SHAEF

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SHAEF, acronym of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, which controlled Allied forces fighting in north-west Europe.

Eisenhower was appointed supreme commander in December 1943; SHAEF was formed in February 1944; and the following month it moved to a hutted encampment in Bushy Park on the outskirts of London. It absorbed nearly all the staff of its predecessor, COSSAC, but Eisenhower decided to retain several senior members of his Allied Forces Headquarters in North Africa, where he had developed a highly successful, nationally integrated command system. These included his chief of staff, Lt-General Bedell Smith, and Air Chief Marshal Tedder who now became his deputy supreme commander.

To Tedder fell the responsibility of co-ordinating all OVERLORDair power which included, from 14 April to 14 September 1944, the British and US strategic air forces. Below Smith, who took many administrative problems off Eisenhower's shoulders and acted as a filter for correspondence and interviews, were three deputy chiefs of staff: Lt-General Frederick Morgan, Lt-General Humfrey Gale, and Air Vice-Marshal James Robb (see Chart). Morgan occasionally deputized for Smith; Gale, as the chief administrative officer, had the task of co-ordinating the activities of two of SHAEF's staff divisions, G-1 (Personnel) and G-4 (Supply), and the supply elements of G-5 (Civil Affairs); and Robb co-ordinated all correspondence and planning of the various SHAEF divisions connected with the Allied air forces Except for the Adjutant General's, all SHAEF divisions had British deputies if commanded by a US officer, and vice versa.

The detailed planning of OVERLORD had already been delegated by COSSAC to the Commanders of the land, air, and sea forces ( Montgomery, Leigh-Mallory, and Ramsay). But before the landings Eisenhower retained responsibility for tactical decisions involving any major changes in the OVERLORD plan; and throughout the campaign in north-west Europe he also had wide administrative powers besides the operational ones he wielded after 1 September 1944. These included such diverse matters as health, welfare, prisoners-of-war, logistics, and the outlining of administrative plans for future operations.

The political sphere was a particularly vital area for SHAEF. Delicate negotiations had to be undertaken with de Gaulle and the Free French, and civil affairs administrations had also to be organized for other liberated countries, as had a military government for Germany and Austria (see Allied Control Commissions). SHAEF's G-5 division maintained liaison with the various governments-in-exile through its European Allied Contact Section and when their countries were liberated sent missions to co-operate with them.

The nerve centre of SHAEF was its operations division, G-3, where planning and operations were combined. It planned operations for every eventuality; directed resistance activities in occupied Europe through its Special Force HQ, into which SOE and the Office of Strategic Services were co-opted; co-operated with the Psychological Warfare Division; and maintained the SHAEF War Room. The Intelligence Division, G-2, under Maj-General Strong, also played a vital role in the success of OVERLORD, as its Ops B was responsible for the supervision of deception operations within Eisenhower's area of command.

In early May 1944 an advanced command post was opened for Eisenhower near Portsmouth. In early July this was enlarged to become what was known as SHAEF Forward, while those remaining at Bushy Park became known as SHAEF Main. On 7 August Eisenhower established a small advance HQ (SHELL BURST) near Tournières, 19 km. (12 mi.) south-west of Bayeux in Normandy, and at the end of August SHAEF Forward moved to Jullouville just south of Granville. This became Eisenhower's operational HQ when he assumed direct command of Twelfth and Twenty-First Army Groups, and later of Devers's Sixth Army Group. Jullouville soon proved too far from the front and on 19 September SHAEF Forward moved to Gueux, some 11 km. (7 mi.) north-west of Reims, which was where the Germans signed the document of unconditional surrender on 7 May 1945. On 20 September SHAEF Main opened at the Trianon Palace Hotel in Versailles and its move was completed on 5 October. The following week what remained of SHAEF Main in the UK, about 1,500 men, was moved to Bryanston Square in central London, and once Germany had surrendered both Main and Forward were transferred to Frankfurt-am-Main to organize the disarmament of the German armed forces, the arrest of leading Nazis, and the formation of a military government. One of its last problems, before being disbanded on 14 July 1945, was handling the crisis of the continued fighting in and around Prague.

In July 1944 SHAEF numbered 4,914 officers and men. By February 1945 this had jumped to 16,312, but the British contribution, limited by an acute manpower shortage, was only 6,320.

SHAEF abbr.Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces.

SHAEF (ʃeɪf) Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces