Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band Montgomery Pipe Band became the last band to win the Cowal Championship and thus Argyll Shield whilst it was still accredited RSPBA Major championship status. Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band The Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band is a World Champion grade one pipe band from Lisburn, Northern Ireland and named in honour of Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. The band was founded in 1945 in the townland of Drumalig, a few miles from Carryduff on the outskirts of Belfast. A group of farmer’s sons had decided to form a band and name it after Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. The
Battle of Alam el Halfa to the Axis was not just a tactical defeat and retreat. With the Alam Halfa failure, Rommel was deprived not only of the operational ability to initiate offensives, he lost the operational and tactical ability to defend the German base in Africa. Axis strategic aims in the African theatre were no longer possible. After Rommel's failed attempt to break through during the First Battle of El Alamein and the counterattacks by the Eighth Army, under General Sir Claude Auchinleck, during July 1942, both sides were exhausted. They dug in to rebuild their strength. At Alamein, Rommel's supply position was precarious.