INVASION STAFF

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 196, 17 May 1944, Page 7

INVASION STAFF

Allied Headquarters Has Many Departments EFFICIENT ORGANIZATION

(Special Correspondent.) LONDON, May 15. SH.A.E.F. (supreme headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force), is the name given to the organization which General Eisenhower will direct in the coming invasion. It is pronounced Shayffi, and has been described as "not British nor American, but something beis a combined command patterned on that used in Algiers, but now improved and expanded. With General Eisenhower at the top are General Walter B. Smith, his chief of staff, and Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, deputy commander-in-chief. They are stated to be “everything rolled into one —soldier, sailor, airman and politician, and work together in their headquarters. Directly under them are General Montgomery, who is leading the British Army, Lieut.-General O. Bradley, leading the Americans, Lieut.-General H. D. G. Crerar, leading the Canadians, Air Marshal Kir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, leading the R.A.F., and Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, R.N., who have their own headquarters, but meet regularly in the joint operations room. The principle of S.H.A.E.F. is, alternately British and American. When there is a British commander, his assistant is an American, and vice versa. Generals In Command.

Under supreme headquarters the command is split into many different departments, including operations, supply, intelligence, personnel, engineers, civil affairs, psychological warfare, medical, signals, and public relations, all of which are commanded by generals. Detailed attention has been given to communications, and S.H.A.E.F. is able to communicate with every unit in the combined services, involving intricate radio and telephone systems. It also has a fleet of cars, a train of nine carriages, and a squadron of aircraft, which are fitted up as offices and sleeping quarters. There is also a transport aircraft carrying a jeep, which will save high-ranking officers time in travel between airfields and outlying units. General Eisenhower’s headquarters ■ is said to be “a nondescript building,” and the general's room is about 20 feet square and contains a large walnut desk, two chairs, a couch, a loudspeaker, and a radio table. The joint operations room, however, is built with special ventilation, lighting, and telephone communications which can link up with Washington or with bombers on operations. It will be from this room that the signal will be given to start the invasion, and from which the battle will be directed.. The supreme commander of the German forces who will oppose the Allies is Field-Marshal Rommel, and under him are Field-Marshal von Runstedt, com-mander-in-chief of the German forces in France, General Sepp Dietrich, of the Black Guard, who leads the S.S. troops manning the coastal defences along the Channel to the Bay of Biscay, General Kurt Student, who commands the German paratroops, General Richard Jungklaus, commander in Belgium, Air-Gen-eral Friedrich Christiansen, military governor of Holland, General von Falkenhorst, commander in Norway, General Herman von Hannecken, commander in Denmark, and also Field-Marshal Fritz von Mannstein. NAZIS’ MOST DANGEROUS TEST LONDON, May 15. A German radio broadcast on the coming Allied invasion said that when the battle starts fighting will not be limited to the divisions on the Atlantic Wall or the points under attack, but that small waves will reach far beyond them. Germany will then be called on to stand her greatest and most dangerous test.