Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein

Bernard Montgomery Historical Figure Nationality: United Kingdom Year of Birth: 1887 Year of Death: 1976 Cause of Death: Natural causes Occupation: Soldier Military Branch: British Army (World War I, World War II) Fictional Appearances: Days of Infamy POD: March, 1941; Relevant POD: December 7, 1941 Appearance(s): End of the Beginning Type of Appearance: Contemporary reference The War That Came Early POD: July 20, 1936; Relevant POD: September 29, 1938 Appearance(s): Two Fronts Type of Appearance: Posthumous reference Date of Birth: 1887 Date of Death: 1943 Cause of Death: Plane shot down in World War II

Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC, (17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), often referred to as "Monty", was a British Army officer. He first saw action during World War I. He survived a sniper shot through the lung in October, 1914. He returned to the front in 1917 as a general staff officer.

During World War II, he successfully commanded Allied forces at the Battle of El Alamein, a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign during World War II, and troops under his command played a major role in the expulsion of Axis forces from North Africa. He was later a prominent commander in Italy and North-West Europe, where he was in command of all Allied ground forces during Operation Overlord until after the Battle of Normandy. He then continued in command of the 21st Army Group for the rest of the campaign in North West Europe. As such he was the principal field commander for the failed airborne attempt to bridge the Rhine at Arnhem and the Allied Rhine crossing. On 4 May 1945 he took the German surrender at Lüneburg Heath in northern Germany. After the war he became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in Germany and then Chief of the Imperial General Staff.

While certainly a talented commander, Montgomery's ego and lack of tact in interpersonal relations did him no favors among his foreign allies and in the British Army.

Bernard Montgomery in Days of Infamy

News of Bernard Montgomery's defeat of Erwin Rommel at the Battle of El Alamein in 1942 made its way into Japanese-occupied Hawaii, despite their efforts to restrict all news of Allied victories.

Bernard Montgomery in The War That Came Early

General Bernard Montgomery (1887-1943) was the overall commander of the North African theater of the Second World War until his plane was shot down by a German fighter in the Spring of 1943. He was succeeded by Claude Auchinleck.

References

Military offices (OTL)
Preceded by Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke	Chief of the Imperial General Staff 1946–1948	Succeeded by William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim