136-570: Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein KG , GCB , DSO , PC , DL ( / m ə n t ˈ ɡ ʌ m ər i ... ˈ æ l ə m eɪ n / ; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed " Monty ", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War , the Irish War of Independence and
272-402: A Conservation Area in 1968, the boundary of which was extended in 1979 and in 1997. Lambeth Council's emphasis on conserving and protecting Kennington's architectural heritage and enhancing its attractive open spaces for recreation and leisure is illustrated by restoration of the centre of the listed Cleaver Square in the last decade of the twentieth century. Originally grassed over in the 1790s,
408-731: A Lambeth Conference in 1897, and Bernard and his brother Harold were educated at The King's School, Canterbury . In 1901, Bishop Montgomery became secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel , and the family returned to London. Montgomery attended St Paul's School and then the Royal Military College, Sandhurst , from which he was almost expelled for rowdiness and violence. On graduation in September 1908 he
544-723: A Neo-Georgian style. In 1922, Lambeth Hospital on Brook Drive was created from a former workhouse. Under the control of the London County Council, Lambeth Hospital, which had a capacity of 1,250 patients in 1939, was one of the largest hospitals in London. After the National Health Service was formed, Lambeth Hospital became an acute general hospital. In 1976, the North Wing of St. Thomas' Hospital opened; services transferred there, and Lambeth Hospital
680-563: A decisive victory, and put into action his beliefs with the gathering of resources, detailed planning, the training of troops—especially in clearing minefields and fighting at night—and in the use of 252 of the latest American-built Sherman tanks , 90 M7 Priest self-propelled howitzers, and making a personal visit to every unit involved in the offensive. By the time the offensive was ready in late October, Eighth Army had 231,000 men on its ration strength. The Second Battle of El Alamein began on 23 October 1942, and ended 12 days later with one of
816-579: A gold-tipped baton which they may carry on formal occasions. The vast majority of officers to hold the rank of field marshal were professional soldiers in the British Army, though eleven served as officers in the British Indian Army . At least fifty-seven field marshals were wounded in battle earlier in their careers, of whom 24 were wounded more than once, and eight had been prisoners of war. Fifteen future field marshals were present at
952-513: A great success. Over 30,000 prisoners of war were taken, including the German second-in-command, General von Thoma , as well as eight other general officers. Montgomery was advanced to KCB and promoted to full general. He kept the initiative, applying superior strength when it suited him, forcing Rommel out of each successive defensive position. On 6 March 1943, Rommel's attack on the over-extended Eighth Army at Medenine ( Operation Capri ) with
1088-615: A hospital, was treated and eventually evacuated to England, where he would remain for well over a year. He was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), for his gallant leadership during this period: the citation for this award, published in The London Gazette in December 1914 reads: Conspicuous gallant leading on 13th October, when he turned the enemy out of their trenches with
1224-499: A morass of such intolerable poverty that they unite instinctively to save those known to them from falling into it". In an initiative to improve the district, from 1915, the Duchy of Cornwall set about an ambitious project to redevelop land. Courtenay Square, Courtenay Street, Cardigan Street, Denny Street and Denny Crescent were laid out to a design by architects Stanley Davenport Adshead , Stanley Churchill Ramsay and JD Coleridge, in
1360-674: A number of pubs and some bars. There are two theatres in Kennington: the White Bear Theatre and the Oval House Theatre and the area has an active residents' association called the Kennington Association. The Friends of Kennington Park is a local organisation, involved with the promotion of Kennington Park as a valuable resource for the community. Kennington is also home of The Cinema Museum –
1496-411: A particular habit, which he would keep throughout the war, of going to bed at 21:30 every night without fail and giving only a single order—that he was not to be disturbed—which was only very rarely disobeyed. The 3rd Division saw comparatively little action but, owing to the strict training methods of Montgomery, the division always managed to be in the right place at the right time, especially so during
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#17327986017581632-500: A popular local venue for watching films and learning about the history of cinema. A weekly farmers' market takes place on a Saturday from about 10 am to 3 pm at St. Mark's Church opposite Oval tube station . The distillery of Beefeater Gin – the only premium gin still distilled in London – is situated in Montford Place, Kennington. The City and Guilds of London Art School , one of the longest-established art colleges in
1768-481: A river line, only to come under attack and forced to withdraw to another position, usually behind another river. These exercises usually occurred at night with only very minimal lighting being allowed. By the spring of 1940 Montgomery's division had gained a reputation of being a very agile and flexible formation. By then the Allies had agreed to Plan D , where they would advance deep into Belgium and take up positions on
1904-511: A rubbish dump, a meeting place for radical crowds and an embarrassment to the area. Common rights were extinguished over one corner of the land and in 1824, St. Mark's Church was built on the site of the gallows. One of the four "Waterloo Churches" of south London, the church was opened by the Archbishop of Canterbury . In 1852, at the initiative of the minister of St. Mark's Church, the Common
2040-546: A semi-rural suburb with grand terraced houses. In the early nineteenth century, Kennington Common was a place of ill-repute. Various attempts were made by the Grand Surrey Canal to purchase the land to build a canal basin, but all of these failed. Because the area had been so rapidly developed and populated in the second half of the eighteenth century, by the nineteenth century, the Common was no longer used for grazing cattle and other agricultural purposes. It became
2176-687: A significant amount of equipment. On his return Montgomery antagonised the War Office with trenchant criticisms of the command of the BEF and was briefly relegated to divisional command of 3rd Division, which was the only fully equipped division in Britain. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath . Montgomery was ordered to make ready the 3rd Division to invade the neutral Portuguese Azores . Models of
2312-500: A sniper. Lying in the open, he remained still and pretended to be dead, in the hope that he would not receive any more enemy attention. One of his men did attempt to rescue him but was shot dead by a hidden enemy sniper and collapsed over Montgomery. The sniper continued to fire and Montgomery was hit once more, in the knee, but the dead soldier, in Montgomery's words, "received many bullets meant for me." Assuming them to both be dead,
2448-478: A week for a moderate family". The map shows that there existed in the district a great disparity of wealth and comfort between near-neighbours. Two social forces were at work in Kennington at different times during the twentieth century: decline, and – later – gentrification. Decline began in the early part of the twentieth century. Middle-class households ceased to employ servants and no longer sought
2584-464: Is a fine example of the Gothic Revival style. The library was a gift to the people of Kennington from Jemina Durning Smith. A men's public convenience, which had been built opposite in 1898, is now preserved as an arts venue and is likely to have been used by a young Charlie Chaplin who writes in his autobiography of a night when he was locked out of the family room and listened all night to
2720-628: Is essentially a multi-ethnic area with a mixed and varied population, all falling within different geodemographic strands. The area attracts young and affluent incomers who fall within the ABC1 demographic strand of the NRS social grade spectrum. Kennington is within the Division bell zone for the Houses of Parliament . This means that, at least in theory, it is within eight minutes from the division lobbies of
2856-502: Is now in the London Borough of Southwark. The poverty map of London, created by Charles Booth in 1898–99, identifies a mixture of classifications for the streets of the district; Kennington Park Road, for example, corresponds with the description "Middle class. Well-to-do". Most streets are classified as "Mixed. Some comfortable, others poor". There are also several scattered streets which are considered to be "Poor. 18s. to 21s.
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#17327986017582992-489: Is recorded as Kenintone in 1229 and Kenyngton in 1263. Mills (2001) believes the name to be Old English meaning "farmstead or estate associated with a man called Cēna". Another explanation is that it means "place of the King", or "town of the King". The presence of a tumulus , and other locally significant geographical features, suggest that the area was regarded in ancient times as a sacred place of assembly. According to
3128-540: Is today (i.e. the brook) still forming the borough boundary. Both rivers have now been diverted into underground culverts. Edward III gave the manor of Kennington to his oldest son Edward the Black Prince in 1337, and the prince then built a large royal palace in the triangle formed by Kennington Lane, Sancroft Street and Cardigan Street, near to Kennington Cross. In 1377, according to John Stow , John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster came to Kennington to escape
3264-892: The 21st Army Group for the rest of the North West Europe campaign , including the failed attempt to cross the Rhine during Operation Market Garden . When German armoured forces broke through the US lines in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge , Montgomery received command of the northern shoulder of the Bulge. Montgomery's 21st Army Group, including the US Ninth Army and the First Allied Airborne Army , crossed
3400-677: The 33rd Division and took part in the Battle of Arras in April–May. In July he transferred over as a GSO2 to IX Corps , part of General Sir Herbert Plumer 's Second Army . It was in this role that Montgomery served at the Battle of Passchendaele which began in late July 1917. He was promoted to the temporary rank of major in February 1918, and brevet major in June. He finished the war in November 1918 as GSO1 (effectively chief of staff ) of
3536-458: The 47th (2nd London) Division , with the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel, to which appointment and rank he had been assigned to on 16 July. A photograph from October 1918, reproduced in many biographies, shows the then unknown Lieutenant-Colonel Montgomery standing in front of Winston Churchill (then the Minister of Munitions ) at the parade following the liberation of Lille . Montgomery
3672-404: The Battle of Passchendaele in late 1917 before finishing the war as chief of staff of the 47th (2nd London) Division . In the inter-war years he commanded the 17th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers and, later, the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment before becoming commander of the 9th Infantry Brigade and then general officer commanding (GOC), 8th Infantry Division . During
3808-672: The Battle of Vitoria , where the Duke of Wellington earned the rank, and ten others served under Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo . However, only thirty-eight held independent commands in the field, and just twelve served as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces (the pre-1904 professional head of the army) or Chief of the Imperial General Staff during a major war. Four field marshals ( Sir Evelyn Wood , Sir George White , Earl Roberts , and Lord Gort ) had previously received
3944-558: The British Armed Forces , were usually promoted to the rank upon their appointment. In total, 141 men have held the rank of field marshal. The majority led careers in the British Army or the colonial British Indian Army , rising through the ranks to eventually become a field marshal. Some members of the British Royal Family , most recently Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Charles III , were promoted to
4080-545: The British Armed Forces . At the same time, Guthrie, who relinquished the post of CDS and retired from active service in 2001, was promoted to honorary field marshal. In June 2014, former Chief of the Defence Staff Lord Walker of Aldringham was also promoted to honorary field marshal. Although the rank of field marshal is not used in the Royal Marines , the insignia is used on the uniform of
4216-525: The British First Army for Operation Torch , the invasion of French North Africa . A story, probably apocryphal but popular at the time, is that the appointment caused Montgomery to remark that "After having an easy war, things have now got much more difficult." A colleague is supposed to have told him to cheer up—at which point Montgomery said "I'm not talking about me, I'm talking about Rommel !" Montgomery's assumption of command transformed
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4352-575: The Captain General , the ceremonial head of the corps (equivalent to colonel-in-chief ). The rank insignia of a field marshal in the British Army comprises two crossed batons in a wreath of laurel leaves, with a crown above. In some other countries, historically under the sphere of British influence, an adapted version of the insignia is used for field marshals, often with the crown being replaced with an alternative cultural or national emblem. On appointment, British field marshals are awarded
4488-479: The Church of England and Roman Catholic senior chaplains objected; Brooke told Monty that he did not want any further errors of this kind, though deciding not to get him to formally withdraw it as it would remove any "vestige of respect" left for him. Although Montgomery's new command was a Regular Army formation, comprising the 7th (Guards) , and the 8th and 9th Infantry Brigades along with supporting units, he
4624-678: The Grenadier Guards , commanded a series of attacks while severely wounded during the First World War in 1918. Roberts received his VC for actions during the Indian Mutiny . Wellington, 44 at the time of his promotion, was the youngest non-royal officer to earn the rank of field marshal. Charles Moore, 1st Marquess of Drogheda was the oldest, promoted at the age of 91, while a further twenty-three officers were promoted to field marshal in their eighties. Wellington
4760-655: The Indian Army Staff College (now the Pakistan Command and Staff College ) in Quetta , British India. On completion of his tour of duty in India, Montgomery returned to Britain in June 1937 where he took command of the 9th Infantry Brigade with the temporary rank of brigadier . His wife died that year. In 1938, he organised an amphibious combined operations landing exercise that impressed
4896-595: The Irish War of Independence . Montgomery came to the conclusion that the conflict could not be won without harsh measures, and that self-government for Ireland was the only feasible solution; in 1923, after the establishment of the Irish Free State and during the Irish Civil War , Montgomery wrote to Colonel Arthur Ernest Percival of the Essex Regiment : Personally, my whole attention
5032-592: The Ministry of Defence in 1995 made a number of recommendations for financial savings in the armed forces' budget, one of which was the abolition of all five-star ranks. Part of the rationale was that these ranks were disproportionate to the size of the forces commanded by these officers, and that none of the United Kingdom's close allies, such as the United States (which reserves the rank of general of
5168-586: The River Dyle by the time the German forces attacked. Brooke, Montgomery's corps commander, was pessimistic about the plan but Montgomery, in contrast, was not concerned, believing that he and his division would perform well regardless of the circumstances, particularly in a war of movement . Montgomery's training paid off when the Germans began their invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May 1940 and
5304-736: The Second World War . Montgomery first saw action in the First World War as a junior officer of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment . At Méteren , near the Belgian border at Bailleul , he was shot through the right lung by a sniper, during the First Battle of Ypres . On returning to the Western Front as a general staff officer, he took part in the Battle of Arras in April–May 1917. He also took part in
5440-593: The Victoria Cross (VC), the United Kingdom's highest and most prestigious award for gallantry 'in the face of the enemy'. Wood, a famously injury-prone officer, was awarded the VC for two actions in 1858, in which he first attacked a group of rebels in India, and later rescued an informant from another group of rebels. White, a cavalry officer , led two charges on enemy guns in Afghanistan in 1879, while Gort, of
5576-667: The War Office to help write the Infantry Training Manual in mid-1929. In 1931 Montgomery was promoted to substantive lieutenant-colonel and became the Commanding officer (CO) of the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment and saw service in Palestine and British India . He was promoted to colonel in June 1934 (seniority from January 1932). He attended and was then recommended to become an instructor at
Bernard Montgomery - Misplaced Pages Continue
5712-753: The Western Desert campaign of the Second World War, Montgomery commanded the British Eighth Army from August 1942. He subsequently commanded the British Eighth Army during the Allied invasion of Sicily and the Allied invasion of Italy and was in command of all Allied ground forces during the Battle of Normandy ( Operation Overlord ), from D-Day on 6 June 1944 until 1 September 1944. He then continued in command of
5848-570: The retreat into France . By 27 May, when the Belgian Army on the left flank of the BEF began to disintegrate, the 3rd Division achieved something very difficult, the movement at night from the right to the left of another division and only 2,000 yards behind it. This was performed with great professionalism and occurred without any incidents and thereby filled a very vulnerable gap in the BEF's defensive line. On 29/30 May, Montgomery temporarily took over from Brooke, who received orders to return to
5984-424: The 1920s St. Mark's became known as the "tramwayman's church", and Kennington was referred to as the " Clapham Junction of the southern roads". By 1926, construction of the Belgrave Hospital for Children , designed by Henry Percy Adams and Charles Holden , was complete. The hospital was subsumed within the King's College Hospital Group and closed in 1985. It was restored and converted to apartments in 1994. In
6120-456: The 1930s, the Duchy of Cornwall continued to redevelop its estate in the district and employed architect Louis de Soissons to design a number of buildings in a Neo-Georgian style. On 15 October 1940, the large trench air-raid shelter beneath Kennington Park was struck by a 50 lb bomb. The number of people killed remains unknown; it is believed by local historians that 104 people died. Forty-eight bodies were recovered. The Brandon Estate
6256-435: The 3rd Division advanced to its planned position, near the Belgian city of Louvain . Soon after arrival, the division was fired on by members of the Belgian 10th Infantry Division who mistook them for German paratroopers ; Montgomery resolved the incident by approaching them and offering to place himself under Belgian command, although Montgomery himself took control when the Germans arrived. During this time he began to develop
6392-515: The Allied position at the First Battle of El Alamein , but after a visit in August 1942, the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, replaced him as C-in-C with General Sir Harold Alexander and William Gott as commander of the Eighth Army in the Western Desert . However, after Gott was killed flying back to Cairo , Churchill was persuaded by Brooke, who by this time was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), to appoint Montgomery, who had only just been nominated to replace Alexander, as commander of
6528-466: The Castle. At this point another IRA officer, Pat O'Sullivan, whistled to Montgomery drawing his attention to scores of IRA volunteers who had quietly taken up firing positions all around the square—surrounding Montgomery's forces. Realising his precarious position, Montgomery led his troops out of the town, a decision which raised hostile questions in the House of Commons but was later approved by Montgomery's own superiors. Unknown to Montgomery at this time,
6664-437: The Divine, Kennington , which was to be described by the poet John Betjeman as "the most magnificent church in South London", was designed by George Edmund Street (architect of the Royal Courts of Justice on Strand, London ), and was built between 1871 and 1874. The Durning Library , at Kennington Cross , was designed in 1889 by S. Sidney R. J. Smith, architect of the Tate Gallery (as it then was; now Tate Britain ), and
6800-437: The Domesday Book it was held by Teodric (Theodoric) the Goldsmith . It contained: 1 hide and 3 virgates ; 3 ploughs , 4 acres (16,000 m ) of meadow . It rendered £3 annually. The manor of Kennington was divided from the manor of Vauxhall by the River Effra , a tributary of the River Thames . A smaller river, the River Neckinger , ran along the edge of the northern part of Kennington, approximately where Brook Drive
6936-401: The First World War, Montgomery commanded the 17th (Service) Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers , a battalion in the British Army of the Rhine , before reverting to his substantive rank of captain ( brevet major ) in November 1919. He had not at first been selected for the Staff College in Camberley , Surrey (his only hope of ever achieving high command). But at a tennis party in Cologne , he
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#17327986017587072-402: The First World War, while one, Sir William Robertson , held every rank in the British Army, from private soldier to field marshal. Footnotes Works cited Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth , running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark , a boundary which can be discerned from
7208-459: The Fleet in the Royal Navy or a Marshal of the Royal Air Force in the Royal Air Force (RAF). A Field Marshal's insignia consists of two crossed batons surrounded by yellow leaves below the Tudor Crown . Like Marshals of the Royal Air Force and Admirals of the Fleet, Field Marshals traditionally remain officers for life, though on half-pay when not in an appointment or retired. The rank has been used sporadically throughout its history, and
7344-406: The Houses of Parliament. A large number of members of parliament and civil servants live within the area. An article in The Sunday Times described Kennington as "the politicians' enclave across the Thames from Westminster"; and The Times observed that "Kennington ... is the suburb that has featured the most in the MPs' expenses scandal. Hazel Blears and Alistair Darling are only two of
7480-442: The MP since December 2019. It is within the Lambeth and Southwark London Assembly constituency. Kennington has no official boundaries but the ancient manorial boundaries are easily discerned and for historical purposes, this article has confined itself to them although estate agents use the term more loosely so as to promote any particular property they wish to act in disposal of, and modern classifications of which areas fall within
7616-410: The Montgomery ancestral estate of New Park in Moville , a small town in Inishowen in the north of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland . There was still £13,000 to pay on a mortgage , a large debt in the 1880s (equivalent to £1,825,976 in 2023) and Henry was at the time still only an Anglican vicar. Despite selling off all the farms that were in the townland of Ballynally, on
7752-449: The Nile Delta. He moved his field HQ to Burg al Arab, close to the Air Force command post in order to better coordinate combined operations. Montgomery was determined that the army, navy and air forces should fight their battles in a unified, focused manner according to a detailed plan. He ordered immediate reinforcement of the vital heights of Alam Halfa, just behind his own lines, expecting the German commander, Erwin Rommel, to attack with
7888-478: The Portuguese islands, also did not go ahead and in July 1940, Montgomery was appointed acting lieutenant-general and after handing over command of his division to James Gammell , he was placed in command of V Corps , responsible for the defence of Hampshire and Dorset and started a long-running feud with the new Commander-in-chief (C-in-C) of Southern Command, Lieutenant-General Claude Auchinleck . In April 1941, he became commander of XII Corps responsible for
8024-424: The Rhine in Operation Plunder in March 1945. By the end of the war, troops under Montgomery's command had taken part in the encirclement of the Ruhr Pocket , liberated the Netherlands, and captured much of north-west Germany. On 4 May 1945, Montgomery accepted the surrender of the German forces in north-western Europe at Lüneburg Heath , south of Hamburg , after the surrender of Berlin to the USSR on 2 May. After
8160-431: The South-Eastern Army to promote offensive spirit. During this time he further developed and rehearsed his ideas and trained his soldiers, culminating in Exercise Tiger in May 1942, a combined forces exercise involving 100,000 troops. In 1942, a new field commander was required in the Middle East, where Auchinleck was fulfilling both the role of C-in-C of Middle East Command and commander Eighth Army . He had stabilised
8296-404: The United Kingdom, as GOC of II Corps for the final stages of the Dunkirk evacuation . The 3rd Division, temporarily commanded by Kenneth Anderson in Montgomery's absence, returned to Britain intact with minimal casualties. Operation Dynamo—codename for the Dunkirk evacuation—saw 330,000 Allied military personnel, including most of the BEF, to Britain, although the BEF was forced to leave behind
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#17327986017588432-464: The army for officers who have commanded large armies in major wars), used such ranks. The recommendation was not taken up in full, but the practice of promoting service chiefs to five-star ranks was stopped, and the ranks are now reserved for special circumstances. Sir Peter Inge was, in 1994, the last active officer to be promoted to the rank. Inge relinquished the post of Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) in 1997, and his successor, Sir Charles Guthrie ,
8568-438: The bayonet. He was severely wounded. After recovering in early 1915, he was appointed brigade major , first of the 112th Infantry Brigade , and then with 104th Infantry Brigade , then training in Lancashire . He returned to the Western Front in early 1916 with his brigade, seeing service with it during the Battle of the Somme later in the year. In January 1917 he was assigned as a general staff officer, grade 2 (GSO2) with
8704-438: The black beret (with the badge of the Royal Tank Regiment and the British General Officer's cap badge ) for which he became notable. The black beret was offered to him by Jim Fraser while the latter was driving him on an inspection tour. Both Brooke and Alexander were astonished by the transformation in atmosphere when they visited on 19 August, less than a week after Montgomery had taken command. Alan Brooke said that Churchill
8840-431: The brief hiatus between Italy's departure from the war and the German seizure of the country. He eventually reached British lines on 5 December 1943, to the delight of his stepfather, who sent him home to Britain to recuperate. In January 1929 Montgomery was promoted to brevet lieutenant-colonel. That month he returned to the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment again, as Commander of Headquarters Company; he went to
8976-406: The centre of Cleaver Square had by the 1870s become a garden circumscribed by a formal path, but by 1898 it had been cultivated as a nursery with greenhouses. In 1927 the centre of Cleaver Square was acquired by the London County Council to forestall a proposal to build on it, and more trees were then planted and the garden was gravelled over as a recreation ground. During the war years, in particular,
9112-413: The century, the area was essentially a village on the southern roads into London, with a common on which public executions took place. In 1746, Francis Towneley and eight men who had taken part in the Jacobite rising were hanged, drawn and quartered at Kennington Common. The area was significant enough, however, to be recognised in the Peerage of Great Britain and in 1726, the title Earl of Kennington
9248-513: The class of family for whom they had first been built"; and "Chambers London Gazetteer" observes the "reuniting of formerly subdivided properties" as "decline is being reversed". It is difficult to identify a single defining reason for this change. The principal factors are location and transport. The good architectural and structural quality of many properties in Kennington – characterised by Georgian and Victorian terraces of yellow London stock brick , typically three storeys or higher, fronting
9384-401: The country, has been at Kennington Park Road since 1879. Kennington in literature and film Kennington Park , laid out by Victorian architect James Pennethorne , and St Mark's Churchyard now cover the site of Kennington Common. The Park was originally designated one of the Royal Parks of London (today, management of the Park is undertaken by Lambeth Council). The Park, historically, was
9520-446: The defence of Kent . During this period he instituted a regime of continuous training and insisted on high levels of physical fitness for both officers and other ranks. He was ruthless in sacking officers he considered unfit for command in action. Promoted to temporary lieutenant-general in July, overseeing the defence of Kent, Sussex and Surrey . In December Montgomery was given command of South-Eastern Command . He renamed his command
9656-580: The district vary. The modern layout of Kennington reflects development as a linear settlement . Within the London post town , the postcode district for Kennington is SE11. The SE11 postcode captures most of the district, although the peripheries of Kennington are within the SE17, SE1, SW8 and SW9 postcodes. The south-western part of the district – Kennington Oval – protrudes towards Vauxhall. Nearest places: Vauxhall , Waterloo , Walworth , Newington (usually known as Elephant and Castle ), Stockwell , Camberwell , Brixton , and Lambeth North . Kennington
9792-428: The division's arrival overseas, Montgomery faced serious trouble from his military superiors and the clergy for his frank attitude regarding the sexual health of his soldiers, but was defended from dismissal by his superior Alan Brooke , commander of II Corps , of which Montgomery's division formed a part. Montgomery had issued a circular on the prevention of venereal disease, worded in such "obscene language" that both
9928-589: The early medieval period between the Lambeth and St George's parishes of those boroughs respectively. It is located 1.4 miles (2.3 km) south of Charing Cross in Inner London and is identified as a local centre in the London Plan . It was a royal manor in the parish of St Mary, Lambeth in the county of Surrey and was the administrative centre of the parish from 1853. Proximity to central London
10064-440: The east side of Kennington Road and Cleaver Square (then called Prince's Square) was laid out in 1788. Michael Searles , architect and developer, built semi-detached houses along Kennington Park Road in the 1790s. A fraudster from Camberwell , named Badger, was the last person to be hanged at Kennington Common, in 1799. The modern street pattern of Kennington was formed by the early nineteenth century. The village had become
10200-652: The fighting spirit and abilities of the Eighth Army. Taking command on 13 August 1942, he immediately became a whirlwind of activity. He ordered the creation of the X Corps , which contained all armoured divisions, to fight alongside his XXX Corps , which was all infantry divisions. This arrangement differed from the German Panzer Corps: one of Rommel's Panzer Corps combined infantry, armour and artillery units under one corps commander. The only common commander for Montgomery's all-infantry and all-armour corps
10336-459: The first large-scale, decisive Allied land victories of the war. Montgomery correctly predicted both the length of the battle and the number of casualties (13,500). Historian Correlli Barnett has pointed out that the rain also fell on the Germans, and that the weather is therefore an inadequate explanation for the failure to exploit the breakthrough, but nevertheless the Battle of El Alamein had been
10472-539: The four missing officers had already been executed. In May 1923, Montgomery was posted to the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division , a Territorial Army (TA) formation. He returned to the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1925 as a company commander and was promoted to major in July 1925. From January 1926 to January 1929 he served as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General at the Staff College, Camberley, in
10608-608: The fourth child of nine, to a Church of Ireland minister, Henry Montgomery , and his wife Maud ( née Farrar). The Montgomerys, an Ulster Scots ' Ascendancy ' gentry family, were the County Donegal branch of the Clan Montgomery . The Rev. Henry Montgomery, at that time Vicar of St Mark's Church , Kennington, was the second son of Sir Robert Montgomery , a native of Inishowen in County Donegal in
10744-405: The fury of the people of London . Geoffrey Chaucer was employed at Kennington as Clerk of Works in 1389. He was paid 2 shillings. Kennington was the occasional residence of Henry IV and Henry VI . Henry VII was at Kennington before his coronation . Catherine of Aragon stayed at Kennington Palace in 1501. In 1531, at the order of King Henry VIII, most of Kennington Palace was dismantled, and
10880-469: The greatest soldiers of their time, due to their competitiveness they were renowned for "squabbling like three schoolgirls" thanks to their "bitchiness", "whining to their superiors" and "showing off". Field marshal (United Kingdom) Field marshal ( FM ) has been the highest rank in the British Army since 1736. A five-star rank with NATO code OF-10 , it is equivalent to an Admiral of
11016-418: The heights as his objective, something that Rommel soon did. Montgomery ordered all contingency plans for retreat to be destroyed. "I have cancelled the plan for withdrawal. If we are attacked, then there will be no retreat. If we cannot stay here alive, then we will stay here dead", he told his officers at the first meeting he held with them in the desert, though, in fact, Auchinleck had no plans to withdraw from
11152-553: The honour, though three ( Wilhelm II , German Emperor; Franz Joseph I , Emperor of Austria-Hungary; and Hirohito , Emperor of Japan) were stripped of it when their countries became enemies of Britain and its allies in the two world wars. Also awarded the rank were one Frenchman ( Ferdinand Foch ) and one Australian ( Sir Thomas Blamey ), honoured for their contributions in World War I and World War II respectively, and one South African statesman ( Jan Smuts ). A report commissioned by
11288-403: The islands were prepared and detailed plans worked out for the invasion. The invasion plans did not go ahead and plans switched to invading Cape Verde island also belonging to neutral Portugal. These invasion plans also did not go ahead. Montgomery was then ordered to prepare plans for the invasion of neutral Ireland and to seize Cork , Cobh and Cork harbour. These invasion plans, like those of
11424-475: The large houses of Kennington, preferring the suburbs of outer London. Houses in Kennington were suited to multiple occupation and were divided into flats and bedsits, providing cheap lodgings for lower-paid workers. Kennington ceased to be the administrative centre for the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth (as it then was) in 1908. The Old Town Hall , built on Kennington Road as a vestry hall for
11560-591: The largest concentration of German armour in North Africa was successfully repulsed. At the Mareth Line , 20 to 27 March, when Montgomery encountered fiercer frontal opposition than he had anticipated, he switched his major effort into an outflanking inland pincer, backed by low-flying RAF fighter-bomber support. For his role in North Africa he was awarded the Legion of Merit by the United States government in
11696-615: The local parish, was not large enough for the Council to properly carry out its functions and a new town hall was built in Brixton. The Old Town Hall was the registered office of the Countryside Alliance until September 2015. In 1913, Maud Pember Reeves selected Kennington for Round About a Pound a Week , which was a survey of social conditions in the district. She found "respectable but very poor people [who] live over
11832-592: The main roads and squares – has unquestionably contributed to the gentrification of the area. Nevertheless, a significant proportion of housing in the area is council-owned, including some council estates adjacent to Kennington Lane, leading up to Elephant and Castle, and around the Kennington Park area. In the twenty-first century there has been an ongoing programme by Lambeth Council of upgrading its stock of housing and in many cases improving its external appearance. The area's varied social texture demonstrates
11968-509: The materials were used in the construction of the Palace of Whitehall . The historical manor of Kennington continues to be owned by the current monarch's elder son (the Prince of Wales , Duke of Cornwall: see Dukes of Cornwall ). The Duchy of Cornwall maintains a substantial property portfolio within the area. The eighteenth century saw considerable development in Kennington. At the start of
12104-482: The men, he was under strict orders not to attack the IRA. On arriving in the town square in front of Macroom Castle, he summoned the IRA commander, Charlie Browne, to parley. At the castle gates Montgomery spoke to Browne explaining what would happen should the officers not be released. Once finished, Browne responded with his own ultimatum to Montgomery to "leave town within 10 minutes". Browne then turned heels and returned to
12240-405: The ministers with Kennington second homes". Kennington Road and Kennington Lane, south of Kennington Cross, could properly be described as the "shopping area" of Kennington. This area is identified as a "Local Centre" in the London Plan . There is a range of local shops, restaurants, cafés and estate agents, and there is a post office. There is a Tesco supermarket on Kennington Lane. The area has
12376-408: The motives of others—within reasonable bounds long enough for him to have a chance of attaining high command. Both of Montgomery's stepsons became army officers in the 1930s (both were serving in India at the time of their mother's death), and both served in the Second World War, each eventually attaining the rank of colonel. While serving as a GSO2 with Eighth Army, Dick Carver was sent forward during
12512-543: The music in the newly opened White Hart pub, now The Tommyfield. When his mother fell on hard times he was taken with his brother Sydney to another Kennington landmark the old Lambeth Workhouse now the home of the Cinema Museum . Kennington station was opened as "Kennington (New Street)" in 1890 by the City of London and Southwark Subway, but is in fact on the boundary of Newington, Surrey and Kennington and as such
12648-533: The name of King William IV . The Oval cricket ground was leased to Surrey County Cricket Club from the Duchy of Cornwall in 1845, and the adjacent gasometers (themselves an international sporting landmark) were constructed in 1853. Dense building and the carving-up of large houses for multiple occupation caused Kennington to be "very seriously over-populated in 1859, when diphtheria appeared" (recorded by Karl Marx in Das Kapital ). The church of St John
12784-469: The new C-in-C of Southern Command , General Sir Archibald Percival Wavell . He was promoted to major-general on 14 October 1938 and took command of the 8th Infantry Division in the British mandate of Palestine. In Palestine, Montgomery was involved in suppressing an Arab revolt which had broken out over opposition to Jewish emigration . He returned in July 1939 to Britain, suffering a serious illness on
12920-465: The north-west of Ulster , the noted colonial administrator in British India ; Sir Robert died a month after his grandson's birth. He was probably a descendant of Colonel Alexander Montgomery . Bernard's mother, Maud, was the daughter of Frederic William Canon Farrar , the famous preacher, and was eighteen years younger than her husband. After the death of Sir Robert Montgomery, Henry inherited
13056-402: The north-western shores of Lough Foyle , "there was barely enough to keep up New Park and pay for the blasted summer holiday" (i.e., at New Park). It was a financial relief of some magnitude when, in 1889, Henry was made Bishop of Tasmania , then still a British colony , and Bernard spent his formative years there. Bishop Montgomery considered it his duty to spend as much time as possible in
13192-440: The officers and men of Montgomery's battalion chose to leave them where they were until darkness arrived and stretcher bearers managed to recover the two bodies, with Montgomery by this time barely clinging on to life. The doctors at the advanced dressing station (ADS), too, had no hope for him and ordered a grave to be dug. Miraculously, however, Montgomery was still alive and, after being placed in an ambulance and then being sent to
13328-490: The other empty properties and established a Rastafari temple. The street became London's longest-running squat. From 1977, Lambeth Council sought to evict the squatters and eventually succeeded at the High Court in 2005. The houses and the temple were declared to be unfit for human habitation and were pulled down in 2007. The Kennington Park Extension now covers much of the site. Lambeth Council designated much of Kennington
13464-673: The people of Kennington. In the summer months many people from Kennington and further afield play pétanque in the centre of the square. In recent years, Kennington has experienced gentrification , principally because of its location and good transport links to the West End and the City of London . In London: A Social History , Roy Porter describes how "Victorian villas in ... Kennington, long debased by use as lodging-houses, were transformed into luxury flats for young professionals or snips for first-time buyers – or were repossessed by
13600-699: The plans recast to concentrate the Allied forces, having Lieutenant General George Patton 's US Seventh Army land in the Gulf of Gela (on the Eighth Army's left flank, which landed around Syracuse in the south-east of Sicily) rather than near Palermo in the west and north of Sicily. Inter-Allied tensions grew as the American commanders, Patton and Omar Bradley (then commanding US II Corps under Patton), took umbrage at what they saw as Montgomery's attitudes and boastfulness. However, while they were considered three of
13736-428: The politicians would lose their jobs if they sanctioned it. That being so, I consider that Lloyd George was right in what he did, if we had gone on we could probably have squashed the rebellion as a temporary measure, but it would have broken out again like an ulcer the moment we removed the troops. I think the rebels would probably have refused battles, and hidden their arms etc. until we had gone. The only way therefore
13872-568: The population mix. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council . Kennington is a standalone ward itself represented by three Labour Party councillors. Council elections take place every four years, with the next one scheduled in 2026. The Member of Parliament for the Vauxhall constituency, which includes Kennington, is currently the Labour Co-operative MP Florence Eshalomi , who has been
14008-533: The pursuit after El Alamein to help identify a new site for Eighth Army HQ. He was taken prisoner at Mersa Matruh on 7 November 1942. Montgomery wrote to his contacts in England asking that inquiries be made via the Red Cross as to where his stepson was being held, and that parcels be sent to him. Like many British POWs, the most famous being General Richard O'Connor , Dick Carver escaped in September 1943 during
14144-458: The rank after shorter periods of service. Three British monarchs ( George V , Edward VIII , and George VI ) assumed the rank on their accessions to the throne, while Edward VII and Charles III were already field marshals, and two British consorts, Albert, Prince Consort and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh , were appointed by their respective queens. Other ceremonial appointments were made as diplomatic gestures. Twelve foreign monarchs have held
14280-553: The rank of Chief Commander. The next major Allied attack was the Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky). Montgomery considered the initial plans for the Allied invasion, which had been agreed in principle by General Dwight D. Eisenhower , the Supreme Allied Commander Allied Forces Headquarters , and General Alexander, the 15th Army Group commander, to be unworkable because of the dispersion of effort. He managed to have
14416-498: The recreation area became somewhat derelict but during the 1950s Cleaver Square's inherent charm was recognised anew and its fortunes once more began to rise. In 1995, Lambeth Council resolved, with the backing of English Heritage, a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund , and donations from residents of Cleaver Square , to restore the centre of the square to provide once again an attractive and peaceful public space for
14552-450: The regimental officers and with the troops. The former lived in comfort, which became greater as the distance of their headquarters behind the lines increased. There was no harm in this provided there was touch and sympathy between the staff and the troops. This was often lacking. At most large headquarters in back areas the doctrine seemed to me to be that the troops existed for the benefit of the staff. My war experience led me to believe that
14688-537: The rural areas of Tasmania and was away for up to six months at a time. While he was away, his wife, still in her mid-twenties, gave her children "constant" beatings, then ignored them most of the time. Of Bernard's siblings, Sibyl died prematurely in Tasmania, and Harold, Donald and Una all emigrated. Maud Montgomery took little active interest in the education of her young children other than to have them taught by tutors brought from Britain, although he briefly attended
14824-431: The staff must be the servant of the troops, and that a good staff officer must serve his commander and the troops but himself be anonymous. The frightful casualties appalled me. The so-called "good fighting generals" of the war appeared to me to be those who had a complete disregard for human life. There were of course exceptions and I suppose one such was Plumer; I had only once seen him and had never spoken to him. After
14960-432: The strong defensive position he had chosen and established at El Alamein. Montgomery made a great effort to appear before troops as often as possible, frequently visiting various units and making himself known to the men, often arranging for cigarettes to be distributed. Although he still wore a standard British officer's cap on arrival in the desert, he briefly wore an Australian broad-brimmed hat before switching to wearing
15096-468: The tactical situation from a distance, and was supported at the Chiefs of Staff meeting by Smuts . Rommel attempted to turn the left flank of the Eighth Army at the Battle of Alam el Halfa from 31 August 1942. The German/Italian armoured corps infantry attack was stopped in very heavy fighting. Rommel's forces had to withdraw urgently lest their retreat through the British minefields be cut off. Montgomery
15232-497: The temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1925, in his first known courtship of a woman, Montgomery, then in his late thirties, proposed to a 17-year-old girl, Betty Anderson. His approach included drawing diagrams in the sand of how he would deploy his tanks and infantry in a future war, a contingency which seemed very remote at that time. She respected his ambition and single-mindedness but declined his proposal. In 1927, he met and married Elizabeth (Betty) Carver, née Hobart. She
15368-434: The then coeducational St Michael's Collegiate School . The loveless environment made Bernard something of a bully, as he himself recalled: "I was a dreadful little boy. I don't suppose anybody would put up with my sort of behaviour these days." Later in life Montgomery refused to allow his son David to have anything to do with his grandmother, and refused to attend her funeral in 1949. The family returned to England once for
15504-489: The time part of the 10th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Division of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). He was promoted to temporary captain on 14 September. He saw action at the Battle of Le Cateau that month and during the retreat from Mons . At Méteren , near the Belgian border at Bailleul on 13 October 1914, during an Allied counter-offensive, he was shot through the right lung by
15640-664: 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 (1946–1948). From 1948 to 1951, he served as Chairman of the Commanders-in-Chief Committee of the Western Union . He then served as NATO 's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe until his retirement in 1958. Montgomery was born in Kennington , Surrey, in 1887,
15776-518: The way, to command the 3rd Infantry Division . Reporting the suppression of the revolt in April 1939, Montgomery wrote, "I shall be sorry to leave Palestine in many ways, as I have enjoyed the war out here". Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939 and the 3rd Division, together with its new General Officer Commanding (GOC), was deployed to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), commanded by General Lord Gort . Shortly after
15912-584: Was able to persuade the Commander-in-chief (C-in-C) of the British Army of Occupation, Field Marshal Sir William Robertson , to add his name to the list. After graduating from the Staff College, he was appointed brigade major in the 17th Infantry Brigade in January 1921. The brigade was stationed in County Cork , Ireland, carrying out counter-guerilla operations during the final stages of
16048-445: Was also the only field marshal to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom . No officer whose career was spent in the British Army has ever reached the rank of field marshal without having served in the cavalry , infantry , Royal Armoured Corps , Royal Artillery , or Royal Engineers . One non-British officer has been appointed field marshal in the British Army; Ferdinand Foch of France, in recognition of his contributions in
16184-489: Was always impatient for his generals to attack at once, and he wrote that Montgomery was always "my Monty" when Montgomery was out of favour with Churchill. Eden had some late night drinks with Churchill, and Eden said at a meeting of the Chiefs of Staff the next day (29 October 1942) that the Middle East offensive was "petering out". Alanbrooke had told Churchill "fairly plainly" what he thought of Eden's ability to judge
16320-436: Was assumed by Prince William, Duke of Cumberland . The development of Kennington came about through access to London, which happened when, in 1750, Westminster Bridge was constructed. In 1751, Kennington Road was built from Kennington Common (as it then was; now Kennington Park) to Westminster Bridge Road. By the 1770s, the development of Kennington into its modern form was well underway. Terraces of houses were built on
16456-635: Was closed. A substantial part of the site has today been redeveloped for apartments, although some buildings are occupied by the Lambeth Community Care Centre. Kennington station was substantially remodelled in 1925 to accommodate the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line along with the improvements to the City and South London Railway to form the Northern line . Because tram and bus routes converged at Kennington, in
16592-457: Was commissioned into the 1st Battalion the Royal Warwickshire Regiment as a second lieutenant , and first saw overseas service later that year in India. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1910, and in 1912 became adjutant of the 1st Battalion of his regiment at Shorncliffe Army Camp . The Great War began in August 1914 and Montgomery moved to France with his battalion that month, which was at
16728-422: Was criticised for not counter-attacking the retreating forces immediately, but he felt strongly that his methodical build-up of British forces was not yet ready. A hasty counter-attack risked ruining his strategy for an offensive on his own terms in late October, planning for which had begun soon after he took command. He was confirmed in the permanent rank of lieutenant-general in mid-October. The conquest of Libya
16864-480: Was enclosed and became the first public park in south London. Pockets of land between the main roads were built upon in the early nineteenth century. Walcot Square and St Mary's Gardens were laid out in the 1830s on land formerly used as a market garden. Imperial Court, on Kennington Lane, was built in 1836 for the Licensed Victuallers' School . The first stone was laid by Viscount Melbourne , in
17000-403: Was endowed in 1962 by the London County Council with Reclining Figure No. 3 : a sculpture by Henry Moore . St Agnes Place was a street of mid-Victorian terraces built for the servants of Buckingham Palace . Lambeth Council had decided to demolish the street to extend Kennington Park and the houses were empty by the late 1960s. In 1969, squatters moved into one of the houses and later entered
17136-481: Was essential for airfields to support Malta and to threaten the rear of Axis forces opposing Operation Torch. Montgomery prepared meticulously for the new offensive after convincing Churchill that the time was not being wasted. (Churchill sent a telegram to Alexander on 23 September 1942 which began, "We are in your hands and of course a victorious battle makes amends for much delay.") He was determined not to fight until he thought there had been sufficient preparation for
17272-421: Was given to defeating the rebels but it never bothered me a bit how many houses were burnt. I think I regarded all civilians as 'Shinners' and I never had any dealings with any of them. My own view is that to win a war of this sort, you must be ruthless. Oliver Cromwell , or the Germans, would have settled it in a very short time. Nowadays public opinion precludes such methods, the nation would never allow it, and
17408-669: Was key to the development of the area as a residential suburb and it was incorporated into the metropolitan area of London in 1855. Kennington is the location of three significant London landmarks: the Oval cricket ground, the Imperial War Museum , and Kennington Park . Its population at the United Kingdom Census 2011 was 15,106. Kennington appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Chenintune . It
17544-407: Was not impressed with its readiness for battle. As a result, while most of the rest of the BEF set about preparing defences for an expected German attack sometime in the future, Montgomery began training his 3rd Division in offensive tactics, organising several exercises , each of which lasted for several days at a time. Mostly they revolved around the division advancing towards an objective, often
17680-661: Was profoundly influenced by his experiences during the war, in particular by the leadership, or rather the lack of it, being displayed by the senior commanders. He later wrote: There was little contact between the generals and the soldiers. I went through the whole war on the Western Front, except during the period I was in England after being wounded; I never once saw the British Commander-in-Chief, neither French nor Haig, and only twice did I see an Army Commander. The higher staffs were out of touch with
17816-757: Was the Eighth Army Commander himself. Writing post-war the English historian Correlli Barnett commented that Montgomery's solution "was in every way opposite to Auchinleck's and in every way wrong, for it carried the existing dangerous separatism still further." Montgomery reinforced the 30 miles (48 km) long front line at El Alamein, something that would take two months to accomplish. He asked Alexander to send him two new British divisions ( 51st Highland and 44th Home Counties ) that were then arriving in Egypt and were scheduled to be deployed in defence of
17952-470: Was the first officer not to be promoted upon appointment as CDS, although he was promoted to the honorary rank of field marshal in June 2012. The most recent promotions to field marshal came in 2012, eighteen years after the moratorium on routine promotions to the rank, when Queen Elizabeth II promoted Prince Charles, her son and heir apparent, to the five-star ranks in all three services, in recognition of support provided for her in her capacity as Head of
18088-705: Was the sister of the future Second World War commander Sir Percy Hobart . Betty Carver had two sons in their early teens, John and Dick, from her first marriage to Oswald Carver . Dick Carver later wrote that it had been "a very brave thing" for Montgomery to take on a widow with two children. Montgomery's son, David, was born in August 1928. While on holiday in Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset in 1937, Betty suffered an insect bite which became infected, and she died in her husband's arms from septicaemia following amputation of her leg. The loss devastated Montgomery, who
18224-497: Was then serving as a brigadier, but he insisted on throwing himself back into his work immediately after the funeral. Montgomery's marriage had been extremely happy. Much of his correspondence with his wife was destroyed when his quarters at Portsmouth were bombed during the Second World War. After Montgomery's death, John Carver wrote that his mother had arguably done the country a favour by keeping his personal oddities—his extreme single-mindedness, and his intolerance of and suspicion of
18360-401: Was to give them some form of self government, and let them squash the rebellion themselves, they are the only people who could really stamp it out. In one noteworthy incident on 2 May 1922, Montgomery led a force of 60 soldiers and 4 armoured cars to the town of Macroom to search for four British officers who were missing in the area. While he had hoped the show of force would assist in finding
18496-576: Was vacant during parts of the 18th and 19th centuries (when all former holders of the rank were deceased). After the Second World War, it became standard practice to appoint the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (later renamed Chief of the General Staff ) to the rank on his last day in the post. Army officers occupying the post of Chief of the Defence Staff , the professional head of all
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