Did Eisenhower and Montgomery get along?

Not easily. They respected each other's abilities but clashed often, above all over who should command the ground forces and whether to advance on a broad front or a single thrust.

Who was in charge, Eisenhower or Montgomery?

Eisenhower. As Supreme Allied Commander he was Montgomery's superior and made the final strategic decisions, including overruling Montgomery's plan for a single concentrated thrust into Germany.

What were they famous for?

Eisenhower for commanding the D-Day invasion and leading the Western alliance to victory; Montgomery for beating Rommel at El Alamein and commanding the Allied ground forces in Normandy.

What did they disagree about?

Chiefly strategy after Normandy: Montgomery wanted overall ground command and a single powerful thrust, while Eisenhower preferred a broad advance across a wide front.

Eisenhower vs Montgomery: supreme commander and his general

CPhoM Robert F. Sargent, US Coast Guard, 1944, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain (US government work).

Quick answer

Who was the better general, Eisenhower or Montgomery?

It depends on what you measure. Eisenhower was the greater coalition commander and strategist, who held a fractious alliance together and carried it to victory. Montgomery, the victor of El Alamein, was the finer battlefield general of the two, but his certainty and demands strained the alliance and made him as much a problem as an asset to his chief.

They were the two names most tied to the Western Allied victory, and they did not always get on. Dwight Eisenhower held the Allied coalition together as supreme commander; Bernard Montgomery commanded its armies in the field and never hid his belief that he should have had more. Partners in victory, rivals in temperament. Here they are, side by side.

Head to head

	Dwight Eisenhower	Bernard Montgomery
Lived	1890 to 1969¹	1887 to 1976²
Role	Supreme Allied Commander	British field marshal and army group commander
Famous for	Commanding the D-Day invasion	El Alamein and the Normandy ground battle
Strength	Coalition leadership and broad strategy	Set-piece battles and careful preparation
Great test	Holding the alliance together to victory	Beating Rommel, then commanding in Normandy
Friction	Overruled Montgomery's single-thrust plan	Pushed for ground command and a narrow front
After the war	34th President of the United States³	Celebrated, and often criticized, field marshal

Eisenhower: the man who held the alliance together

Dwight Eisenhower was not a battlefield general in the usual sense: his genius lay in making a vast coalition work. As Supreme Allied Commander he launched the D-Day landings in 1944 and managed the egos, armies and governments of the alliance all the way to Germany, favoring a broad advance on a wide front. He later served two terms as president of the United States.⁴

Seven Allied commanders of the D-Day supreme command, Eisenhower seated in the center between Tedder and Montgomery, four more standing, in front of wall maps in London, 1 February 1944, in color — The Allied supreme command for the invasion of Europe in London on 1 February 1944: Eisenhower sits in the center between Air Chief Marshal Tedder and General Montgomery, with Bradley, Ramsay, Leigh-Mallory and Bedell Smith behind. British official color photograph. Public domain

Montgomery: the field commander who beat Rommel

Bernard Montgomery was the most celebrated British field commander of the war, the victor of El Alamein who led the Allied ground forces on D-Day. Careful and supremely confident, he repeatedly pressed Eisenhower for overall ground command and for a single concentrated thrust into Germany, a confidence that won battles but strained the alliance. On 1 September 1944 Eisenhower took direct command of the land battle, a change Montgomery had argued against; his promotion to field marshal was announced the same day, but he was left at the head of his own army group. That month Eisenhower agreed to his plan for a narrow thrust, Operation Market Garden, but it failed at Arnhem and the Allies went back to the broad front. Montgomery's press conference of 7 January 1945, after the Ardennes fighting, praised the American soldier but offended Bradley and other American commanders by its tone, and Eisenhower later recalled it as causing him more distress than any similar incident of the war.⁵

Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery seated in a maroon beret and camouflage smock with his hands clasped, 1944, in color — Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery in 1944, wearing the beret and jumping jacket of the Parachute Regiment on his appointment as its Colonel Commandant. Photograph by Edward Malindine. Public domain

The verdict

They were not rivals for the same victory but partners in different roles, and the comparison is really about two kinds of leadership. Eisenhower was the greater commander in the largest sense, the man who held a fractious coalition together and carried it to victory; Montgomery was the finer battlefield general of the two, but his certainty and his demands made him as much a problem as an asset to his chief. The alliance needed both, and it needed Eisenhower to manage Montgomery.

Map of northern France and the Low Countries with the lines of the Allied armies advancing toward the German border — The Allied pursuit across France and Belgium to the German border, 26 August to 10 September 1944, the advance on a wide front that fueled the argument between the two men. Map from the US Army official history. Public domain

Compare more in Patton vs Montgomery, Montgomery vs Rommel and Patton vs Rommel, or meet the field in the greatest military commanders.

About this comparison

Each commander above has a full biography on this site, with its own sources. Judgments of who was "greater" are ours and openly a matter of debate; the facts and dates follow established histories. See our editorial policy.