大象传媒

In 1964 I was employed by a leading Football Pools Promotor in Liverpool. Part of my responsibilities included customer service. In this role I would help clients who had difficulty in filling in their weekly football coupons. Depending upon the degree of difficulty this would be done by letter or by a visit to the client's home.

It was about this time that Viscount Montgomery of Alamein wrote to my employees. In his letter he admitted that "football coupons were not his form of war" but felt that the challenge of forecasting the results of football matches would be an interesting pastime that would occupy his time during the long winter evening of the football season.

At that time "Monty", as he was affectionately known throughout the land, had retired from the Armed Forces and had taken up an active role in the House of Lords.

Monty is remembered more for his exploits as the Commander of the 8th Army in North Africa and the never to be forgotten victory in the Battle of El Alamein against the German Afrika Korps led by Field Marshall Rommel. Later he commanded the British Forces in the invasion of Europe and eventually accepted the surrender of the German Army at Luneberg Heath in May 1945. In 1946 he was awarded the title of Viscount Montgomery of Alamein by the late King George VI for his outstanding services to the Country.

It was against this background that I was asked to arrange to visit Monty at his home in Hampshire. With apprehension I rang him on the telephone. The great man himself answered the phone, "Montgomery speaking". I recognised his voice immediately for I had heard it many times before on the radio, on television and on newsreel films during and after the war.

He welcomed my suggestion that I should visit him at his home on the following Thursday, the 25th August 1966. I told him that I would travel down to London on the Wednesday and contact him from London in order to arrange a time for our meeting on the Thursday.

When I rang him from London on the Wednesday he confirmed that he was looking forward to our meeting so that he could plan for the "tactical battle ahead". He suggested that I should get the 9.00am train from Liverpool Street Station and he would meet me at Alton station on my arrival.

On the train journey I wondered about the etiquette of how I should address Monty. He truly was a legend in his own lifetime and was a much respected National hero. He had been an inspiration, not only to the troops under his command but also to the people of this Country. I was 10 years of age when he led the invasion of Europe and I could remember how we all felt that he was invincible and that victory was assured. I decided that on meeting with him I would address him as "Lord Montgomery" and thereafter as "Sir". Such was my respect for this great man.

As the train came into the station I lowered the window of the exit door and looked out. I saw him standing on the platform. For a man of near 80 years of age he looked remarkably fit. Tall, slim and erect. He wore brown shoes, cavalry twill trousers, fawn shirt and a tie that was obviously regimental in its origin. He had no jacket or coat but wore a fawn worsted waistcoat. He was dressed appropriately for a warm summer's day. I was about to meet this great man.

I alighted from the train and walked up to him with outstretched hand. "Lord Montgomery", I said, "my name is Suffield". He took my outstretched in both of his hands and shook it firmly. "Thank you for coming", he said. He led me out of the station into the parking area and opened the passenger car door for me. The car was a Daimler saloon car, made in Germany. I thought to myself that he was making a statement in his choice of car but felt it was not appropriate for me to comment. It was not a new car and could well have been of pre war vintage. Climbing into the driver's seat Monty said, "We'll be home in 5 minutes".

Isington Mill, where Monty lived, is a beautiful restored water mill. It stands in its own grounds with the mill stream flowing vigorously. The rooms were low beamed. The walls of the rooms contained photographs of various world leaders, Heads of State and members of our Royal Family. Monty shared his home with a housekeeper who soon brought in a tray of sandwiches and pots of tea and coffee.

Monty asked me about Liverpool telling me that he had visited the City on a number of occasions and clearly remembered St. George's Hall and the impressive waterfront. He was aware that the docks had been a target for German bombers and that during the May blitz of 1941 terrible damage had been done to our City with consequent heavy casualities and loss of life.

He added that he had been privileged to have under his command many Liverpudlians and would always remember them for their resourcefulness, their leadership, their sense of humour and their dedication but above all he remembered them for their comradeship. He commented that if you were ever under heavy bombardment and in need of a cup of tea you could always rely upon a scouser to have tea and dried milk in his backpack. He marvelled at the ability of scousers to cut hair. With nothing more than a comb, a pair of scissors and an open razor they would readily set up a lucrative business cutting hair.

He had other good reasons for remembering Liverpudlians. He told me their presence at Church Parades was always a dominant feature of the congregation and their ability to answer prayers and lead in the singing of hymns highlighted the strength of their faith. He recalled that another feature of Liverpudlians was that they invariably came from large families where 6 and more children were not uncommon. He became more than aware of this fact when Liverpudlians became casualities of the war. He felt that the impact of death had to be greater among such families.

After our tea and sandwiches we walked through the grounds of his home. He continued to reminisce about the consequences of war and the tragic toll of death and injuries. He remembered thinking that as soldiers were moved forward to the front line, to replace the wounded and the dead, the replacement soldiers invariably seemed to get younger. Sometimes he considered that they were not old enough to shave.

He commented on the war that was fought on the Home Front by the mothers, wives and children of the men on the front line. He had always been aware of their individual courage and bravery but their resolve and determination to play their part in the war effort was a constant source of encouragement both to him personally and the troops.

He related to me an incident that occurred some years after the war when an Italian father unexpectedly arrived at his home. The father's 2 sons had been killed in battle during the North African campaign. He had come to England to avenge their deaths and he challenged Monty to a "duel" claiming that honour would then be satisfied. Instead Monty invited him into his home, against the advice of the local police.

Monty told me that they talked for the best part of 2 hours. The father was still grieving the loss of his 2 boys and had brought with him photographs of the boys, taken as children with the family and in later years as young men proudly wearing their Italian Army uniforms. Monty said he had great compassion for the father and his 2 boys and compared their deaths with the inevitability of war.

It was noticeable that in recalling this incident Monty constantly referred to the the casualties as "the 2 boys" and not "soldiers" or "troops". Monty said that when the father left they embraced each other and added that it was not so much in friendship but more in a mutual understanding of the other's position.

Monty pointed out to me that all information regarding the conduct of the war was restricted in case it proved to be of benefit to the enemy. The restriction also applied to families who would not know in which theatre of war their husbands and sons were serving. This meant that all mail from a war zone to families back home was censored in case the letters betrayed some restricted information that would be of value to an enemy.

He recalled one particular case where a soldier from Liverpool wrote to his mother in Liverpool. The letter contained the sentence, "I saw Napolean this morning but before I could get his autograph he rode off on his bicycle". The censors claimed that the sentence contained a cryptic clue that the soldier was now stationed in France and was reasonably safe as, by then, the war had progressed into Germany. The sentence was deleted from the letter with a heavy blue pencil.

By now it was time to get down to the task in hand - how to make an entry on a football coupon. The next few hours were spent in explaining how this was done. Monty was a keen pupil and asked many questions before he felt confident that he would be able to submit an entry. It was then time for me to return home to Liverpool.

We left his home shortly after 4.00pm ( or 1600 hours as Monty would have it). Again Monty drove me to the station in his Daimler car. On our arrival at the station he led me on to the platform to await the train to London. As the train approached he again took my hand into his 2 hands and wished me a safe journey home.

On boarding the train to London I again pulled down the window of the exit door to wave goodbye. I felt a little sad leaving him alone to return to his home surrounded by memories. I felt he had enjoyed our time together. I certainly did. I gained the impression that he was lonely in his declining years and the prospect of passing the forthcoming winter evenings forecasting the results of football matches clearly excited him. Is this how we treat our National Heroes? Viscount Montgomery died in 1976, aged 89. His war was finally over.

John Suffield.

Footnote:
When I returned to work on the following morning I found that Monty had written to my Manager enclosing completed coupons for the following Saturday - 27th August 1966.
The letter made reference to my visit and I was allowed to photograph the letter as a memento of the day I spent with Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.

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