Montgomery's Selection as Commander is Criticised

Grey River Argus, 1 October 1948, Page 5

Montgomery 's Selection as Commander is Criticised

(Received September 30, 11.5 p.m.) LONDON, September 30. The choice of Field Marshal Montgomery as the head of the Defence Forces of the five Western Union Nations is criticised by the Manchester “Guardian.”

It says: “There is one good reason lor placing Marshal Montgomery in mis position, because, of all the candidates, he bears tlie most xamous name, ano, if fame is a criterion, there is not a soldier in France or the Low Countries to rival him. However there are equally good reasons for regretting the choice. Marshal Montgomery is not exactly popular in the United states, upon which the Western Union must draw for everything, but for martial speeches. "Marshal Montgomery is not and he never has been, a planning general. He is an • uneasy co-operator, and is a land soldier, and it will take much more than the combined land armies of France, Britain, Belgium, Holland and Luxemburg greatly to trouble a luture invader.

“Lastly, Marshal Montgomery is British, -and, though a British Air Commander might and must be acceptable, there is little to be said for having a British soldier when the British Army component of the Western Union Force will, at any rate initially, be very small indeed.”