Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
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SHAEF_Schulterstück.jpg
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (abbreviated as SHAEF), 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 (Chief of Staff to the Supreme Commander Allied Forces)1 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 France2. At that point, Montgomery ceased to command all land forces, but continued as Commander in Chief of the British 21st Army Group (21 AG) on the eastern wing of the Normandy bridgehead and the American 12th Army Group (12 AG) commanded by General Omar Bradley was on the western wing of the bridgehead. As the breakout from Normandy took place, the Allies launched invasion of southern France on August 15 1944 with the American 6th Army Group (6 AG) 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 (AFHQ) of the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations, but after one month command passed to SHEAF. 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 1945, SHAEF had established itself in the Triaton Palace Hotel in Versailles, France3.
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.
Notes and references
Note 1: Morgan, who had been appointed chief of staff to the supreme Allied Commander (designate) in mid-March 1943 began planning for the invasion of Europe before Eisenhower's appointment (Ambrose, 1994, pg. 71). Note 2: Eisenhower moved to Normandy and set up an advance command post on the morning of August 7 1944 (Ambrose, 1997, pg. 92). Note 3: Ambrose, 1997, pg. 199.
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External links
- United States Army in World War II European Theater of Operations The Supreme Command (http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Supreme/) 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
- BBC WW2 People's War article on Uxbridge SHAEF and London Bushey (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2/A2631205)fr:Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force