April, 1945
131
ONTGOMERy MAN OF
By Mel Larson
I N THIS WAR,” said the British Tommy to his broth ers-in-arms gathered in Boston Common from all parts oi the globe, “the big boys are right down there in the midst of things with the men—and that guy Montgomery prays! My captain seen ’im pray. My captain was goin’ to his tent one morning in Africa. The flap was open and the General (we call ’im ‘Monty’) was right down on his knees prayin’. On a table in front of him was his Bible, wide-open!” “Why,” added another Tommy, “ he doesn't even smoke. What’s more, he doesn’t even let his officers drink or smoke in his presence.” They talked of the hero of North Africa and the guid- ing light in the great drive against Germany—F i e l d Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery. After the British victory at El Alamein, a newspaper correspondent wrote of him: “This was total war, waged with more weight, power and concentration than the Nazi war machine had en countered and directed by a new master of total war— a man who said his prayers in his desert tent night and morning and quoted the Bible to his troops to 'make them better fighters.” Is It Really True? Many Christians in the United States and around the world have wondered about the Christian testimony of General Montgomery. Frankly, there is no direct word from the Field Marshal, but if actions “speak louder than words”—and even the words are plentiful here—there can be little doubt that he is a true Christian. Should you walk up to him in the battlefields of France, Belgium or Germany you would have a hard time of it if you asked, “ Field Marshal Montgomery, isn’t it true that your success has come about because you read your Bible twice a day, because you constantly'mem orize Scripture passages, and because you pray to God all of the time?” Doubtless the British army hero would be annoyed. He once informed an American correspondent that sUch claims made in his behalf irritated him. “But,” the correspondent added, “as Montgomery said it, his well-thumbed Bible and his dog-eared Copy of Pil grim’s Progress were not more than a few inches from his hand.” Use of the Bible Montgomery is not ashamed of his love for the-Bible and boldly states what it means to him. He carries it with him everywhere in battle . ., . and he is the kind of general who goes everywhere in battle. He wants, to “get across” to others the message of the Bible. This he accomplishes through his own exemplary life, through the many Scriptural passages which dot his orders of
International News Photo
the day and through his personal testimony to his troops. He uses Scripture on all occasions. He never apolo gizes for his interest in spiritual things. He frankly sug gests to his men and officers that they too pray and read the Bible which he believes to be the source of all divine and human.wisdom, A few hours before he left England to go to Egypt and assume command of the forlorn British Eighth Army, he gathered together the men who had served under him in the Southeastern Com mand in England. In farewell, he said to them, “ Gentle men, I read the Bible every day and recommend that you do thè same.” He took on what looked like the hopeless task of stopping Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and the Nazi horde knocking at the gates of Egypt—only sixty miles from the Suez Canel, the jugular vein of the British Empire. History was written in that tremendous victory, a triumph which moved the British 1,700 miles across Africa in twenty-nine weeks, capturing or destroying all but 638 of the 350,000 Axis troops which had sought to set up the Italian Empire in Africa. To whom did Montgomery pay tribute when the battle was over? In all sincerity, simplicity and love, he stood on the burning sand of Africa and said: “Give thanks to the Lord, mighty in battle!” He begins each battle with prayer to God for help and ends it with praise to God for His guidance. Beginnings Yóu ask, “What is the source of this? How did it start? Through whom did he come tò love the Bible more The first is the priceless heritage of many gréât men of today—Christ-centered parents who determined that God should have first place in the lives of all their seven children. than any other book in the world?” Two answers perhaps are correct.
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