The Beret and the Baton

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24370, 23 September 1944, Page 6

The Beret and the Baton

It is almost two years since Sir Bernard Montgomery sent his famous message to the Bth Army on the eve of its advance from Egypt, to drive the Germans and the Italians from Africa; “ Destroy “ Rommel and his men. Victory “ should swing our way There were at the time many good citizens, not naturally gloomy or without faith in ultimate victory, who said to themselves: “ This is all very “ well, but to smash Rommel and “ his men is easier said than done For Rommel and the Afrika Korps had built themselves a great name. Indeed, Germans in Germany, delighting in the boast of the title and deaf to its incongruous sound, were talking of “ Rommel Africanus ”. Events have moved fast in those two years, and with unswerving design—Africa, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland, now Germany itself; and it was from a scene very different from El Alamein that Sir Bernard Montgomery addressed his troops a few days ago. Yet when these campaigns are weighed in the balance of history and time it may well be judged that the Bth Army and its campaign in Africa constituted his most remarkable achievement. He arrived on the scene after the disastrous retreat to El Alamein to find an army, overwhelmed by greater numbers and superior equipment, dispirited by defeat—waiting. “ Victory should swing our way It did, through the momentous decisions of three men. The first was Mr Churchill, who, while Britain itself was still in danger of in-

vasion, boldly but presciently took the enormous risk of re-equipping and reinforcing the desert army. The others were Sir Harold Alexander and Sir Bernard Montgomery. Attempts have been made to compare the achievements of Wavell, Alexander, and Montgomery. These can have neither value nor validity at this time; but without detracting from the brilliance or the importance of Lord Wavell’s remarkable advance to Benghazi, or of Sir Harold Alexander’s great achievements then and since, it can be said that Sir Bernard Montgomery’s first great success as a general was not in the field itself; it was in arming his men with a new spirit of confidence, and then of challenge. He did for the desert army what Mr Churchill had done for the Empire. As far as possible he took his men into his confidence; he talked to them; they felt that he was not only over them, but with them and of them. There was throughout his army a positive consciousness of his presence. It could be felt as well as seen. No other commander of modern times has so infused his personality into an army; no other army, in its complex unity, has so singly reflected the spirit of its leader. In a sense his badgestudded beret was an entirely appropriate symbol. His regiments all belonged to him, and (more important still) he belonged to them. So it was with reciprocal pride and confidence and faith that the Bth Army followed its great leader, who combined a strict private austerity with a baffling outward appearance of unconventionality, casualness, and even jauntiness. Since El Alamein Sir Bernard Montgomery has •acquired the reputation, confirmed by events, of not making any move forward (or round) until he is satisfied either of the mathematical probability or the mathematical certainty of its success. On each occasion he has done what he said he would do, so that a comparison between the tone of his El Alamein message arid the one addressed this week to the armies now under his command carries weight and significance. Two years ago, “Victory “should swing our way”; to-day, “No human endeavour can now “ prevent the complete and utter “ defeat of the armed forces of Ger- “ many. Their fate is certain, and “ their defeat will be absolute. The “triumphant cry now is ‘Forward “ ‘ into Germany ’ The millions of radio listeners who heard his voice this week for the first time were reminded in his New Testament quotation that here was a sword-and-Bible soldier: “ Such an historic march of “ events seldom has taken place in “ history in such a short space of "time. You have every reason to “ be very proud of what you have “done. Let us say to each other, “‘This is the Lord’s doing: it is “ ‘ marvellous in our eyes ’ It to be regretted that there has been any sensitiveness in the United States over Sir Bernard Montgomery’s recent elevation. The stamp of a great Soldier was already on him. Rank aside, he will be remembered always as a man and a leader of men. Certainly in his lifetime he will be known by the beret rather than the baton.