Interallied Relations in Normandy, 1944: Two Snapshots

Tonight I came across two fascinating anecdotes on interallied relations during the Allied campaign through Normandy from John S.D. Eisenhower’s (the son) 1974 memoir, Strictly Personal: One illuminates prickly Franco-Anglo-American relations in mid-1944, the other offers insight into the perennial personality struggle between Eisenhower and Montgomery.

De Gaulle’s maverick personality on full display on his return to France:

I could see the Old Man’s blood pressure rise,” the younger Eisenhower wrote of his father. This was the first word he had received that De Gaulle had come ashore. Nobody except the invasion troops, not even self-styled provisional heads of government, were allowed to enter the combat zone without Dad’s permission. (Dad had, with the help of King George VI, prevented Churchill’s witnessing the D-Day invasion from a British naval vessel—for his own safety.) As if this ‘oversight’ on De Gaulle’s part were not enough, the aide went jovially on: De Gaulle had gathered quite a crowd in Bayeux and had made an ‘I have returned’ speech to the French. ‘The great virtue of the French,’ De Gaulle reportedly said, ’was that they had never submitted to the Germans. Now with the aid of the Allies they are reconquering their lost territory.’ This was too much. Being an outsider, unaware of the struggles Dad had gone through in dealing with this impossible Gaul—reportedly Roosevelt and Churchill had now ceased all communications with him—I could feel a certain humor in the situation; Dad could not. He sat in silence, the back of his neck red, for a couple of miles.

A nice description of Eisenhower’s command relationship with British General Sir Bernard Montgomery, after the two had a meeting in France on D+9.

It was noticeable, whenever Dad met with Montgomery during this period—and even for years after—how concerned he was to treat Montgomery with every courtesy, even deference. True, Monty’s performance often disappointed the Supreme Commander, and the incident five months later, when Dad was on the verge of asking for his relief during the Battle of the Bulge, is well known. However, in all positions except Supreme Commander, Montgomery held a status coequal to that of Dad. He was not only commander of the 21 Army Group; he was also the senior British commander for the invasion. Dad wore the corresponding hat for the Americans. Naturally, as Supreme Commander, Dad was the ultimate boss. But he was obviously determined that any friction that might occur between the two would never be the result of any personal slight on his own part. Their differences would be based solely on military judgment in a common cause. Montgomery, on his part, never showed a noticeable sign of reciprocating. (Eisenhower, Strictly Personal, 61–63).