Point of Failure: British Army Brigadiers in France and Norway 1940

Join Dr Phil McCarty as he draws upon his new book to explore the careers of British Army brigadiers who served in France and Norway in 1940.

Within this talk, Phil McCarty will examine how the brigadiers who served in France and Norway in 1940, overseeing two immediate strategic defeats, survived this professionally and continued to serve – some even advancing further in their careers. 

Taking a close look at both the professional and personal lives of these officers, Phil McCarty considers whether their pre-war social, professional and military backgrounds, as well as the influence of patronage by senior officers, such as Montgomery and Brooke, swayed their professional survival and/or advancement after the defeats of 1940.

About the speaker

Dr Phil McCarty was a civil servant in Whitehall for over 25 years, as an intelligence analyst in the Ministry of Defence and in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He is currently a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton from where he obtained his PhD. 'Point of Failure' is his first book and is based upon his PhD thesis.