Monty’s Black Beret.

Photographer: Major Geoffrey John Keating.

Some 100 odd kilometres to the west of Alexandria and close to an old railway line, British Lieutenant-General Bernard Law Montgomery gazes into the distance as armoured divisions of the British 8th Army push Axis forces back into Tunisia, in this photo produced by photographer Geoffrey Keating, in November 1942.

Montgomery’s steed of iron and command vehicle on this occasion is a U.S.-manufactured M3 Grant tank that keeps him mobile and safe from stray enemy fire.

A celebrated British commander of the mid-nineteenth century, Bernard Law Montgomery, like his opponent Erwin Rommel, was a veteran of World War I and a splendid military tactician.

A serving Lieutenant with the 1st Battalion Royal Warwickshire, he had made his debut in the theatre of war in Belgium in 1918. In the battle of Meteren, an episode of the war in Belgium, he had been shot in the chest and fatally wounded, yet had survived an early grave to be promoted to the rank of captain and be awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

Later, he had participated in the battles of the Somme, Arras, Passchendaele, Chemin-des-Dames and Amiens.

World War II.

With the outbreak of World War II, Montgomery, a Major-General with the 3rd Iron Division of the British Infantry, had found himself with the British Expeditionary Force in mainland Europe. He had halted German offensive at the front line in Leuven, Belgium, and then executed an effective night withdrawal with rear guard defence.

At Dunkirk, he was one of the last senior officers to evacuate and among the few commanders to bring back his division, almost intact.

Then, in 1942, he had been assigned to North Africa to halt the rapid advance of Rommel and a mission that he eventually accomplished in the battle of El Alamein, 23rd of October – 11th of November, 1942.

Command of the 8th Army.

Appointed to command the 8th Army on the 8th of August in 1942, Montgomery had reached Cairo, four days later, on the 12th of August, and spent his initial days drilling the forces at his disposal in his method of warfare.

Montgomery is generally credited for turning the 8th Army into a cohesive fighting force by successfully meshing together its regular British divisions with their Commonwealth counterparts, comprising New Zealanders, Sikhs, Poles, Greeks, Canadians, South Africans and Gurkhas.

Furthermore, and much like what Rommel achieved with the infantry, anti-tank and mechanised divisions of the Panzer Group Afrika, Montgomery is credited with synchronising the diverse arms of the 8th Army for coordinated action, and involving the Royal Air Force to work in tandem with ground forces.

At El Alamein, Montgomery is also said to have introduced British forces to mobile warfare and rotating units so that one particular division was not overwhelmed with casualties.

Regarding the 8th Army, Montgomery writes in his memoirs.

My mandate was to destroy the Axis forces in North Africa. And it was immediately apparent to me, that the first step necessary was the initiation of a period of re-organization, re-equipment and training. I had also decided that the 8th Army had required a Reserve Corps (armoured division, much like one Rommel had possessed). Well equipped and highly trained.

Bernard Law Montgomery.

Yet, unlike the other two famous commanders of the North African theatre, Erwin Rommel and George S. Patton, what had clearly put Montgomery in a niche of his own was his rigid focus on caution and thoroughness.

A hardcore realist who harboured no place for chances and miracles. Montgomery’s talent for simplifying complexities was an indispensable asset in winning battles. As was his open-minded flexibility in changing plans on the field if things faltered. Not to mention his ability to boost morale and inspire troops under his command.

Montgomery’s advantage at El Alamein.

In contrast to Rommel’s instinctive battle tactics, Montgomery’s patience in allowing the 8th Army to achieve a numerical advantage had eventually played a key factor in securing a decisive British victory in the featureless desert arena that was El Alamein.

Constantly supplied with men, armour and other essentials from Britain and from Britain’s colonies and allies, here in this part of Egypt, he had not only out-manned Rommel by a considerable margin but had possessed over 1,000 tanks to counter Rommel’s 500.

Moreover, the success of British Intelligence in decoding encrypted German codes had also put him at an advantage.

In the hard-fought battle of El Alamein, Montgomery had forced Rommel to withdraw for lacking the required numbers to continue combat. After both sides had sustained heavy casualties, but only Montgomery had been in a position to invest fresh troops.

Critics of El Alamein.

Although Montgomery had eventually prevailed at El Alamein and with this victory turned into an overnight sensation, celebrated by the British Press and Winston Churchill. His role in North Africa in recent times has come to be debated, as has the battle of El Alamein itself.

While some modern historians and authors have come to view El Alamin as a minor battle, and one that could have been largely avoided. Others, on the contrary, have continued to emphasise its importance. Especially as the hallowed ground that taught many famous commanders of the Allied Armies their trade and turned them into legends.

Montgomery himself has not been spared scrutiny for his supposedly conceited behaviour, tendency for self-glorification and colossal ego. Critics have also come to question his role in gaining victory in the light of the numerical superiority the British enjoyed over Rommel at El Alamein. Additionally, bolstered by the arrival of U.S. forces in North Africa.

Who put Montgomery in charge?

However, where there is unanimous agreement, is that Montgomery was never Churchill’s prime candidate for the command of the 8th Army. He had only stepped in after the death of Lieutenant General William Henry Gott, who was killed while rescuing fellow passengers from the wreckage of an aeroplane.

His command had been secured by General Alan Brook, Chief of the Imperial General’s Staff, and Sir Harold Alexander, who later was his superior at El Alamein.

While Brook had held a high regard for Montgomery’s tactical abilities and was eager to see him put in charge. Churchill had been more inclined towards Gott. A veteran of the 8th Army who had fought Rommel before but lost.

It had taken a great deal of persuasion on the part of Brook to have Montgomery put in command, and for every setback Montgomery had suffered, Churchill had never hesitated to criticise Brook for his decision.

The Photograph.

This photograph was produced by Major Geoffrey Keating of the 1 No. Army Film and Photographic Unit. It was taken on the 5th of November, 1942, after the 8th Army had gained an edge over Rommel’s German and Italian forces.

It is considered to be one of the most iconic photos of Montgomery with his Adjutant John Poston peering through a binocular in the background. The photo was not staged but captured on the battlefield. It has since appeared as the cover of numerous books on Montgomery and the Battle of El Alamein in North Africa.

The iconic black beret.

The black beret that Montgomery can be seen wearing was at the time used only by the Royal Tank Regiment of the British army and was provided to him by the tank driver of the M3 Grant, Private Jim Fraser. The M3 Grant was Montgomery’s mobile command centre.

Before putting on the beret, Montgomery had sported an Australian bush hat bristling with badges. A souvenir he had received when visiting the camp of the 9th Australian Division stationed on the Tel El Eisa Ridge, near Alamein.

Impressed by Rommel’s striking image in a peaked German officer’s cap and goggles, and realising a need to create a somewhat similar aura that would aid instant recollection among British forces and the public.

Attaching a headgear to Montgomery’s persona was the idea of his Adjutant John Poston, Geoffrey Keating and Captain Warwick Charlton, editor of the newspapers, the Eighth Army News and the Crusader.

Keating had first photographed Montgomery wearing the bush hat and later the beret.

Montgomery had substituted the bush hat for the beret, for the reason the bush hat had kept blowing off his head when riding in the turret of the tank.

The two emblems on the beret that are dimly visible are a British General’s badge indicating Montgomery’s rank, and the insignia of the Royal Tank Corps. Montgomery had continued to sport the beret long after El Alamein.

Montgomery is known to have twice refused direct orders to take off the Beret. Stating in his own words, it was worth two battalions.

Photographer, Geoffrey John Keating.

Born into an Irish family, Geoffrey John Keating was among the first British photographers to document the events of World War II.

Even before the Army Film and Production Unit was created and set up at Pinewood Studios (London) in 1941, with the intent to train photographers and cinematographers as soldiers to document the role of the Commonwealth forces in the war. Keating had accompanied the British Expeditionary Force to Europe for the Battle of France and later proceeded on to North Africa. Where he, during the course of his assignments, had become good friends with Montgomery.

After El Alamein, Keating had soldiered on to cover the D-Day landing at Normandy and the Allied advance towards Germany in Europe.

In Italy, war correspondent and later author, Alan Moorhead was delighted to discover Keating had been promoted to Major. Not to mention, given command of the 160 men strong, 2 No. Army Film and Production Unit. Moorhead was a friend of Keating.

Keating was always ahead of the Vanguard looking for vantage points and the best source of food. He had found himself a villa in the hills and here in the evening, we played bridge.

Alan Moorhead

An illustrious career.

Far from the fate of John Poston, Montgomery’s aide-de-camp, Keating had lived to see the end of the war. Poston, a decorated officer, was killed on the 21st of April, 1945, barely nine days before Montgomery accepted the unconditional surrender of Germany in Luneburg Heath.

A few years after witnessing the signing of Germany’s surrender in 1945, and receiving a Military Cross, Keating had worked as an international correspondent in Iran and later the Middle East. During this phase, he is known to have provided an extensive coverage of the region.

He had retired at the age of 60 and started a property business in London, and lived for another six years. He is known to have passed away in 1980.

After his death, much of his vast collection of wartime photos was donated to the Imperial War Museum. Many of which are still withheld from the public. His photos can also be viewed on the G.J.K website, maintained by his daughter Rima Keating – as homage to the memory of her late father, Major Geoffrey Keating. (see G.J.K photos).

The importance of El Alamein to Churchill.

The events at El Alamein were of much more importance to Winston Churchill than they were to Adolf Hitler.

In essence, not a single drawn-out battle but a series of attacks and counterattacks made by both sides, which in the final stretch had lasted almost 12 days, the British victory had come as an immense relief to Churchill.

To Britain’s greatest wartime Prime Minister, the loss of North Africa had meant more than the loss of a strategic position in the Middle East, and another defeat at the hands of the Wehrmacht among a string of earlier defeats.

A German victory at El Alamein had meant the loss of Britain’s possession of the Suez Canal, which had connected her to her dominions in the east.

This photo is archived in the World War II collection of the Imperial War Museum, U.K.