Monty's Iron Sides: From the Normandy Beaches to Bremen with the 3rd Division

Major-General Bernard Montgomery commanded the British 3rd Division in the Low Countries with skill and determination in the opening stages of World War II, culminating in the Allied evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940. The 3rd Division, which subsequently became known throughout the British Army as Monty's "Iron Sides", included in its ranks the general's beloved Royal Warwickshire Regiment of which he had been commanding officer. As the only division in the British Liberation Army to participate in the savage fighting from D-Day all the way through to VE-Day, the Iron Sides were frequently in the thick of the action, led by the popular ex-Desert Rat GOC, "Bolo" Whistler. The Iron Sides fought in the tough battle to take Caen, in Operation "Goodwood" at Troarn and Operation "Bluecoat" to take Vire. They helped force a crossing of the Escaut canal and participated in Operation "Aintree" to free the Dutch towns of Overloon and Venraij. Operation "Heather" saw them drive through the Siegried Line before finally "cracking around" in northern Germany in the hard fighting that ultimately led to VE-Day. In this divisional history, the author draws on contributions from the dozen fighting regiments of the 3rd Division who wore the sign of the black and red triangles, designed by Monty himself. They came from every corner of Great Britain and in this text, relate the stories of their battles in their own words.