Bernard Montgomery signed photo to John Moaney

[avenger]

Here's a photo I'm currently in possession of, signed by Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (Monty) to John Moaney.

John Moaney was the personal valet to Dwight Eisenhower during WWII, and also while he was president. An interesting detail considering the period of WW2, Master Sargent Moaney was African American. He was also a very close family friend to Eisenhower as shown in this article:

Welcome To RolexMagazine.com...Home Of Jake's Rolex World Magazine..Optimized for iPad and iPhone: The History of The Rolex President [Part 7]

From 1942, until the President's death in 1969, Sgt. John Moaney was with Ike daily. Years before the President's death, Eisenhower authored a book entitled At Ease; and, in that book he described Moaney as a man indispensable to him during his lifetime.

Wiki bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Moaney

Here's an interview document where Moaney signs his name. The lettering matches the writing on the back of the photo, so it would appear he dated the event on the back himself in March of 1953.

https://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/...y_John_328.pdf

Ike took office in January of 1953, and Moaney moved into the White House with him. So, it's quite likely this photo has lived in the White House. Nixon visited the Moaney's at their home before becoming President. So, it's also quite possible the photo has been in the presence of multiple presidents. If only it could tell its story.

A pretty interesting piece.











Ike and Moaney:



Newspaper clip of Nixon visiting the Moaney's in their home:

[SteveR]

That is nice. Did Montgomery autograph photographs often ? In any case that is a very nice collectable.

[avenger]

Thanks Steve!

I'm not sure how often he signed things really. I saw a few other things he had signed and wrote messages in, and he signed some books he wrote. So, I would expect there's a number of objects floating around out there to choose from.

[HistoryMan]

Great picture !