Change of Command in the Desert

7th August 1942: Churchill demands a new commander for the British 8th Army but only a twist of fate determines that it will be the relatively unknown Bernard Montgomery

Prime Minister, Mr Winston Churchill wearing sun helmet, viewing the Alamein position. 7th August 1942.

At the highest levels of the British government there had been growing consternation at the progress of the war in the Middle East. Now Winston Churchill flew out with the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Sir Alan Brooke, to shake things up.