“Fresh from commanding the 21st Army group during the Normandy invasion, and having suffered an awful defeat in September as his troops attempted to cross the Rhine, Montgomery took temporary command of the northern shoulder of American and British troops in the Ardennes. He immediately fell into a familiar pattern, failing to act spontaneously for fear of not being sufficiently prepared. Montgomery was afraid to move before the German army had fully exhausted itself, finally making what American commanders saw as only a belated counterattack against the enemy. As the weather improved, American air cover raided German targets on the ground, which proved the turning point in the Allied victory. Monty eventually cut across northern Germany all the way to the Baltic and accepted the German surrender in May.”
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/monty-holds-a-press-conference
Yes Montgomery took the credit and that was probably a mistake since American troops were more responsible for the victory than any other.
On the other hand, Montgomery was in fact the ground commander of all forces during the battle, including American ones, so I can see his point.
I think Montgomery was better than history has painted him.
I saw an interview of the German General in command of the entire German army. He was in prison at the time. One question they asked him was who did he think was the best Allied general. He simply answered “Montgomery and Patton”.