Editing Bernard Montgomery (section)

==== Replaced as Ground Forces Commander ====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-14059-0018, Berlin, Oberbefehlshaber der vier Verbündeten.jpg|thumb|right|The Supreme Commanders on 5 June 1945 in Berlin: Bernard Montgomery, [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], [[Georgy Zhukov]] and [[Jean de Lattre de Tassigny]]]]
Eisenhower took over Ground Forces Command on 1 September, while continuing as Supreme Commander, with Montgomery continuing to command the 21st Army Group, now consisting mainly of British and Canadian units. Montgomery vehemently opposed this change, although it had been agreed before the D-Day invasion,<ref name="weigley">{{cite book|author=Weigley, Russell F. |author-link=Russell Weigley |title=Eisenhower's Lieutenants |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |location=Bloomington, IN |year=1981 |page=253 |isbn=978-0-253-13333-5}}</ref> instead proposing that either he or Bradley should remain in the job of Ground Forces command. He argued that the two roles were fundamentally different and that Eisenhower possessed the skillset for the former but not the latter; as such, he was liable to neglect the duties of one or the other, rendering the force off-balance. Instead, there was a need for a single decisive master plan under a leader free from the more administrative and political duties of the Supreme Commander - Montgomery felt he was the best equipped to deliver this, but was clear that he would also have been willing to work under Bradley.{{sfn|Montgomery|1958|pp=267-268}}

Eisenhower and many others failed to grasp this however, and would misinterpret this as Montgomery's pride being wounded at having command removed. As such, they would attempt to placate him by reassuring him of the areas remaining under his command,{{sfn|Montgomery|1958|pp=267-287}} and Winston Churchill had Montgomery promoted to Field Marshal<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36680|page=4055|supp=y|date=29 August 1944}}</ref> by way of compensation.<ref name="weigley"/> In addition, the British journalist Mark Urban points out that Montgomery seemed unable to grasp however that as the majority of the 2.2&nbsp;million Allied soldiers fighting against Germany on the Western Front were now American (the ratio was 3''':'''1) that it was politically unacceptable to American public opinion to have Montgomery remain as Land Forces Commander as: "Politics would not allow him to carry on giving orders to great armies of Americans simply because, in his view, [he was the best man for the job]".<ref>{{harvnb|Urban|2005|p=290}}</ref>