Operation Victory by Sir Francis de Guingand

Major-General Sir Francis Wilfred "Freddie" de Guingand, KBE, CB, DSO served as Chief of Staff to Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery from the Second Battle of El Alamein until the end of the Second World War, and he played an important diplomatic role in sustaining relations between his commander and the latter's peers and superiors.

As one at the centre of Army operations Sir Francis was very much involved in the implementation of the plans laid out by Monty, and, as part of his duties, he came to know many of the significant figures of the Second World War, from Churchill, and Eisenhower, to most of the senior generals in the British and American forces, plus meeting some of the German generals at the end of hostilities. Naturally he was very much a man of the regular Army, so did not have anything to do with the more unconventional forces such as the SAS, and consequently, if a reader is not interested in the details of Army movements, then this book is not for them, but it does illustrate how much is involved behind the scenes of battles.

Despite not always agreeing every decision made by Monty Sir Francis makes it clear how much he admires the Field Marshall, and is proud of being involved with the Eighth Army, from North Africa, through Sicily and Italy, and in his part in Operation Overlord, and the fight on the Western front, from Normandy to the final German surrender on Luneburg Heath. In spite of his prickly personality, which at times necessitated action by Eisenhower to smooth over disputes, many of us regard Monty as probably the greatest soldier of the Second World War, and this comes across in the book.

It was published in 1947 and clearly things have changed greatly since those days, with the end of Empire, the Cold War, and the general decline in British military power, due to politicians of all stripes failing to give defence a sufficient high priority, but this book is a reminder of just how much Britain, and the Empire, contributed to the defeat of the most evil regime ever to have existed. It is a good read for patriots.