 Poster: A snowHead
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@intermediate, impressive cv!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@under a new name,
Yes, I'm surprised I'd never heard of James Woolgar before. If his life doesn't deserve a 2 hour biopic, I don't know whose does.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@arcsinice,
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Ittsa joke, get it? A joke....... Ein Schatz..............
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Thanks, but I know what a joke is.
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@arcsinice
Montgomery of (on) Alamein..............? Oh, I remember that place. They sold fur coats and the like until the mid 1980's when they retired and moved to their weekend get-a-way house on that big lake...........
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I'm probably being dim, but I wasn't criticising your post, I just don't understand it.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@intermediate, me too. Maybe you have to live in America to get the joke context. 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Having had relatives killed at El Alamein I too failed to see there was a joke. A smiley might have helped
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I found it quite amusing but do live in US.
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@essex, I don't suppose you could explain it to me could you?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@essex, Well thanks for that. I suppose it explains the reference to selling fur coats and the like, still a bit puzzled about the reference to a weekend get-a-way house on that big lake, unless it's that the company was apparently based in Chicago which is on Lake Michigan?
Maybe arcsinice didn't realise that probably 99% of the people on here wouldn't have heard of Montgomery Ward or know they were based in Chicago, so rather a small target audience for his joke sadly. 
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@essex, thanks, makes a bit more sense now. A lateral sense of humo(u)r even more beneficial than usual on both sides of the pond these days 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| arcsinice wrote: |
| intermediate wrote: |
| @arcsinice, is it just me, or has your post above puzzled anyone else? |
Ittsa joke, get it? A joke....... Ein Schatz..............
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a treasure ?
As for Monty, he made a bet, can't see the problem with collecting his winnings. Funny how people don't like paying up when they lose.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Err, still puzzled......
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| dogwatch wrote: |
| He actually signed himself "Montogomery of Alamein" in a letter about skiing. Good grief. |
As others have said, I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what he should have signed himself. It’s only in very recent years that some peers have decided not to use their correct form of address in instances like this. If he’d been the Duke of Marlborough he would simply have signed it Marlborough.
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You know it makes sense.
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@foxtrotzulu, I think it is difficult for us, now, to appreciate the importance to the nation at the time of the first major victory achieved by Britain after Dunkirk.
Monty may have been an arrogant dick. He was arrogant enough to believe he could win. I think at the time many readers of his letter would have smiled fondly.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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A bit surprised to see some bad-mouthing here of one our most successful generals in C20. When I was young I never heard a bad word said about him - even thought New Zealand troops - some of whom subsequently became my school friends' dads and my teachers* were heavily engaged in the North African and Italian campaigns.
* My dad was barred by a childhood injury from enlisting.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@achilles, not bad-mouthing. His flaws are well documented and not a matter of opinion, as are his great qualities. In fact, in a way, his flaws were his great qualities, was my point.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Dmitri wrote: |
@foxtrotzulu, I think it is difficult for us, now, to appreciate the importance to the nation at the time of the first major victory achieved by Britain after Dunkirk.
Monty may have been an arrogant dick. He was arrogant enough to believe he could win. I think at the time many readers of his letter would have smiled fondly. |
I think all that may be true. I was just responding to the accusation that it wasn’t in some way arrogant for him to have signed a letter ‘Montgomery of Alamein’. My point is that even if he had been the most diffident and shyest of people he would still, like every other peer of the time, have signed himself like that, or perhaps even just ‘Alamein’.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@foxtrotzulu, I had a quick geeky look at an etiquette guide and indeed it says
The higher the rank, the shorter the name. A duke, for instance, signs himself “Marlborough,” nothing else, and a queen her first name “Victoria.”
So it seems being a viscount he was indeed following normal practice to the letter....
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Montgomery was a successful General (later Field-Marshal) but his ego made him a difficult man to work with. I think great credit must be given to Eisenhower for the way he performed his role of supreme Allied commander. Ike may not have been a great military strategist himself, but he was just the right man with the right personality for leading a coalition of British and American armed forces, with the inevitable national tensions and mutual suspicions to deal with. Quote from a book "Eisenhower was determined to create fully integrated binational staffs in the two Anglo-American Headquarters he set up - one called AFHQ (Allied Forces Headquarters) in 1942 and subsequently SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force) that conducted the OVERLORD camppaign in 1944-45. His fellow countrymen, at least, were in no doubt that he intended to make it work. You could call your opposite British number a S.O.B, the saying ran, but call him a Limey S.O.B and you would be on the next plane home."
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Alastair Pink, This (from wikipedia) made me laugh:
"One incident that illustrated [his lack of diplomacy] occurred during the North African campaign when Montgomery bet Walter Bedell Smith that he could capture Sfax by the middle of April 1943. Smith jokingly replied that if Montgomery could do it he would give him a Flying Fortress complete with crew. Smith promptly forgot all about it, but Montgomery did not, and when Sfax was taken on 10 April he sent a message to Smith 'claiming his winnings'. Smith tried to laugh it off, but Montgomery was having none of it and insisted on his aircraft. It got as high as Eisenhower who, with his renowned skill in diplomacy, ensured Montgomery did get his Flying Fortress, though at a great cost in ill feeling. Even Alanbrooke thought it 'crass stupidity'."
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Alastair Pink
I think you're confused, so too, Dmitri about "Ike"
Ike's a plumber for goodness sake.................
http://ikesplumbing.com/
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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My father was a corporal in the second world war who fought and was wounded in Normandy.
He heard Montgomerey speak and amongst the rank and file he was very popular. I think he was undoubtedly a great motivator when addressing the troops.
At the time of Alamein Britain needed a hero and so I have no doubt that the wartime proganda machine went into overdrive to present him in that way, but I am also certain that was what was needed at the time.
His deficiencies were probably well known amongst his peers at the time and it was only much later that his weaknesses became more widely known to the general public.
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FAQ
At least I got that one. 