The United States of America
Despite attempts to remain neutral, the United States had once again been drawn into a global conflict following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and a subsequent Declaration of War by Germany in December of 1941. Despite initial setbacks, by 1944 the US had come into its prime as the most powerful nation on the planet. American industry supported every other Allied nation, all while the country fought a war on multiple theaters and across continents, supporting it all across the vast expanses of the Atlantic and the Pacific.
Despite the ongoing war with Japan, Washington maintained a policy of focus on Europe, and by now had completed a successful campaign in the Western Deserts of North Africa, helped to conquer Sicily and break the back of Italy, and maintain a massive daylight bombing campaign on the German heartland.
From bases in Britain an enormous army had been assembling and training to storm the ramparts of Fortress Europe, and when that time came it could count on near total superiority on land, sea and air, and the backing of the most powerful economy on Earth.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
By 1944 Franklin Roosevelt had been President of the United States for an unprecedented eleven years, of which thirty months had been as wartime leader. Despite growing concerns about the health of the President, Roosevelt was running for a fourth term in 1944, with Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman as his running mate. As far as the looming Invasion of France was concerned, the President was maintaining close contact with Eisenhower regarding the status and execution of what he considered the culmination of his years of planning regarding the European War.
Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy - Presidential Chief of Staff
Original Color
A long time friend of President Roosevelt, William D. Leahy had been recalled from retirement after the US entry into the Second World War in December of 1941, ending a stint as Ambassador to Vichy France. Since the war began he had been serving as Chief of Staff to the President, and had been meeting with Roosevelt almost every day since. Leahy had been resisting the efforts of Army Chief George Marshal to launch the invasion as early as 1943, and had sparred with Churchill on the necessity of launching the invasion in 1944 (the British had hoped to concentrate their efforts in the Mediterranean). When the invasion itself was launched, Leahy had a very specific part to play: on 6 June he was in Iowa, giving a commencement speech to graduates at Cornell College, aiding in the deception campaign by making sure that the top American military official was visibly not at headquarters.
General George C. Marshall - Army Chief of Staff
Original Color
In contrast to more measured approach favored by Leahy, US Army Chief of Staff George Marshall had been pushing for an invasion of northern France at the earliest opportunity. This combined with a general animosity towards the Commander in Chief that resulted in a strained relationship with his superiors, and Marshall had long been irritated by the consequent delays. Despite this, Roosevelt still considered him too valuable in Washington, and thus he was bypassed for the post of Supreme Commander of SHAEF in favor of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower - Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force
Original Color
The man who would likely be more associated with the success (or failure) of Overlord had been selected in no small part for his diplomatic capability, which allowed him to wrangle the web of strong personalities around the position of Supreme Commander. This included the likes of Trafford Leigh-Mallory, “Bomber” Harris, Winston Churchill, Bernard Montgomery, George Marshal and George Patton. As a result it was clear even as far as the White House that the man to hold that job needed not only to be a competent officer but also able to balance all these forces. “Ike” had already won fame for commanding the US operations in North Africa and Sicily before he was stationed at SHAEF headquarters at Southwick House near London, residing in a trailer enshrouded in camo netting he had dubbed his “Circus Tent”.
Lt. General Omar Bradley - US 1st Army
Commanding the US 1st Army was the famous Omar Bradley, commonly known as “Brad” to his men. Tasked with overall command of US ground forces during the invasion, he was a former West Point instructor as well as head of the US Army Infantry School at Fort Benning. When the war began, he was personally selected by Marshall to lead a division in combat, and was assigned to the 82nd, at that point still an infantry division. After the failures early in the North African campaign, Bradley had been paired with Eisenhower and had succeeded in ensuring that by the time of the invasion of Sicily the US Army was ready to fight in a modern war. The subsequent success in Sicily ensured Bradley’s reputation as a soldier’s general and combat leader, and it was unsurprising that Eisenhower selected him to lead the vanguard of Overlord.
Major General Joseph Collins - VII Corps
One of a very small number of US general officers to serve in both theaters, Collins was an experienced commander after leading the 25th Infantry Division on Guadalcanal and New Georgia before being transferred to Europe to command the 7th Corps at the request of Bradley. An old classmate of Bradley, the Army Commander thought that the experience that Collins had gained in amphibious operations in the Pacific would be invaluable in the coming campaign. Collins managed to impress Eisenhower after a short interview, and was left to command his corps, which included the US Airborne forces as well as forces landing on Utah Beach.
Major General Leonard Gerow - V Corps
A former commander of the 29th Infantry Division, Leonard Gerow had managed to be decorated and promoted despite the ire of Marshall, and his 5th Corps had been one of the largest US formations in Europe as preparations of Overlord had commenced. Gerow had also survived the replacement of other generals when Eisenhower took command of SHAEF, and had been further decorated for his efficient contributions to the planning for the invasion. When the landings came, Gerow had command over the veterans of the 1st Infantry Division and his old 29th Infantry, which was to see its first combat of this war on the beaches.
Major General Raymond Barton - 4th Infantry Division
Commanding the 4th Infantry Division at Utah Beach, Raymond “Tubby” Barton had a reputation as a strict disciplinarian that demanded tight control over his men. Despite this, he was respected as a fair leader that cared for his soldiers, and his strict training regimen would be credited by many of the 4th’s GIs as the reason for their survival in the battles ahead.
Brigadier General Jay MacKelvie - 90th Infantry Division
Having only taken command of the 90th Infantry Division in April of 1944, Jay MacKelvie had previously served as commander of the 7th Infantry’s Divisional Artillery. An experienced artilleryman going back as far as the First World War, his record appears to be fairly unremarkable, with little specifics available. Although his division as a whole was not slated to land in the assault waves, elements were detached to augment the assault units of the 90th Division at Utah Beach.
Major General Clarence Huebner - 1st Infantry Division
*1945 photo, with Soviet awards from the Meeting on the Elbe
A Kansas farm boy, Huebner had made his way up through the enlisted ranks prior to the First World War and received a field commission just before the US entered the conflict. Decorated twice with the Distinguished Service Cross for his service with the 1st Infantry Division during that time, he ended the war as one of the US Army’s youngest regimental commanders. Appointed to command his old division in 1943, Bradley hoped that the effective but rowdy unit could be instilled with discipline by a new commander. although initially unpopular with the veterans of the Big Red One, by June of 1944 this had softened, and he was ready to lead his men into France once again.
Major General Charles Gerhardt - 29th Infantry Division
Son of a US Army General and a graduate of West Point, Gerhardt had served in the 89th Division in the Great War and was now set to return to France in command of the 29th Infantry Division, a green National Guard unit. Considered a harsh taskmaster, Gerhardt was known to be almost obsessive in matters of decorum in a manner reminiscent of his more famous contemporary George S. Patton, with stories of the General becoming enraged at trivialities such as unbuckled helmets or dirty trucks. An aggressive commander, he coined the battle cry that would become the motto of the division: “29, let’s go!”.
Major General Matthew Ridgeway - 82nd Airborne Division
Matthew Ridgeway had taken command of the 82nd Infantry Division after Bradley was reassigned in 1942, at around the same time the division was redesignated as the 82nd Airborne Division. He had remained in command ever since, seeing the All American Division through the near disaster of their drop into Sicily as well as operations in Italy proper. Since late 1943 he and his division had been in England, preparing to land in France during Operation Overlord. A true front line commander, Ridgeway had every intention of jumping with his troops, which ensured his popularity with them.
Major General Maxwell Taylor - 101st Airborne Division
Formerly Chief of Staff to the 82nd Airborne Division, Taylor was an experienced commander of Airborne troops, and had even taken part in an exrtremely risky operation bycrossing enemy lines to negotiate with the Italian government near Rome after the fall of Mussolini in the summer of 1943. As the Germans approached Taylor cancelled the drop to secure the Italian capitol, and was forced to make a dangerous escape back to friendly territory hundreds of miles away. Subsequently appointed to command the 101st Airborne Division, he was, much like his former commander Ridgeway, intent on dropping with his men, and was popular with the men of the “Screaming Eagles”.
Lt. Colonel James Rudder - 2nd Ranger Battalion
A former football coach from Texas, James Rudder had been an officer in the US Army Reserves since his college graduation twelve years earlier. Known for his eloquent manner and ability to provide inspiring pep talks, Rudder was a Lt. Colonel by 1944, and commanding the 2nd Ranger Battalion, slated to attack the formidable German positions at Ponte du Hoc. Despite being ordered to remain behind during the first wave, Rudder was convinced that the complex operation required his direct presence, and as a result would be on a landing craft anyway.
Lt. General George Patton - 1st US Army Group
Notably absent from the landing table of Overlord was the famous George Patton. Instead, Patton was in command of the “First U.S. Army Group”, massing forces at Dover to land at the Pas de Calais. This included radio operators generating a stream of traffic to be intercepted, along with a mass of landing craft, a fuel dock and fields of tanks. Despite this appearance to the Germans, the Army Group was merely a mirage. The tanks were inflatable, while the dock had been built by film crews. The selection of so famous a leader as Patton was the icing on the proverbial cake, ensuring that the German Abwehr happily took the bait of a massive army poised to strike far north of Normandy.
Lt. General Carl Spaatz - Strategic Air Forces, Europe
Commanding the US Army Air Force contingent in England, General Spaatz had been on board with British Bomber Command leader Arthur Harris’ strategy of massive strategic bombing of the German heartland and its industrial facilities. As a result, he had only begrudgingly submitted to Eisenhower and Roosevelt’s order to shift the focus to attacks along the French coast in preparation for the invasion. His focus on destroying the German fuel industry in particular had merit, as it was one of the primary factors crippling the Wehrmacht as the war dragged on, although it remained to be seen how effective his bombers would be against the hardened Atlantic Wall.
Lt. General James Doolittle - 8th Air Force
Original Color
Jimmy Doolittle had already won fame for this daring raid on Japan in April of 1942, and in January had three stars on his shoulders and was commanding the US 8th Air Force. During the leadup to the invasion, his fighters had been sweeping French airspace around the clock, sweeping the already crippled Luftwaffe from the skies whenever German planes were encountered.
Major General Lewis Brereton - 9th Air Force
Forming the core of the new Allied Expeditionary Air Forces was Lewis Bremerton’s 9th Air Force. Slated to become the forward Allied air command on the continent, they spent the weeks leading up to the invasion striking German airfields and installations across France. Brereton himself was a fiercely independent commander, who had heavily resisted attempts by British leadership to take overall control of air operations on the continent when the campaign began.
Admiral Alan Kirk - US Naval Forces, France
A senior commander of amphibious forces, Admiral Kirk had led the US Navy component of both Operations Torch and Husky, and was in 1944 the overall commander of the American naval forces at Normandy. A former Naval Attaché at the US Embassy in London, he had a longstanding working relationship with his Royal Navy counterparts, an essential attribute for such an operation. With his flag aboard the cruiser USS Augusta, his command was an enormous armada of warships, transports, support ships and landing craft. he would observe and direct operations from the bridge of the cruiser with his Army counterpart, Bradley, standing beside him.
Captain Edward H. Fritzsche - Assault Group O-1
Commanding the US Coast Guard’s Assalt Group O-1, Fritzshe was the senior USCG officer present for the invasion, and his force was tasked with operating landing craft headed for Utah Beach. Other USCG operations included operating a number of assault ships, including the USS Bayfield, which served as the command ship for operations at Utah as well as launching landing craft. USCG men also operated many of the landing craft, operating from exposed positions as the boats approached the Atlantic Wall under heavy fire.
The American Soldier
US Army
The American GI that stormed the beaches of Normandy ranged from battle-hardened veteran to green recruits, but all were backed by a determination to prove their country as a formidable force as well as the most powerful logistical machine ever assembled. He wore an efficient uniform of cotton with canvas web gear, and his iconic M1 helmet was both distinctive and functional. His standard weapon, the M1 Garand, was a semi-automatic design that served as a significant force multiplier over the bolt actions favored by both their German adversaries and British allies, and was complimented by an arsenal of functional, if heavy and (occasionally) somewhat dated, designs.
