Lot 368
Montgomery, Bernard, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (1887-1976) British field marshal who played an important role in the Allied victories in Africa and Europe. Good content autograph letter signed ("Monty"), on personal stationery, 3½ pages, 7¼ x 5½ in., London, Nov. 8, 1947. While Chief of the Imperial General Staff (1946-49), he writes to "John," enclosing a five -page memorandum titled "Notes on the German Situation: 1st May, 1946," marked "Private and Top Secret." Montgomery writes, in part: "On 1st May last year, 1946, I left Germany: where I had been C-in-C of the British Zone. I wrote the enclosed paper and sent it to Attlee, Bevin, and Hymd….We are moving towards a divided Germany….that…can only end in disaster. I often think what a tragedy it was that Eisenhower descended from his lofty perch of Supreme Commander after we had defeated the Germans in Normandy, and tried himself to command directly the land armies as well as being Supreme Commander….we won the war but we lost the peace. By adopting the proper strategy we could have been in Berlin and in Czechoslovakia before the Russians; the boundaries of the Zones in Germany would then have been drawn quite differently; we would have finished the war in the winter 1944/45 and not have gone on till the early summer of 1945; all our present troubles would have been halved…." Rust mark from a paper clip at upper left, else fine.
Estimated Value $400 - 600.
Christie's New York, June 4, 2009, lot 398.
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| Realized $2,063 |
