Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force

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Badge of SHAEF

Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (abbreviated as SHAEF, pronounced "shāf"), 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 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 (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 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, France³. On April 26, 1945 SHAEF moved to Frankfurt.^[1]

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.

[edit] 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 (USFET).^[1] USFET was reorganized as EUCOM (US Forces, European Command) on March 15, 1947.^[1]

[edit] 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 7 August 1944 (Ambrose, 1997, pg. 92).
Note 3: Ambrose, 1997, pg. 199.

Ambrose, Stephen E. (1994). D-Day. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7434-4974-9. Ambrose, Stephen E. (1997). Citizen Soldiers. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7434-5015-9.