David Filsell Posted 23 October , 2013 Share Posted 23 October , 2013 It is said that after the sinking of HMS Kelly Churchill is supposed to have said, "For God's sake don't give him another ship,he'll only loose it. Instead they gave him Combined Operations. he gave the Canadians Dieppe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazelclark Posted 23 October , 2013 Share Posted 23 October , 2013 It is said that after the sinking of HMS Kelly Churchill is supposed to have said, "For God's sake don't give him another ship,he'll only loose it. Instead they gave him Combined Operations. he gave the Canadians Dieppe! Amazing what connections can do! H P.S. I did read somewhere recently that there was some other reason for Dieppe than that given. Something to do with the commandos being there, but as usual I can't remember the details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritterk Posted 24 October , 2013 Share Posted 24 October , 2013 The NZ Division always thought of Monty as a funny little man with a funny voice... Monty once complained to General Freyberg that New Zealand soldiers never saluted....Freyberg told him that if you waved at them, the men would usually wave back.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 24 October , 2013 Share Posted 24 October , 2013 The NZ Division always thought of Monty as a funny little man with a funny voice... Monty once complained to General Freyberg that New Zealand soldiers never saluted....Freyberg told him that if you waved at them, the men would usually wave back.... If you listen to Calvert, he says your " funny little man with a funny voice " had intelligent men, who doubted him, eating out of his hands within a few sentences. I think Montgomery learned a great deal from his WW1 service, and he never made the top by being a fool? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 24 October , 2013 Share Posted 24 October , 2013 Thank you hazel clark and michaeldr for your comments. CarylW's post #28 is interesting inasmuch as there is no mention of a dead soldier being found with BLM. That aside, while there may be no record of BLM attempting to find out who the soldier who saved his life was, is there any record that he didn't attempt to do so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritterk Posted 24 October , 2013 Share Posted 24 October , 2013 You miss read my post, Mike. Who said Monty was a fool? I merely said that New Zealand soldiers didn't warm to him, and they didn't always warm to other senior British officers too - due probably to 'cultural differences'.... Hugh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 24 October , 2013 Share Posted 24 October , 2013 Sorry Hugh. I know you didn't mean he was a fool, and perhaps mine might have been worded better. I wonder what his men made of him as a Lieutenant? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 24 October , 2013 Share Posted 24 October , 2013 The NZ Division always thought of Monty as a funny little man with a funny voice... Monty once complained to General Freyberg that New Zealand soldiers never saluted....Freyberg told him that if you waved at them, the men would usually wave back.... Apropos Freyberg VC On one of Len Sellers' RND tours of Gallipoli, our pension was shared with an Australian family; a Lt-Col. (rtd) and his three sons. Len was close to the Freyberg family, and of course BF was a great hero in the RND. However, the Lt-Col had been made a PoW in Crete in WWII, and he would not hear BF's name mentioned, at any price. I met up with the Ozzies later in Istanbul and had a wonderful evening in their company, but of course, I kept clear of any mention of BF! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 24 October , 2013 Share Posted 24 October , 2013 It is he was so far out of things that when the stretcher bearers finally got to him after about eight hours, it was only by chance that he was seen to be still alive and therefore not buried with the dead. Apparently he did not recover full consciousness until he had reached Herbert Hospital in Woolwich. The first wound was made by a bullet which passed completely through his chest, exiting on his right side and permanently damaging his right lung. It's what made him a fanatical non-smoker. Prior to his Meteren wound he puffed away with the best of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeldr Posted 24 October , 2013 Share Posted 24 October , 2013 SD, He was fanatical about himself not smoking, but not so with others. His ADC, Johnny Henderson, tells how in Normandy he was asked by his boss to deliver “90,000 cigarettes each, which he (BLM) had bought out of his personal Comfort Fund money, to 49th and 50th Divisions.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 24 October , 2013 Share Posted 24 October , 2013 He also was happy for the men to partake of their " horizontal refreshment " Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 25 October , 2013 Share Posted 25 October , 2013 And got in trouble for it, too, as a divisional commander in France in 1940. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 25 October , 2013 Share Posted 25 October , 2013 And got in trouble for it, too, as a divisional commander in France in 1940. I wonder if he partook? I think his thoughts were, the men are going to do it, let's have them do it where we can control and check any health issues. Makes sense? Perhaps this is another lesson he learnt from WW1 Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 25 October , 2013 Share Posted 25 October , 2013 3 Div Routine Order 15 November 1939. Gort - prompted by the BEF senior Chaplain - told him to withdraw the document, which Monty considered was worthy of resignation. Brooke took on the responsibility of smoothing the matter over, and let Monty down gently. However, in his characteristic style, Monty said he thought his circular letter (distributed with the RO) was rather good, which flicked Brooke's hairdryer switch, apparently. Brooke's diary 23 November, "It is a great pity he spoils his very high military ability by a mad desire to talk or write nonsense" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 25 October , 2013 Share Posted 25 October , 2013 Another Monty storiy I heard from a vet. He said that when the great man visited large drums of ciggies were passed round - everyone was delighted. Not so pleased when they learned a day or so later that the smokes comprised the bn ration for the week ahead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritterk Posted 25 October , 2013 Share Posted 25 October , 2013 Apropos Freyberg VC On one of Len Sellers' RND tours of Gallipoli, our pension was shared with an Australian family; a Lt-Col. (rtd) and his three sons. Len was close to the Freyberg family, and of course BF was a great hero in the RND. However, the Lt-Col had been made a PoW in Crete in WWII, and he would not hear BF's name mentioned, at any price. I met up with the Ozzies later in Istanbul and had a wonderful evening in their company, but of course, I kept clear of any mention of BF! Interestingly NZ soldiers never held Freyberg responsible for the defeat on Crete, but blamed certain NZ field commanders whose military careers were effectively ended. Freyberg went on to become our Governor General after the war and was rewarded with high honours. I guess it was recognise he was given an impossible job to do with no air cover, no support weapons, no radios etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest exuser1 Posted 26 October , 2013 Share Posted 26 October , 2013 On the Monty ciggie front Kay Summersby Eisenhower's rather dishy female driver states that Monty was prone to empty Ike's ciggerate box when ever he ever attended a meeting at Ike's HQ . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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