Egypt. Bernard Montgomery takes command of the Eighth Army. He is (even according to Churchill himself, who appointed him) unpleasant, punctilious, intolerant, and boring, despotic, cantankerous, and inhibited. He reads only the Bible, eats only boiled beef and biscuits, is a teetotaler, and plays a lot of sports. His soldiers, even on the front lines, regularly receive tea at five o’clock. He wears a strange Australian beret and civilian shoes. When it’s cold, he wears a curious Canadian hooded jacket with wooden buttons and twisted cord buttonholes. After the war, this garment will become the “duffel coat.” He never shows up in combat, unlike Rommel. He is an orthodox planner and often uses other people’s brains.
