Bernard Law Montgomery, "Monty," was the most famous British general of the Second World War, a meticulous and self-assured commander who became a national hero for his victories over the Germans. Born in London and raised partly in Tasmania, he was commissioned into the army and was badly wounded in the First World War, an experience that left him determined to husband his soldiers' lives.
Montgomery made his name in 1942 when he took command of the demoralized British Eighth Army in North Africa. Rebuilding its confidence and carefully massing his forces, he won the decisive Battle of El Alamein, halting Rommel's advance on Egypt and turning the tide of the desert war — Britain's first great land victory of the conflict.
He went on to command Allied ground forces in the invasions of Sicily and Italy, and on D-Day in 1944 he led the Allied armies ashore in Normandy. His later record was more mixed: the ambitious airborne operation he championed at Arnhem ended in costly failure.
Confident to the point of arrogance, Montgomery clashed repeatedly with American commanders, but his prestige in Britain was immense. He accepted the German surrender of forces in northern Europe in 1945 and afterward served as chief of the Imperial General Staff and a senior NATO commander. Created a viscount, he died in 1976.