British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery riles American soldiers, January 7th, 1945
Montgomery publicly takes credit for the Allied victory at the Battle of the Bulge. Monty insists that it was his British forces of the Twenty-First Army Group, not American GIs, who stopped the German advance. What Montgomery neglects to mention is that just three British divisions were made available for the battle. Of the 650,000 Allied soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, more than 600,000 were American. Montgomery’s press conference does considerable damage to Anglo-American relations. Prime Minister Winston Churchill is forced to give a pro-American speech in the British House of Commons to heal the wounds.