, even death when untreated. The wife of Field Marshal Montgomery is thought to have died in this way, after paddling with her children off the east coast. The victor of Alamein was then an unknown major. He is reported never to have mentioned her name again, and he never looked at another woman.

When all is said and done the greatest quality required in a commander is “decision”; he must be able to issue clear orders and have the drive to get things done. Indecision and hesitation are fatal in any officer; in a [commander-in-chief] they are criminal. —FIELD MARSHALL MONTGOMERY OF EL ALAMEIN

There was Brigade Major Montgomery, later Field Marshal Montgomery of El Alamein, who wrote of his Irish experiences: ‘My whole attention was given to defeating the rebels. It never bothered me a bit how many houses were burned.