Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd

Infobox Military Person
name= Sir Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd
lived=6 December 1871 - 13 October 1947


caption=Field Marshal Sir Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd
nickname=
placeofbirth=Fivemiletown, County Tyrone
placeofdeath=
allegiance=flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
branch=
serviceyears=1891 - 1936
rank=Field marshal
unit=
commands=Southern Command
battles=Second Boer War
World War I
awards= Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Mention in Despatches
relations=
laterwork=
Field Marshal Sir Archibald Armar Montgomery-Massingberd GCB, GCVO, KCMG (6 December 1871 - 13 October 1947) was Chief of the Imperial General Staff.

Army career

Archibald Montgomery was educated at Charterhouse School and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the Royal Field artillery in 1891 and became a lieutenant in 1894.Heathcote, Anthony pg 220] He served with the Royal Field Artillery during the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902. In 1900 he was promoted captain.

Montgomery attended Staff College from 1905 to 1906 and in May 1909 was appointed a general staff officer at the Indian Army Staff College at Quetta in British India.

At the outbreak of World War I in 1914 Montgomery was appointed a general staff officer to the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France. He subsequently was appointed Chief of Staff to the 4th Corps in France. From 1916 to 1919 he was Chief of Staff of the 4th Army of the BEF.

From 1920 to 1922 Montgomery was Deputy Chief of the General Staff in India.Heathcote, Anthony pg 221] He became a lieutenant-general in 1926. From 1928 to 1931 he was General Officer Commanding, Southern Command in the United Kingdom. He was promoted general in 1930. From 1931 to 1933 he was adjutant-general of the British Army.

The pinnacle of his career was a term from 1933 to 1936 as Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Among his main achievements at this time was the mechanising of the Cavalry. [Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh, pg 18] However according to Williamson and Millett, he was a great obstacle to innovation of mechanized forces and suppressed the analysis of the British army's performance in World War I initiated by his predecessor, Lord Milne. [Murray, Williamson & Millett, Allen R.]

He was made a field marshal in 1935.

Gunby Hall

During the Second World War the Air Ministry attempted to build an airfield at Great Steeping in Lincolnshire that would have extended into Sir Archibald's traditional family estate, necessitating the demolition of the magnificent mansion. He personally appealed to King George VI and the Air Ministry relented, redrawing the plans that resulted in the resiting of the new RAF Spilsby two miles further south. Gunby Hall was one of the first British mansion houses to be presented to the National Trust in 1944 and is today open to the public on a few limited days of the week during the summer, while remaining a private family residence for the rest of the year. [ [http://raf-lincolnshire.info/spilsby/spilsby.htm RAF Spilsby] ]

References

Further reading

* "The British Field Marshals 1736-1997", Tony Heathcote, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 1999, ISBN 0-85052-696-5
* "The Story of the Fourth Army in the Hundred Days", Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd, Hodder & Stoughton, 1919, ASIN B000TXVIJ0
* "Archie - A Biographical sketch of Field Marshal Sir Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd", Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, National Trust, 1997
* "Military Innovation in the Interwar Period", Murray, Williamson & Millett, Allen R., Cambridge University Press (1996), ISBN 978-0521637602