Evening star., 1948-10-03
Miss 5ummersby Says
Montgomery Worried
Eisenhower Most
By the Associofsd Press


NEW YORK, Oct. 2.-Field Mar
shall Viscount Montgomery gave
Gen. Eisenhower more worry than
any other one individual in the
entire Allied command" in the opin-
ion of Gen. Eisenhower wartime
personal secretary and aide, Kay
Summersby.
The former WAC captain sets
down sharp criticism-her own and
others-of the British hero of the
desert campaign against the Nazi
Marshal Rommel in an intimate
volume of her war experiences and
impressions published by Prentice
Hall.
She speaks of his delay in attacks
his excessive caution and his re-
luctance to attack until he had q
force as powerful as that at Ell Ala
mein."
Throughout the Western cam
paign. it seemed to me that Monty
plagued the general with some sort
Of worry, the cries for more men
and supplies, the excuses for not
taking bold, Patton-like action
Admired Gen. Patton.
Despite his manner and his Ian
guage, she had great admiration
for Gen. George Patton. She knew
him we'll enough to ask him about
the famous "slapping" incident in
which he struck a hospitalized sol
dier.
Il always get in trouble with my
gaWdamned mouth" she quoted him
as answering. "Rut if this sort OF
thing ever came up. I'd do it again!''
And the remark came after a severe
reprimand from Gen. Eisenhower
which required a public apology to
those involved as well as the officers
of their regiment.
AS personal secretary and fa-
vorite bridge partner of the su-
preme commander, Miss Summers
by met and knew we'll most of the
great and neargreat who flowed
through supreme headquarters. She
chauffeured for, and picnicked with
President Roosevelt during his
African visit. She was among the
first of Western allied personnel to
go into Berlin after it fell to the
Russians. Winston Churchill called
ner by her first name.
But among all those she met and
observed only Gen. Eisenhower re-
ceives her unstinted praise and ad-
miration. She describes him in mo-
ments of crisis and tells how he used
the few hours he found for relaxa-
ton. He was thoughtful of others,
most considerate of his staff. With
the other three members of his of
fetal family'-personal staff-she
made constant efforts to relieve him
of his burden. The general. she
admits, has temper which
should be accompanied by red hair
and she tells of frequent occasions
on which he became violently angry
and quickly got over it.
Conscientious Diarist.
A conscientious dianst, Miss Sum-
mersby tells all the details of the
historic surrender in the Rheims
schoolhouse. She describes Gen.
Omar Bradley's bitter disappoint-
ment when the 9th Army was trans
ferred over to Lord Montgomery S
command in the Battle of the
Bulge.
She notes that Andrei Vishinsky,
in civilian clothes, was much in
evidence during the German sur
render in special Russian ceremonies
in Berlin, commenting that even
in this moment of Soviet military
victory, the Kremlin was stepping
in to take charge"
Russian problems for the Western
Allies began before the surrender,
she notes. In April, 1945, Prime
Minister Churchill remarked to Gen.
Eisenhower over dinner table that
the Russians already were becom-
ing difficult. refusing to let our
correspondents into Vienna"
Gen. Eisenhower was not available
for comment on the book.
Miss Summersby. Irish-born, first
met Gen. Eisenhower in 1912, when
he was major general in London.
She served as his driver and guide
on his short stay there.
Later she was appointed to his
personal staff when he returned as
commander of the Europen Theater
of Operations.