Alanbrooke. The British Commander most neglected by History?

Discussion in 'Searching for Someone & Military Genealogy' started by von Poop, Oct 16, 2010.

  1. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Obit from The Times, Tuesday, Jun 18, 1963
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Jaeger

    Jaeger Senior Member

    A ticket on the trans pennies to Newcastle, or a pair of second hand wellies if you are a Jock.
     
  3. Jaeger

    Jaeger Senior Member

    Regarding Brookie.

    I thought he was well known. All the British commanders speak of him in their books, Alex implies that he should have had Ike's job.

    He seems to have had a firm grip on his job (and more importantly Churchill) and mutual respect from his fellow officers.
     
  4. LIII1940

    LIII1940 Junior Member

    Chapter 27 The GREAT LIE!

    Liddell Hart quote

    page 381

    KEYES, ROGER Outrageous Fortune

    Although the British military establishment has never publicly acknowledged the King Leopold III and his army, by their prolonged resistance saved the BEF, the world famous military expert Liddell Hart saw no reason for such reticence.
    In 1960 delivering a lecture to students and faculty at King College.
    Liddell Hart bluntly declared “ The British army at Dunkirk was saved from destruction by King Leopold III of the Belgians.
    Captain Liddell Hart said that Sir Arthur Bryant’s claim that the saving of the BEF was mainly due to Lord Alanbrooke did not stand up to examination.
    Hart went on to say, “ the unfortunate Belgian Army absorbed the weight of the German frontal attack from the north. By the time the Belgian front had turned the BEF had slipped out of reach and were nearing Dunkirk.
    Liddell Hart went further to say, “ if King Leopold III had left Belgium on May 25th as his ministers and Churchill had urged him to do so. The Belgian army would have surrendered immediately, instead of fighting on until early morning of May 28th.
    [FONT=&quot]IF SO, THE BRITISH WOULD HAVE HAD VERY LITTLE CHANCE OF ESCAPING ENCIRCLEMENT, SO THAT IT COULD VERY REASONABLY BE CLAIMED THAT THEY WERE SAVED BY KING LEOPOLD III, WHO THEN WAS VIOLENTLY ABUSED BY BRITON AND FRANCE “ [/FONT]
     
  5. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Lill1940 -
    That's a novel thought - I wonder how much Liddel- Hart earned from that lecture as it seems to me on reading Sir Arthur's account I find that he quotes the British Official History and Sir Winston Churchill in his "Second World War' - "At six o'clock p.m. Lord Gort on the 25th - without waiting to ask the French Commander for permission...he withdrew the 5th and 50th British divisions ...to move to close the impending gap between the British and Belgian armies....thus saving the BEF ...!"

    Earlier he had written that the King of the Belgians pointed out that the Belgian Army existed solely for defence; it had neither Tanks nor Aircarft and consdered th Armies in Flanders to be , not quite hopeless..!"

    Hardly the attitude of anyone deemed a saviour - Brookie had asimilar experience in his interview with the KIng !
    Cheers
    Cheers
     
  6. Steen Ammentorp

    Steen Ammentorp Senior Member

    Just to put it straight. Gort intended for Lieutenant-General Michael George Henry Barker (GOC I Corps) to command the rearguard at Dunkirk - Not Adams! It was Barker who had (or came close to) a nervous breakdown and was considered by Gort to be expendable. Montgomery, who correctly succeeded Brooke at II Corps, persuaded Gort that Alexander was a better man for the job - which he indeed was.
     
  7. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive


    Cheers,

    See post 13 ;)
     
  8. Steen Ammentorp

    Steen Ammentorp Senior Member

    -_- Sorry - missed that.
     
  9. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Its ok-It happens a lot to me :(

    :lol:
     
  10. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    I would agree with you, he is less well known that commanders such as Alexander and Montgomery but he deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as these chaps. He managed to rein Churchill in on many an occasion and was an important buffer between Churchill and the Generals.
     
  11. Some Chicken

    Some Chicken Member

    Alanbrooke was the main architect and proponent of the British Mediterranean strategy, and was crucial in convincing the Americans to go along with it (until Anvil/Dragoon) in preference to some of their wilder flights of strategic fancy (eg a landing on the Cotentin in autumn 1942, to provide a beachhead for cross channel ops in 1943, advocated by Marshall). Alanbrooke also had the respect of Montgomery and would have made an excellent supreme commander in NWE if Allied considerations had not required the appointment of an American. A colossus of the time but a largely unknown figure now, which to me suggests there is something very wrong with the way history is taught today.
     
  12. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Some chicken -
    Can only agree with you 100% - this was finally recognised with his award of the more than well earned - Order of Merit - but the big slap in the face was delivered by the new Labour Government of Atlee when they refused him any prize money and forced him to move into a gardeners cottage and sell his beloved Bird Books.
    Cheers
     
  13. Alan Allport

    Alan Allport Senior Member

    Given that he became a director of the Midland Bank and bequeathed over 50,000 pounds in his will (about 1.7 million today), he seems to have rubbed along OK in retirement.

    Best, Alan
     
  14. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Alan - be that as it may - lesser men in WW1 were awarded 100,000GBP as prize money - and it was a normal expectation that the same awards would be followed in WW2......while 50,000 sounds a lot in to-days terms of 1.7 million - it would been a great gesture for the man who did more than many to win the war- after all Soldiers seldom star wars - idiotic politicians do as we have learned in Iraq and Afghanistan- and it is they who become the millionaires viz Blair....but then he was a socialist like Atlee.
    Monty made his money by writing books - Alanbrooke only wrote a few diaries, and a short directorship at Midland. Alex was given Canada as G.G. and Minister of Defence. Slim - doorkeeper(sic) at Windsor Castle...but tea with HMQueen at four o'clock ! Wavell and Auckinlek - 0A pensions !

    Indicates how grateful the politicaians were - and still are with their teatment of the wounded of to-day's fracas...meanwhile many of them - not even born in the UK and never heard a shot fired are stealing the taxpayers money hand over fist - and expect the taxpayer to bail them out of trouble - then the do gooders say that they brought their culture with them ..and their corruption !

    But don't get me steamed up on that subject as that is NOT what I fought for ....and like Sapper - still pay for ...

    Cheers
     
  15. Nijmegen

    Nijmegen Member

  16. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    One of the better quotes from Alanbrooke always tickles me to bits was a conversation with US General Marshall when they were

    discussing how the war could be won etc …Marshall opined that the war could be won in nine months (as in WW1) by loading some troops

    on the Eastern Seaboard of the USA - sailing across the Atlantic - landing at - say Cherbourg - driving through to Berlin ……

    Alanbrooke considered this for few seconds then replied " you may be perfectly correct that the war could be won in nine months- but

    not perhaps in the manner in which we are planning…"

    Cheers
     
    Owen and von Poop like this.
  17. gpo son

    gpo son Senior Member

    Tom
    Knew you couldn't sit this one out.
    Matt
     
  18. Peccavi

    Peccavi Senior Member

    But also Governor General of Australia.

    By all accounts kept the sword surrendered to him by General Itagaki on prominent display even when visited by Japanese Ministers.
     
  19. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Matt
    ……… and why not - he did more than anyone to ensure victory……

    Peccavi - yes I had forgotten that for Slim…

    Cheers
     
    gpo son likes this.
  20. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

Share This Page