Army Commander. Born Bernard Law Montgomery, son of Sir H. H. Montgomery, in St Mark's Vicarage, Kennington Oval, or Kensington, Knightsbridge, depending on source. Spent the early years of his life in Hobart, Tasmania where his father had been appointed as bishop. On the family's return to England, he attended the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, from which he was expelled for setting a fellow cadet alight.
During the First World War he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for gallant leadership. In the Second World War, he rose to prominence in the campaigns in North Africa and Italy. After the war his reputation suffered because of his support of apartheid in South Africa and communism in China and his opposition to the legalisation of homosexuality in Britain. Died at his home, Islington Mill, Alton, Hampshire.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
