Some thoughts on Monty

Climbing the staircase at The National Archives on Monday, I was confronted by a poster with a picture of General Montgomery on it . In an instant it took me back nearly sixty years. I was living in Oswestry in Shropshire after the War and walking along one of the main streets, a sudden buzz gripped every one. “Monty is coming”. No need to ask who was expected, everyone knew. We all stopped and lined the roads and sure enough, a large open topped car drove slowly along. Inside was Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamain in military uniform wearing his famous black beret with its two cap badges. He smiled graciously at as all and we felt lifted by his charisma. Of course, I now know that although an excellent general, he was a vain, awkward and deeply flawed man but there is no doubting that in the minds of those watching in that little market town that we had seen one of the men who had won the War for us and ended its misery. Only Churchill would have been more highly regarded or welcomed.