you can figure out when some parts of the city were developed by the street names. In this small screen cap of the west end, we have Jellicoe Ave, Gort Ave, Foch Ave, Lloyd George Ave, Enflied Ave, etc. Jutland Rd is not far from here either.
Gort features in an interesting way in my current research. He was GSO1 to the Shanghai Defence Force, assembled and deployed in 1927. Did very well, including under fire and briefly as hostage. Tyrwhitt, C-in-C China Station, rated him very highly and complained when the WO rotated him home.
Gort did not excel in the C-in-C role in France in 1940 and made some mistakes but the disaster was largely the product of larger forces outside his control and his decision-making May 21-28 probably saved the BEF from destruction (which would have lost us the war imho).
I was always struck by Alanbrook's assessment of Gort: "I do wish he [Dill] was C-in-C instead of Gort. He has twice the vision and ten times the ability. Gort's brain has lately been compared to that of a glorified boy scout!"
Slightly unfair of Brooke. The BEF would have better reorganized with Ironside or Dill as c-in-c and Gort as army field commander (I think a plan something along those lines was in fact in the works for later in 1940). Gort was overworked and did not fit the c-in-c role well anyway.
The thing about Brooke that strikes me in his diaries is the seeming devaluation of GO’s and the ordinary soldier. Context is obvs crucial, but I think Hastings, et al got a lot of their very unscientific evaluation of British fighting capabilities from that work.
Brooke was not a generous man in his praise but I think he was enormously frustrated by losing the chance to hold a top field command because of being made CIGS - and the frustration was worse because he knew only he could play that role properly in Churchill’s COS committee.
I know he was very disappointed by not getting the Overlord command—Marshall was too—but he kept those things to himself and was nothing but supportive where it mattered most. That’s a professional.
Dill was a rockstar. His grave is one to visit if you get to Arlington. His friendship with Marshall was certainly a key to his success in America, but more than that, he was a smart, practical thinker. And a good ally.
