Hero Had White-Rule Plan for Africa LONDON (AP) -- Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, who led British troops to victory in North Africa in World War II, once argued for a white-dominated Africa as a defense against communism, a British newspaper reported Thursday. Confidential papers, which were released by the Public Record Office after the passage of 50 years, outlined Montgomery's 1948 proposal. The Guardian newspaper said the suggestion so alarmed then Prime Minister Clement Attlee that Montgomery's speeches were watched to be sure he did not voice the opinions in public. Montgomery's ``grand design'' -- in a private memorandum to Attlee -- was based on a two-month tour of 11 African countries in late 1947, the newspaper said. It quoted him as saying Africans were not capable of developing their countries themselves and that ``there is an increasing social and political consciousness developing in the African peoples; this is a very great potential danger and must be watched. ... Already Communist agents are active in all parts of Africa.'' The government replied to Montgomery, telling him that Britain's official post-war policy sought to build self-government in Africa and that a system ``maintaining white supremacy,'' like that of South Africa, was not acceptable. Montgomery became a hero when he led the British 8th Army to victory over German-led troops at El Alamein in 1942. He led Allied ground forces in the Normandy invasion in 1944, and commanded occupation forces at the end of the war. He died in 1976. The Guardian quoted World War II veteran Lord Chalfont as saying, ``He was always thought of as (racially) tolerant. I would never have suspected him of racism.'' ``A lot of people will find it extremely surprising,'' Chalfont said. ``I find it very disappointing and depressing.'' Montgomery's biographer, Nigel Hamilton, said the field marshal's strategic skills would be the nation's abiding memory of the man, but Hamilton said he was not surprised to hear about the contents of the memorandum, the newspaper said.
