Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd

Sir Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd
Field Marshal Sir Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd
Born	6 December 1871(1871-12-06) Fivemiletown, County Tyrone
Died	13 October 1947(1947-10-13) (aged 75) Spilsby, Lincolnshire
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1891 - 1936
Rank	Field Marshal
Commands held	1st Infantry Division Southern Command
Battles/wars	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

Field Marshal Sir Archibald Armar Montgomery-Massingberd GCB, GCVO, KCMG (6 December 1871 – 13 October 1947) was a Chief of the Imperial General Staff.

Contents 1 Name and personal life 2 Army career 3 Gunby Hall 4 References 5 Further reading

Name and personal life

He was born Archibald Armar Montgomery in Fivemiletown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland on 6 December 1871. He married Diana Massingberd in 1896, and took her surname hyphenated to his in 1926 when she inherited family estates (meaning references to "Montgomery-Massingberd" during World War I are anachronistic). His father, Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery, was a landowner and Ulster Unionist politician.^[1] The journalist and genealogist Hugh Massingberd was great-nephew both to the Field Marshal and, independently, to the Field Marshal's wife.

Army career

Montgomery was educated at Charterhouse School and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal Field artillery in 1891 and became a lieutenant in 1894.^[2] He served with the Royal Field Artillery during the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902.^[2] 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.^[2]

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 IV Corps in France. From 1916 to 1919 he was Chief of Staff of the Fourth Army of the BEF.^[2]

From 1920 to 1922 Montgomery was Deputy Chief of the General Staff in India.^[3] The follow year he became General Officer Commanding 1st Infantry Division at Aldershot and in 1926 he was promoted to lieutenant-general.^[3] From 1928 to 1931 he was General Officer Commanding, Southern Command in the United Kingdom. He was promoted general in 1930 and from 1931 to 1933 he was adjutant-general of the British Army.^[3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5]

He was made a field marshal in 1935.^[3]

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 wife's traditional family estate, necessitating the demolition of the magnificent mansion of Gunby Hall. 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 mansions 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.^[6]

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

Military offices
Preceded by Cyril Deverell	General Officer Commanding the 53rd (Welsh) Division 1922–1923	Succeeded by Thomas Marden
Preceded by Guy Bainbridge	General Officer Commanding the 1st Infantry Division 1923–1926	Succeeded by Cecil Romer
Preceded by Sir Alexander Godley	GOC-in-C Southern Command 1928–1931	Succeeded by Sir Cecil Romer
Preceded by Sir Walter Braithwaite	Adjutant-General to the Forces 1931–1933	Succeeded by Sir Cecil Romer
Preceded by Sir George Milne	Chief of the Imperial General Staff 1933–1936	Succeeded by Sir Cyril Deverell

Commanders-in-Chief of the Forces and Chiefs of the General Staff of the British Army Commanders-in-Chief of the Forces Duke of Albemarle · Duke of Monmouth · Earl of Marlborough · Duke of Leinster · Duke of Marlborough · Duke of Ormonde · Earl of Stair · George Wade · Duke of Cumberland · Viscount Ligionier · Marquess of Granby · Lord Amherst · Henry Conway · Lord Amherst · Duke of York · Sir David Dundas · Duke of York · Duke of Wellington · Viscount Hill · Duke of Wellington · Viscount Hardinge · Duke of Cambridge · Viscount Wolseley · Earl Roberts Chief of the General Staff Sir Neville Lyttelton Chiefs of the Imperial General Staff Sir William Nicholson • Sir John French • Sir Charles Douglas • Sir James Murray • Sir Archibald Murray • Sir William Robertson • Sir Henry Wilson • The Earl of Cavan • Sir George Milne • Sir Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd • Sir Cyril Deverell • The Viscount Gort • Sir Edmund Ironside • Sir John Dill • Sir Alan Brooke • The Viscount Montgomery of Alamein • Sir William Slim • Sir John Harding • Sir Gerald Templer • Sir Francis Festing • Sir Richard Hull Chiefs of the General Staff Sir Richard Hull • Sir James Cassels • Sir Geoffrey Baker • Sir Michael Carver • Sir Peter Hunt • Sir Roland Gibbs • Sir Edwin Bramall • Sir John Stanier • Sir Nigel Bagnall • Sir John Chapple • Sir Peter Inge • Sir Charles Guthrie • Sir Roger Wheeler • Sir Michael Walker • Sir Mike Jackson • Sir Richard Dannatt • Sir David Richards • Sir Peter Wall

Persondata
Name	Montgomery-Massingberd, Sir Archibald
Alternative names
Short description	Army officer
Date of birth	1871-12-06
Place of birth	Fivemiletown, County Tyrone
Date of death	1947-10-13
Place of death	Spilsby, Lincolnshire