Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Field Marshal who commanded the Eighth Army to victory at El Alamein in World War II.
On the island
Eight records
My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose
it's a Scottish love song, and I think one of the nicest I've ever heard
Willi Boskovsky conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
because it was a great favour to my wife
Don't Be CrossFavourite
I'm very, very fond of it indeed, it's the most charming thing
I would like a Welsh choir to sing to me the hymn all through the night
Choir of St John's College, Cambridge
because I have a sort of feeling that after a time I wouldn't mind having a few wings myself to get out of this [island]
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:56What was your overall plan in choosing just eight records to take with you for an indefinite period of solitude? Are you looking back?
Well, in a sense… I chose first of all the first one, the Battle Hymn of the Republic, because I'm a soldier. And the last one, O for the Wings of a Dove, because I thought I might be able to fly away from this island. And then in between, I filled in two to seven with songs and tunes I am very, very fond of indeed, and like to listen to. And that's how I did it.
Presenter asks
4:01Were you a rebellious boy?
I was very rebellious, and when my mother demanded discipline from me, I refused to give in. … I was caught one day in the garden smoking. … my father prayed, and then my mother beat me. … I think what makes me tick was that I absolutely refused to give in.
Presenter asks
5:45Why did you decide to be a soldier? Was it a sudden decision?
Well, as far as I can remember, I wanted to be a soldier when I was quite young, about five or six. … I saw the soldiers going off to the Burg War in their red coats, of course, in those days, and I said, That's the stuff for me. Now that was very unpopular indeed with my family, who wanted me for the church. … When I got St. Paul's and they said, what you're going to be? I said, a soldier.
The keepsakes
The book
Bernard Montgomery
in which I make it quite clear that the generals, besides fighting wars, have got to play their part in preventing them. And this book really, at the end, it goes into the question of how to how to stop fighting.
The luxury
I'm always very sorry I didn't learn music. Hadn't time. And if I had a piano on on there with some literature about how to learn the piano, I would have lots of spare time and I would I would I would learn it.
Presenter asks
8:05Had you any inkling yourself that all was not as well as it seemed, that the Allied equipment was wrong, that the overall tactics were wrong, that the French army was wrong?
Yes, I had. … Neville Chamberlain … came one day to have lunch with me … and he said, I don't think the Germans will attack, do you? And I said, Well, sir, You wait. Wait till the weather gets better in the spring and there'll be a frightful disaster. French army will crack. The generals are too old. And the unit commanders are too old. And the politicians, the ones I know, are all second-class lawyers. They're no good. The whole show is wrong. … And it'll be a bad show.
Presenter asks
12:55How good a military tactician was Churchill? How much practical help could he give in the map room?
Well, one of my troubles was that Winston had once been a soldier. … his soldiering had great difficulty in getting away from the early days, like the Battle of Omdurman, when he drew his sword and charged the Dervish, and he didn't understand that 1944, going to Normandy, was a little bit different. … When I was fighting the Battle of Alamein, He wanted me to attack Rommel in September. I refused because of the moon. … I won't be ready, I said, by the September moon. … As a commander-in-chief in the field, you are bound to have tussles with your political master. … But Winston was very good when he saw that it was no good going on with it.
Presenter asks
14:48What has been the most exultant moment in your military life, not necessarily the greatest moment like accepting the German surrender, but one good satisfying moment that you look back on with great pleasure?
In the whole of my military life. Well I should think getting ashore successfully in Normandy. with fairly small casualties comparatively, It was a great moment. The main plan had succeeded. Yeah, the main plan succeeded.
“I think what makes me tick was that I absolutely refused to give in.”
“I said, never will I sign the pledge. I don't want to drink. I don't drink. But I'm not going to sign the pledge.”
“I saw the soldiers going off to the Burg War in their red coats, of course, in those days, and I said, That's the stuff for me.”
“They dug two graves, 'cause I was just about to die. Well, I defeated them, I didn't die, see.”
“Wait till the weather gets better in the spring and there'll be a frightful disaster. French army will will crack. The generals are too old.”