Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force , was the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west
Europe, from late 1943 until the end of
World War II. General
Dwight Eisenhower was in command of SHAEF throughout its existence.
Eisenhower was transferred from command of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations to command SHAEF, which was formed in
London from December 1943. Its staff took the outline plan for
Operation Overlord created by Lieutenant General Sir
Frederick E. Morgan, COSSAC and moulded it into the final version which was executed on 6 June 1944.
Encyclopedia
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force , was the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west
Europe, from late 1943 until the end of
World War II. General
Dwight Eisenhower was in command of SHAEF throughout its existence.
Eisenhower was transferred from command of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations to command SHAEF, which was formed in
London from December 1943. Its staff took the outline plan for
Operation Overlord created by Lieutenant General Sir
Frederick E. Morgan, COSSAC and moulded it into the final version which was executed on 6 June 1944. That process was shaped by Eisenhower and the land forces commander for the initial part of the invasion, General Sir
Bernard Montgomery.
SHAEF remained in the United Kingdom until sufficient forces were ashore to merit its transfer to France. At that point, Montgomery ceased to command all land forces, but continued as Commander in Chief of the British 21st Army Group on the eastern wing of the Normandy bridgehead and the
American 12th Army Group commanded by Lieutenant General
Omar Bradley was on the western wing of the bridgehead. As the breakout from Normandy took place, the Allies launched the invasion of
southern France on August 15 1944 with the
American 6th Army Group under the command of Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers. During the invasion of southern France, the 6 AG was under the command of the Allied Forces Headquarters of the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations, but after one month command passed to SHAEF. By this time the three Army Groups had taken up the positions on the
Western Front in which they would remain until the end of the war. The British 21 AG to the North, the American 12 AG in the middle and the 6 AG to the South. By December 1944, SHAEF had established itself in the Trianon Palace Hotel in
Versailles,
France. On April 26, 1945 SHAEF moved to
Frankfurt.
SHAEF commanded the largest number of American formations ever committed to one operation, along with substantial
Free French, British and
Canadian Army forces. It had three Army Groups under its command, which controlled a total of eight field armies — five American, one French, one British, one Canadian and the
First Allied Airborne Army, a composite formation consisting of
parachute units and the aircraft used to drop them. SHAEF also controlled substantial naval forces during Operation Neptune, the assault phase of Overlord, and two tactical air forces: the US
Ninth Air Force and the RAF Second Tactical Air Force. Allied strategic bomber forces in the UK also came under its command during Operation Neptune.
After WWII
After the surrender of Germany, SHAEF was dissolved on July 14, 1945 and ,concerning the US-forces, was replaced by US-Forces, European Theater .Notes and references
- Morgan, who had been appointed chief of staff to the supreme Allied Commander in mid-March 1943 began planning for the invasion of Europe before Eisenhower's appointment .
- Eisenhower moved to Normandy and set up an advance command post on the morning of 7 August 1944 .
- Ambrose, 1997, pg. 199.
External links
- By Forrest C. Pogue. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, WASHINGTON, D.C., 1954. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 53-61717
