Montgomery, Bernard Law (1887–1976)

English field marshal. In World War II he commanded the 8th Army in North Africa in the Second Battle of El Alamein in 1942. As commander of British troops in northern Europe from 1944, he received the German surrender in 1945.

At the start of World War II Montgomery commanded part of the British Expeditionary Force in France 1939–40 and took part in the evacuation from Dunkirk. In August 1942 he took command of the 8th Army, then barring the German advance on Cairo. The victory of El Alamein in October turned the tide in North Africa; it was followed by the expulsion of Field Marshal Rommel from Egypt and rapid Allied advance into Tunisia. In February 1943 Montgomery's forces came under US general Eisenhower's command, and they took part in the conquest of Tunisia and Sicily and the invasion of Italy. Montgomery was promoted to field marshal in 1944. In 1948 he became permanent military chair of the Commanders‐in‐Chief Committee for Western European defence, and 1951–58 was deputy Supreme Commander Europe. He was created 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein in 1946.

Montgomery commanded the Allied armies during the opening phase of the invasion of France in June 1944, and from August the British and imperial troops that liberated the Netherlands, overran northern Germany, and entered Denmark. At his 21st Army Group headquarters on Lüneburg Heath, he received the German surrender on 4 May 1945. He was in command of the British occupation force in Germany until February 1946, when he was appointed chief of the Imperial General Staff.