From the S&S archives:
General Sir Bernard Montgomery: The man who 'hit 'em for six'

DESERT victory wasn't won on the sands alone. The Mediterranean was just as important a battlefield as the Sahara, and the tankers. played just as important a part as the tanks. And it will be the same story. in the forthcoming invasion.

No one realizes this more than the man whose name is synonymous with desert victory, Britain's fabulous "Monty." Chatting informally at his London headquarters, the man who turned the tide at El Alamein gave merchant seamen much of the credit for the success in North Africa. "Their contribution was just as great as that of the troops," he said.

In one of the few exclusive interviews since he got back from Italy to take command of Britain's invasion army, the Eighth Army's "legendary general" Sir Bernard Montgomery was ready and eager to speak of the accomplishments of the past, but said in answer to questions on the forthcoming invasion, "I never talk about the future." Just what the role of merchant seamen will be in the invasion he declined to say, but from his statements on the African campaign it is apparent that they will have an important role.

Spoke With Enthusiasm

He was wearing his familiar beribboned battle dress and looked considerably older and slighter in stature than his pictures seem to indicate. He spoke in short staccato phrases and repeated them two or three times for emphasis, a trait as characteristic of Montgomery as his black beret. He colored his remarks with an almost youthful enthusiasm as he spoke of "our advance westward."

His consistent use of the word "we" showed his great admiration for the officers and men under him. Not once did he use the word "I" in relating any of the glories of that remarkable campaign. He described the battles as if he were telling of them for the first time, and he told how "we pushed along the shores of the Mediterranean" as any of the "Eighth's" privates might have told the same story in the local pub.

Talk Had Air of Informality

His frankness and cordiality gave the interview an air of informality, but not for a moment was it possible to forget that behind that desk sat, not only a great general, but the very spirit behind Britain's glorious desert army. The room was unimpressive. It might have been his desert headquarters. The atmosphere surrounding the man had a Lincoln-like simplicity. He tilted back his chair, schoolboy-fashion, and chatted amiably about the men who brought him the guns, the tanks, the food and the "petrol" to make possible the miracle of El Alamein.

One of Monty's favorite statements dates back to his cricket-playing days. Before the final drive he gave his men the simple pep talk —"Hit 'em for six." A British cricketer's counterpart of "Hit a home run."

And Allied seamen also hit 'em for six as they fought their way past Gibraltar to North African ports strung out along a 1,500-mile front. "Down at the docks," he said, "you could see the flags of almost every nation flying from the masts of the ships. Our fighting men could not have successfully carried out the task of clearing the desert if these seamen had not been determined to defy all conditions of sea and air attack to see that we got the stuff."

Anxious Moments

One of the anxious moments during the march from El Alamein was on Jan. 15, 1942, when Montgomery launched the attack that was to carry the Eighth Army into Tripoli. It was essential that they get to Tripoli in about ten days, and if the Germans could have delayed them for that length of time the British would have to retreat 800 miles to their nearest base at Benghazi. Those were days that tested Montgomery's generalship, but by outguessing and outfighting Rommel they arrived in Tripoli in eight days.

The base at Benghazi was now about a thousand miles behind the front. New bases had to be established and merchant ships had to deliver the goods. As the Eighth swept on through Tripoli, merchant seamen arrived at Tripoli's ports with the supplies for the new bases to sustain the final drive. "During the Tripoli campaign," Montgomery said. "I went down to the waterfront and personally thanked the skippers and men for getting through to the ports which were being opened up as we pushed westward along the shores of the Mediterranean."

Another of the anxious moments in the campaign, Montgomery told correspondents, was during the advance toward the Mareth Line about the same time Rommel was attacking the Americans at Gafsa, "and we had to do something about it." When the Eighth reached the Mareth Line their own lines were stretched and considerably weakened, and Rommel was disengaging himself from the Americans to attack Montgomery's men. The Allies' great air superiority saved the battle, and by realizing the vast amount of gasoline needed to sustain a large-scale air offensive it is apparent how merchant seamen again were behind the triumph — this time it was the men of the tankers.

Tankers Did a Big Job

There were some vicious air battles over the Sahara before the Mareth Line was finally pierced and high-octane gas was being burned up at a terrific rate. Considering that it takes some weeks for a tanker to make the round trip from a U.S. port to North Africa the job done by the men on the tankers was a tremendous one.

At the height of the Tunisian campaign, Maj. Gen. "Jimmy" Doolittle's Twelfth Air Force burned up high-octane gas at the rate of 1,000,000 gallons a day. In the final 15-day battle the bombers and fighters consumed 16,500,000 gallons — more than a million gallons over the monthly ration for all the automobiles on the Atlantic seaboard.

The transportation of fuel to North Africa for airplanes in those 15 days (not taking into consideration what was delivered for jeeps, tanks, trucks, etc.) employed the service of at least four of America's largest tankers daily.

Cleared The Mediterranean

A long-range view of the Eighth Army's achievement, coupled with the final drive added by the Yanks under Gen. Eisenhower, readily shows the bearing which the desert victory had on the over-all shipping situation. The clearing of the Mediterranean for Allied shipping was a direct contribution to victories now being won on battlefronts scattered all over the world. It gave the Allies a shorter and safer shipping lane to Russia, provided a secure water-way link with the Far East through Suez, and made possible the delivery of men and supplies to the backdoor of Europe.

The general declined to comment on the direct bearing which the making secure of the Mediterranean has had on the present Soviet offensive, but it has been revealed. that a large convoy for Russia was loaded and waiting in Britain for word from Montgomery and the Allied High Command that air superiority had been gained over the Mediterranean. The clearing of the Mediterranean cut off thousands of miles from the southern route to Russia and demonstrates clearly how the North African victory added considerable shipping tonnage to that which merchant seamen were already delivering to Russian ports.

Has Admiration for Humanity

His very personality made apparent, as he talked, his great admiration for all humanity. During the desert campaign he told reporters, "Everything in war hinges on the human factor." During the time he commanded the Eighth Army he never gave a written order to his subordinates about operations. Orders were always given by word of mouth.

In saying goodbye to his army, Montgomery said, "I am leaving officers and men who have been my comrades during months of hard and victorious fighting and whose courage and devotion to duty always filled me with admiration." .

Of the men in the merchant services who contributed to that "victorious fighting," he said unhesitatingly, "They were excellent and we could have done nothing without them."

Seamen Excellent in Sicily

After the invasion of Sicily, Montgomery said that the time had come to carry the war into Italy and onto the continent of Europe. He cautioned that the task would not be easy but that in all operations the army had had the close and intimate support of the Allied navies and air forces and because of that support they had always succeeded. Augmenting that statement, he said in this interview: "Allied seamen reacted excellently under heavy fire during the taking of Sicily," and by his words of praise indicated that their conduct in action was a strong factor contributing to the success of the largest combined sea, land and air operation the Allies have so far undertaken.

The tone of his conversation was not one of glory and drama, but rather one of warm appreciation of the men who "delivered the stuff" to make possible the Allies' first great military victory of the war, and who will deliver the stuff to make possible the final victory,

(Editor's note: After World War II, Don Hewitt went to work for CBS News, where he produced and directed coverage of many of the top events of the second half of the century. Among his innovations was "60 Minutes," the news magazine that features fellow Stars and Stripes alumni Andy Rooney and Steve Kroft. Click here for Hewitt's CBS biography.)