Field Marshal Montgomery query

[PF]

In the 1970 movie Patton there is a newsreel clip showing Montgomery wearing an Australian Bush hat with the cap badges of all the units he commands!
Did Montgomery consider himself colonel-in-chief of every unit under his command?

[Gooner1]

Monty would have been wearing his beret when he met Patton.



Only the two badges.

[Aber]

In the 1970 movie Patton there is a newsreel clip showing Montgomery wearing an Australian Bush hat with the cap badges of all the units he commands!
Did Montgomery consider himself colonel-in-chief of every unit under his command? :

This was something he did in the early days of his command of the 8th Army. He probably thought of himself as more important than a colonel- in- chief.

He soon switched to a black tank corps beret; IIRC because when travelling in his command tank, the bush hat kept being blown off by the wind and recovered by his staff.

[Sheldrake]

It wasn't his staff which had to recover his hat but his driver, who presented him with a tank corps beret accompanied by a suggestion that he should wear it.

[gambadier]

How do you know it was Australian? They were standard issue to British units in India.

[Sheldrake]

How do you know it was Australian? They were standard issue to British units in India.

Because Montgomery was presented it by an Australian unit and the hat itself is in the Australian War Memorial. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RELAWM30701/. Mr Google is your friend

You can see (and hear) Montgomery around 16.26 here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJL7Ny2VXM0 You can see his driver "Bill" the scot with the RTR tie.

[gambadier]

At least Slim had the real thing!

[PF]

His rivalty with Patton....both came from Scottish clans
Montgomery Clan Motto: Garde bien (Watch well)
Patton- a sect of Clan MacLean Motto: Virture Mine Honor

[Steen Ammentorp]

His rivalty with Patton....

Actually - this would be Patton's rivalry with Montgomery. Montgomery never expressed any rivalry with Patton.

[Carl Schwamberger]

His rivalty with Patton....

Actually - this would be Patton's rivalry with Montgomery. Montgomery never expressed any rivalry with Patton.

Clan Montgomery feels their indifference lends credence to that no sheep were stolen. Clan McLean is not about to forget or forgive their half score of missing sheep.