16 JUNE 1979, Page 19

Brass hat

John Grigg

From Brass Hat to Bowler Hat Francis de Guingand (Hamish Hamilton £5.95) When General (as he then was) Montgomery took over command of the Eighth Army in August 1942, he had the good sense to take over as well his predecessor's chief of staff, 'Freddie' de Guingand. So began a fruitful military partnership which ended only when, in 1946, Monty effectively bowler-hatted de Guingand by denying him the post of Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff.

According to the victim (who describes the incident in his latest book), when Monty heard that he would be the next C.I.G.S., he Persuaded de Guingand, then on sick leave, to report at once to the War Office as Director of Military Intelligence, in preparation for becoming his 'Vice'. But six months later, when Monty succeeded Alan Brooke at the War Office he had a nasty surprise for his faithful lieutenant.

I was in my office in Whitehall when the door was thrust open and Montgomery Popped his head inside. Seeing that I was engaged — I was talking to General Sir Bernard Freyberg, V.C. — he asked me to step outside. Without preliminaries he said 'Oh, Freddie, I've decided not to have you as my Vice.' I asked him why not, and he replied, 'Because it wouldn't do me any good.' With no more ado he left.

Bernard Freyberg, who had heard the brief conversation said, 'Did I hear correctly?' Still stunned, I replied, 'I think SO'. 'The little bugger!' Freyberg commented.

Later Monty explained in a letter that he had reached his decision because he did not ‘yant the Army to say that he was 'collecting in the old gang again', and that no one `A'ould have any future unless he were one of Monty's 'chaps'. But he might have thought Of this before making the offer to de Guingand in the first place, or at the very least, having failed to do so, have broken the news to him in a less callous manner. .There were other, equally wounding, Slights . Monty had not allowed de Guingaud to be present when the Germans surrendered to him on Liineburg Heath, and he Would not intervene when, immediately after the war, de Guingand was reduced to the substantive rank of colonel. Eisenhower heard of the case, however, and made successful representations on his behalf, so that he was given the rank of major-general. , On the occasion of Monty's 80th birthday cie Guingand was not asked to the party, until another general protested at his exclu sion. And when the Sunday Times paid for Monty to visit the Alamein battlefields, he saw to it that de Guingand was not invited. This churlish act, too, was reported to Ike, who wrote of his sadness 'over the abominable treatment you have received from a man who has every reason to feel deeply obligated to you for long years of service'.

Despite so much abominable treatment de Guingand was a pall-bearer at Monty's funeral, and now describes him as one of only two commanders of genius on the Allied side during the last war. The other, in his view, was the American George S. Patton. But he might have added that their genius took very different forms, Patton being a dashing, adventurous leader, Monty a man whose caution nearly always prevented him from exploiting a victory to the full.

This is not the first book in which Sir Francis has drawn on his military career. Indeed, it provides only a few footnotes to what he has already written on the subject. The rest of the book deals with his activities as a civilian, which are of no comparable interest to us or (one senses) to him.

The book shows signs of having been rather too hastily written, because now and again a matter is raised without being properly developed, or even explained. For instance, of his life abroad: During these South African years I also enjoyed a delightful safari in Kenya with some old army friends of mine and their families, and had a really charming experience with a lioness: Sally, a legendary animal who lived in the bush east of the Mara river.

What was his charming experience with Sally? We are never told.