{"id":82512,"date":"2023-06-02T04:00:46","date_gmt":"2023-06-02T08:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/?p=82512"},"modified":"2023-06-01T12:09:51","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T16:09:51","slug":"montgomery-was-a-military-talent-slim-was-a-military-genius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/2023\/06\/02\/montgomery-was-a-military-talent-slim-was-a-military-genius\/","title":{"rendered":"“Montgomery was a military talent; Slim was a military genius”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Robert Lyman<\/a> is a known fan of Field Marshal Slim (as am I, for the record), not only for his brilliant military achievements, but also as a writer:<\/p>\n

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Field Marshal Sir William Slim (1891-1970), during his time as GOC XIVth Army.
Portrait by No. 9 Army Film & Photographic Unit via Wikimedia Commons.<\/p><\/div>\n

How many British generals have been able to write as well as they could fight? Strangely perhaps, quite a few. Field Marshal Sir Michael Carver (Dilemmas of the Desert War<\/em>, The Seven Ages of the British Army<\/em>), General Sir David Fraser (And We Shall Shock Them<\/em>), General Sir John Hackett (The Third World War<\/em>) and Major General John Strawson (Beggars in Red<\/em>) are four outstanding soldier-writers that spring immediately to mind. Even Monty wrote his memoirs. And in our own day I’ve read plenty of competent books from a slew of men who’ve reached the top of the profession of arms. The work of some, like that of General Sir Richard Sherriff (2017: War with Russia<\/em>), Major General Mungo Melvin (Manstein<\/em>) and Brigadier Allan Mallinson (Too Important for the Generals<\/em> et al), could be described as outstanding. Julian Thompson and Richard Dannatt also fit this bill. But by far and away the best of Britain’s soldier-writers in the last century was also probably the greatest soldier \u2013 and field commander \u2013 of them all: Bill Slim. He was, more properly, Field Marshal William J. Slim KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC, KStJ, the onetime General Officer Commanding the famous 14th Army \u2013 the so-called Forgotten Army \u2013 of Burma fame. He was, in this author’s view, the greatest British general of the last war (to avoid further debate, let’s just agree that Monty failed as a coalition commander, whereas Slim excelled). Slim’s ability as a general is perfectly summed up by the historian Frank McLynn:<\/p>\n