Editing Bernard Montgomery (section)

==Between the world wars==

===1920s and Ireland===
After the First World War, Montgomery commanded the 17th (Service) Battalion of the [[Royal Fusiliers]],<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31585|page=12398|supp=y|date=3 October 1919}}</ref> a battalion in the [[British Army of the Rhine]], before reverting to his substantive rank of [[captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] ([[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[Major (United Kingdom)|major]]) in November 1919.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31799|page=2406|supp=y|date=27 February 1920}}</ref> He had not at first been selected for the [[Staff College, Camberley|Staff College in Camberley]], Surrey (his only hope of ever achieving high command). But at a tennis party in [[Cologne]], he was able to persuade the [[Commander-in-chief]] (C-in-C) of the British Army of Occupation, [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] [[Sir William Robertson, 1st Baronet|Sir William Robertson]], to add his name to the list.<ref>{{harvnb|Montgomery|1958|p=35}}</ref>

After graduating from the Staff College, he was appointed brigade major in the [[17th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|17th Infantry Brigade]] in January 1921.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32207|page=760|supp=y|date=26 January 1921}}</ref> The brigade was stationed in [[County Cork]], Ireland, carrying out counter-guerilla operations during the final stages of the [[Irish War of Independence]].<ref name=heath214/>

Montgomery came to the conclusion that the conflict could not be won without harsh measures, and that self-government for Ireland was the only feasible solution; in 1923, after the establishment of the [[Irish Free State]] and during the [[Irish Civil War]], Montgomery wrote to [[Colonel (British Army)|Colonel]] [[Arthur Percival|Arthur Ernest Percival]] of the [[Essex Regiment]]:

{{Blockquote|Personally, my whole attention was given to defeating the rebels but it never bothered me a bit how many houses were burnt. I think I regarded all civilians as [[Sinn Féin|'Shinners']] and I never had any dealings with any of them. My own view is that to win a war of this sort, you must be ruthless. [[Oliver Cromwell]], or the Germans, would have settled it in a very short time. Nowadays public opinion precludes such methods, the nation would never allow it, and the politicians would lose their jobs if they sanctioned it. That being so, I consider that [[David Lloyd George|Lloyd George]] was right in what he did, if we had gone on we could probably have squashed the rebellion as a temporary measure, but it would have broken out again like an ulcer the moment we removed the troops. I think the rebels would probably have refused battles, and hidden their arms etc. until we had gone. The only way therefore was to give them some form of self government, and let them squash the rebellion themselves, they are the only people who could really stamp it out.<ref name="sheehan">{{cite book|last=Sheehan|first=William|title=British Voices from the Irish War of Independence 1918–1921|year=2005|isbn=978-1-905172-37-5|pages=151–152|publisher=Collins }}</ref>}}

In one noteworthy incident on 2 May 1922, Montgomery led a force of 60 soldiers and 4 armoured cars to the town of [[Macroom]] to search for four British officers who were missing in the area. While he had hoped the show of force would assist in finding the men, he was under strict orders not to attack the IRA. On arriving in the town square in front of Macroom Castle, he summoned the IRA commander, Charlie Browne, to parley. At the castle gates Montgomery spoke to Browne, explaining what would happen should the officers not be released. Once finished, Browne responded with his own ultimatum to Montgomery to "leave town within 10 minutes". Browne then turned heels and returned to the Castle. At this point another IRA officer, Pat O'Sullivan, whistled to Montgomery drawing his attention to scores of IRA volunteers who had quietly taken up firing positions all around the square—surrounding Montgomery's forces. Realising his precarious position, Montgomery led his troops out of the town, a decision which raised hostile questions in the House of Commons but was later approved by Montgomery's own superiors. Unknown to Montgomery at this time, the four missing officers had already been executed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2022/0505/1296130-1922-macroom-castle-monty-british-army-ira/|title=The story behind Monty's Macroom Castle standoff with the IRA|date=5 May 2022|via=www.rte.ie |first1=Andy |last1=Bielenberg |first2=John|last2=Borgonovo}}</ref>

In May 1923, Montgomery was posted to the [[49th (West Riding) Infantry Division]], a [[Army Reserve (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] (TA) formation.<ref name=heath214/> He returned to the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1925 as a [[company commander]]<ref name=heath214/> and was promoted to major in July 1925.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33083|page=5972|date=11 September 1925}}</ref> From January 1926 to January 1929 he served as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General at the Staff College, Camberley, in the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33128|page=691|date=29 January 1926}}</ref>

=== Marriage and family ===
In 1925, in his first known courtship of a woman, Montgomery, then in his late thirties, proposed to a 17-year-old girl, Betty Anderson. His approach included drawing diagrams in the sand of how he would deploy his tanks and infantry in a future war, a contingency which seemed very remote at that time. She respected his ambition and single-mindedness but declined his proposal.<ref>{{harvnb|Hamilton|1981|p=177}}</ref>

In 1927, he met and married Elizabeth (Betty) Carver, ''née'' Hobart.<ref name=heath214/> She was the sister of the future Second World War commander [[Percy Hobart|Sir Percy Hobart]].<ref name=heath214/> Betty Carver had two sons in their early teens, John and Dick, from her first marriage to [[Oswald Carver]]. Dick Carver later wrote that it had been "a very brave thing" for Montgomery to take on a widow with two children.<ref>{{harvnb|Hamilton|1981|p=200}}</ref> Montgomery's son, David, was born in August 1928.<ref name=heath214/>

While on holiday in [[Burnham-on-Sea]] in [[Somerset]] in 1937, Betty suffered an insect bite which became infected, and she died in her husband's arms from [[septicaemia]] following [[amputation]] of her leg.<ref name=heath214/> The loss devastated Montgomery, who was then serving as a brigadier, but he insisted on throwing himself back into his work immediately after the funeral.<ref name="biermansmith"/> Montgomery's marriage had been extremely happy. Much of his correspondence with his wife was destroyed when his quarters at Portsmouth were bombed during the Second World War.<ref>{{harvnb|Hamilton|1981|p=197}}</ref> After Montgomery's death, John Carver wrote that his mother had arguably done the country a favour by keeping his personal oddities—his extreme single-mindedness, and his intolerance of and suspicion of the motives of others—within reasonable bounds long enough for him to have a chance of attaining high command.<ref>{{harvnb|Hamilton|1981|p=278}}</ref>

Both of Montgomery's stepsons became army officers in the 1930s (both were serving in India at the time of their mother's death), and both served in the Second World War, each eventually attaining the rank of colonel.<ref>{{harvnb|Hamilton|1981|p=276}}</ref> While serving as a GSO2<ref>A staff post, normally held by a major, although the account does not give his specific rank at the time</ref> with Eighth Army, Dick Carver was sent forward during the pursuit after El Alamein to help identify a new site for Eighth Army HQ. He was taken prisoner at [[Mersa Matruh]] on 7 November 1942.<ref>{{harvnb|Hamilton|1984|p=40}}</ref> Montgomery wrote to his contacts in England asking that inquiries be made via the [[Red Cross]] as to where his stepson was being held, and that parcels be sent to him.<ref>{{harvnb|Hamilton|1984|p=45}}</ref> Like many British POWs, the most famous being General [[Richard O'Connor]], Dick Carver escaped in September 1943 during the brief hiatus between [[Armistice of Cassibile|Italy's departure from the war]] and the German seizure of the country. He eventually reached British lines on 5 December 1943, to the delight of his stepfather, who sent him home to Britain to recuperate.<ref>{{harvnb|Hamilton|1984|p=426}}</ref>

===1930s===
In January 1929 Montgomery was promoted to brevet lieutenant-colonel.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33460|page=617|date=25 January 1929}}</ref> That month he returned to the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment again, as Commander of Headquarters Company; he went to the [[War Office]] to help write the Infantry Training Manual in mid-1929.<ref name=heath214/> In 1931 Montgomery was promoted to substantive lieutenant-colonel<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33681|page=378|date=16 January 1931}}</ref> and became the [[Commanding officer]] (CO) of the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment and saw service in [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]] and [[British Raj|British India]].<ref name=heath214/> He was promoted to [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|colonel]] in June 1934 (seniority from January 1932).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34067|page=4340|date=6 July 1934}}</ref> He attended and was then recommended to become an instructor at the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] Staff College (now the [[Pakistan Command and Staff College]]) in [[Quetta]], British India.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34075|page=4975|date=3 August 1934}}</ref>

On completion of his tour of duty in India, Montgomery returned to Britain in June 1937<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34426|page=5181|date=13 August 1937}}</ref> where he took command of the [[9th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|9th Infantry Brigade]] with the temporary rank of [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|brigadier]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34426|page=5178|date=13 August 1937}}</ref> His wife died that year.<ref name=heath214/>

In 1938, he organised an [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious]] [[combined operations]] landing exercise that impressed the new C-in-C of [[Southern Command (United Kingdom)|Southern Command]], General [[Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|Sir Archibald Percival Wavell]]. He was promoted to major-general on 14 October 1938<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34566 |page=6814 |date=1 November 1938}}</ref> and took command of the [[8th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|8th Infantry Division]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34566|page=6815|date=1 November 1938}}</ref> in the British mandate of Palestine.<ref name=heath214/> In Palestine, Montgomery was involved in suppressing an [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine|Arab revolt]] which had broken out over opposition to [[Aliyah|Jewish emigration]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Barr|first=James|title=A Line in the Sand|page=194|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2011|isbn=978-1-84737-453-0}}</ref> He returned in July 1939 to Britain, suffering a serious illness on the way, to command the [[3rd Division (United Kingdom)|3rd Infantry Division]].<ref name=heath214/> Reporting the suppression of the revolt in April 1939, Montgomery wrote, "I shall be sorry to leave Palestine in many ways, as I have enjoyed the war out here".<ref name="biermansmith">{{harvnb|Bierman|Smith|2002|pp=223–230}}</ref>