Jacob dever s wife f best friend

After the war, Devers led the Army Ground Forces in the United States and eventually retired in after forty years of service. Despite incredible successes on the battlefield, General George C. Marshall's "dependable man" remains one of the most underrated and overlooked figures of his generation. In this definitive biography, James Scott Wheeler delivers a groundbreaking reassessment of the American commander whose contributions to victory in Europe are topped only by General Dwight D.

The continuing failure to advance in Italy prompted the Combined Chiefs of Staff to postpone Operation Anvilthe on-again-off-again proposal for Allied landings along the coast of Southern France coinciding with Overlord. Clark told Devers that another attack on the Gustav Line could not be mounted until May, and VI Corps could not be withdrawn from Anzio until it succeeded.

Devers did not have much faith in either of them, even before Lucas's relief. Lyman Lemnitzer later recalled that Fifth Army staff feared that Devers would relieve Clark every time both met. Marshall insisted that Anvil required an experienced commander, and with Patton gone, Clark was the only one in the theater. Then, Devers received a cable that IV Corps headquarters was on its way to the theater.

It was commanded by Major General Alexander Patchwho had a distinguished combat record by leading the soldiers and Marines of XIV Corps in the Guadalcanal campaign in the Pacific; before that, he had commanded the 47th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Division when Devers was commanding the 9th. Devers sent a cable to Marshall on 1 July proposing for an army group to be formed, with himself as commander.

Operation Dragoon was a crushing success. In a few short weeks, the French and American forces drove the Germans from southeastern France and captured major ports, including Marseilleon 28 August. Marshall chose Lieutenant General Joseph T. McNarney on 22 October. Devers argued that they could better be supported over the 6th Army Group's line of communications from the Mediterranean.

Eisenhower agreed and further ordered for three more divisions scheduled to join Bradley's 12th Army Group in Northern France although they were unlikely to do so until the supply and the transport situations improvedbe diverted to Marseilles, and join the 6th Army Group. Devers may have oversold the benefits of the southern line of communications.

The U. Navy cleared the harbor, and the st Port Construction and Repair Group undertook the rehabilitation of the port. Ships were able to discharge in the stream from 5 September, and the first Liberty ship docked on 15 September. Gray Jr. By 25 September, the railroad had reached Lyon with a capacity of 3, short tons 2, t per day. Devers pressed Gray for 15, short tons 14, t.

By 1 October, when Devers had promised Eisenhower that he could support ten divisions by rail, sufficient supplies were arriving for just one. The rest had to be supported by road. Devers conceded that he could supply Patton with only 1, short tons t per day from 15 November, which only increased Eisenhower's resolve to give priority to opening the port of Antwerpin the north.

Devers was ordered to clear the Germans from the west bank of the Rhine in his sector. Bradley drew attention to the formidable defenses on the far bank, and Devers told him that he had spoken to patrols, who had found them empty. Eisenhower would have none of it. His strategy remained to destroy the German forces on the west bank before he would attempt a crossing.

Davidsonthe Seventh Army Engineer, felt might have been avoided entirely if Devers had been allowed to proceed jacob dever s wife f best friend the Rhine crossing. Devers now turned his attention to the Colmar Pocket. After the Ardennes Offensive and Operation Northwind, Devers regarded it as petty of Bradley to begrudge him the additional divisions.

Seventh Army crossed the Rhine on 26 March and began advancing into Germany. Patch, Haislip, and other American generals were present, but there was no representative of the French First Army. That caused a final diplomatic tussle with the French over the status of the German Twenty-Fourth Armywhich de Lattre insisted should surrender to him. Two days later, Eisenhower accepted a general surrender of the German armed forces at his headquarters at Reims.

Devers's November testimony before the board had urged for the Army Service Forces to be retained. Control of the armies was transferred to the Department of the Armyand Army Field Forces were reduced to a coordinating staff agency. As a member of the Joint Research and Development Committee with Spaatz, Devers took an interest in the development of helicopters and took rides in different machines.

He met with Larry Bellthe founder of Bell Aircraft. The company was in a poor financial situation, and Bell hoped the army would buy fifty of his new Bell 47 helicopters. The Bell H Sioux became one of the world's most recognizable helicopters. Devers was given mandatory retirement on his 62nd birthday, 30 September Devers and his wife, Georgie, decided to buy a farm in Herndon, West Virginiaalthough they retained their "Yellow House" in Georgetown, District of Columbiawhere Georgie had resided during the war.

Devers settled into the role of a cattle rancher. He hired Curtis and Beatrix Murphy as handyman and cook. They continued working for him until his death. Finding that the life of a rancher did not sufficiently hold his interest, Devers accepted a job as managing director of the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety.

He hired Dorothy Benn as his executive assistant. The job mostly involved fund-raising, which Devers did not enjoy, and he left when a better opportunity as technical assistant to the president of Fairchild Aircraft presented itself in Air Force to buy the Fairchild C Provider. Devers also served briefly in as military advisor to Frank P. Grahamthe United Nations mediator in the dispute between India and Pakistan over the status of Kashmir.

He remained in that role until Twiningfor Joint Exercise Desert Strike, a major military exercise. The farm was sold, and Devers and Georgie moved back to the Yellow House in Benn Stratton, who graduated with the West Point class of Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history.

Jacob dever s wife f best friend: Doctor Fate Vol. 2|Paul

Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. US Army general — Arlington National Cemetery. Early life and education [ edit ]. World War I [ edit ]. Interwar Period [ edit ]. World War II [ edit ]. Emergency [ edit ]. Armored Force [ edit ]. France and Germany — [ edit ]. Army Ground Forces [ edit ].

List of major assignments [ edit ]. Retirement and post-military career [ edit ]. Dates of rank [ edit ]. Awards and decorations [ edit ]. Footnotes [ edit ]. Military Times. Retrieved 25 October History of Virginia. Arlington Historical Society. Devers ". West Point Association of Graduates. Archived from the original on 8 December Retrieved 31 October University of Virginia.

York County History Center. Retrieved 6 March TogetherWeServed —. Retrieved 30 October United States Government Publishing Office. References [ edit ]. Adams, John A. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN Allen, Thomas B. August Sandy Patchthe commander of the 47th Infantry. During Devers's tour, Fort Bragg's strength grew from 5, to 67, soldiers.

Meanwhile, he pushed forward immense construction projects for base housing, training facilities and roads on the overcrowded post. By working closely and co-operatively with engineers, local contractors, quartermasters and staff and by cutting through red tape, Devers oversaw completion of 2, buildings and 93 miles km of roads in six months.

Chaffee Jr. He was responsible for inspecting, organizing and training the army's armored divisions and separate non-divisional tank battalions, including all non-tank personnel assigned. McNair seemed to prefer leaving Devers alone. MeadeMaryland. Devers attributed much of the poor performance to poorly-trained junior and staff officers but also saw doctrinal deficiencies, which hampered the co-ordination of tanks, the infantry, and the artillery.

In particular, post-maneuver reports emphasized the vulnerability of tanks to antitank fire. That bolstered the antitank gun, which were strongly supported by McNair. Devers differed by countering that the number of tank "kills" credited to antitank gunners was unrealistic and biased and felt that "we were licked by a set of umpires' rules".

The Tank Destroyer Center was created, and the War Department ordered the activation of 53 tank destroyer battalions. In combat, most tanks were knocked out by other tanks, and tank destroyers were mainly used as mobile artillery support. The tank destroyer program was scaled back, and tank destroyer battalions were deactivated. At the end of the war, the tank destroyer quasi-arm was disbanded.

Before Devers' arrival, Armored Force doctrine emphasized light tanks weighing no more than 15 short tons 14 t. American doctrine held that tanks were for exploitation, not fighting other tanks. He was appalled to find that the Armored Force's tanks were armed with nothing heavier than a 37 mm gun. A new medium tank had started to come off the production line, the M3 Lee.

Devers observed testing of one of them just days after taking command, and he was unimpressed. American industry was unable to cast a turret large enough to hold a 75 mm gun and so the M3 carried a 37 mm gun, with a 75 mm in a sponson. That gave it a limited traverse and made it difficult to engage moving targets. To make matters worse, the designers shortened the barrel to improve the M3's mobility, which Devers realized also reduced the gun's muzzle velocity and hence its effectiveness against armor.

It was found that the 75 mm could penetrate the frontal armor of German tanks at yards mbut German tanks destroyed M3s at up to 1, yards 1, m. Often against the jacobs dever s wife f best friend of his superiors, Devers lobbied for a still more heavily armored and better-armed medium tank, the M4 Sherman. He played an important role in the M4's design, development and manufacturing, particularly its engine and armament.

Throughout his tour as Chief of the Armored Force, he worked closely with the United States Army Ordnance Departmentmanufacturers and the Armored Force Board at Fort Knox on the research and testing of tanks, guns, armored vehicles and ammunition. The biggest obstacle was jacobs dever s wife f best friend. Those of prewar tanks were rated at horsepower kWinsufficient for a 35 short tons 32 t medium tank.

Devers wanted an horsepower kW engine, but that was beyond the ability of the American automotive industry to produce. Extraordinary efforts resulted in the development of a number of horsepower kW engines. He controversially rejected the General Motors diesel engine in favor of a gasoline engine. Battlefield experience demonstrated that the diesel engine was superior.

The quest for a better engine eventually settled on the Ford GAA engine[ 61 ] [ 62 ] but there was a persistent shortage of tank engines. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December shattered those expectations and plunged a not fully-prepared United States into the war. Training was sometimes neglected because of the pressing need to get units ready for overseas deployment.

When it closed in20 infantry and armored divisions had trained there; although none fought in the desert, and five of them were sent to the Pacific. Devers was an articulate proponent of the Army's now-emerging tactical doctrine of combined arms : infantry-artillery-armor-close air support. March saw a reorganization of the armored divisions in the wake of the maneuvers.

Devers added an artillery headquarters to the armored division and reorganized the artillery component into three battalions, each of three batteries of six M7 Priest self-propelled guns. A division trains headquarters was added to coordinate logistical activities. Vannevar Bush later recalled that in the early stages of its development, Devers was the only man in the Army who fully appreciated its possibilities.

Brooks and Brigadier General Williston B. Palmer from the Armored Force, and Gladeon M. Barnes from the Ordnance Department. Larkin and Orlando Wardand received a great deal of feedback about American equipment. Eisenhower was defensive since he was suspicious that Marshall may have sent Devers to replace him and was nervous when Devers had critical comments about the handling of the 1st Armored Division.

Devers noted that the M4 Sherman was superior to the M3 Lee with which the 1st Armored Division was equipped, but he urged the development of the more powerful 76 mm gun. The intelligence that was gathered was nearly lost when their B lost its way returning to England and crashlanded in AthenryRepublic of Ireland. Fortunately, nobody was injured, and the entire group, with the critical intelligence, made their way by train to Northern Ireland early the following morning.

InMcNair took an axe to the armored division organization and dramatically downsized it. For all but the 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions, the number of armored battalions was reduced to three. By then, the planned number of Army Ground Force divisions had been dramatically cut to 90, and McNair considered that only ten armored divisions were required and suggested for six of the sixteen armored divisions already active to be broken up.

His proposal was not accepted, and the number of armored divisions was frozen at sixteen. By the end of the year, their numbers had grown to , of whichwere in the ground forces,in the air forces, andin the services of supply. Morgan [ 84 ] with whom he had a good working relationship. The planned assault area at Salerno was at the extreme range of Allied fighters based in Sicilyand long-range bombers were needed to isolate the battlefield.

Eisenhower and Spaatz felt that their theater should have priority. However, the four groups represented about a third of the Eighth Air Force 's heavy bombers, and their departure would greatly impact the Combined Bomber Offensive, so Devers turned down the request. Eakerspoke to the British Chiefs of Staff Committeewho agreed with them. Devers again turned down his request, and Marshall and Arnold again supported him.

In September, however, when Avalanche came under severe pressure from German counterattacks, Devers readily acceded to a request for the return of the three groups. In SeptemberAGF representatives met with Devers to discuss his needs, and he asked for of the new T26E1 tanks, later redesignated the M26 Pershing, to be produced and shipped as a matter of urgency.

The Ordnance Department concurred, but added on 1, T23 series tanks, an advanced design handicapped by problems with the reliability of its electric transmission. McNair rejected the request, [ 95 ] [ 96 ] [ 97 ] writing that "the M4 tank, particularly the M4A3, has been widely hailed as the best tank on the battlefield today Other than this particular request, which represents the British view—there has been no call from any theater for a 90mm tank gun.

Wilson often had Devers deal with difficult cases like the French and the Poles, [ ] and Devers was later decorated by the Polish government-in-exile for allowing Poles who were captured in German uniform to join the Polish II Corps in Italy. The chain of strong defensive positions in mountainous terrain was anchored in the middle at Monte Cassino.

Operation ShingleClark's plan for a surprise end run to outflank the German Winter Line called for Allied landings at Anzio on Italy's west coast, thirty miles south of Rome. On 7 Januaryjust days after he had become Wilson's deputy, Devers attended a conference in Marrakesh to discuss Shingle. Devers wondered why such a high-level conference was required for what he saw as a simple military decision, but he noted in his diary that "the individuals present all favored an amphibious operation at Anzio".

Devers clashed with Smith over the latter's attempt to obtain officers for Eisenhower's command. He tried to be accommodating, and consented to release a number of officers, including Patton and Major General Everett Hughesbut declined to give up others, including Larkin, Brigadier General Clarence Adcock and in particular Major General Lucian Truscottwho was commanding the 3rd Infantry Division.

Eisenhower wanted Truscott to command a corps in the assault in Operation Overlord. Devers foresaw him doing the same in southern France. Not wanting to deprive Devers of a key subordinate on the eve of battle, Marshall backed down. At Monte Cassino, the historic abbey overlooked Allied positions below. Ground commanders were sure the monastery was being used by the Germans as an observation post.

Lieutenant-General Bernard C. Freybergcommander of the New Zealand Corpswho was preparing for a new assault on the mountain, had repeatedly requested for the abbey to be bombed. Taking advantage of the German practice of not giving away their positions by firing on small planes, Devers and Eaker flew low over the monastery and saw what they believed to be a radio aerial and enemy soldiers moving in and out.

Wilson reluctantly agreed to its bombing. Clark did so on 22 February. The continuing failure to advance in Italy prompted the Combined Chiefs of Staff to postpone Operation Anvilthe on-again-off-again proposal for Allied landings along the coast of Southern France coinciding with Overlord. Clark told Devers that another attack on the Gustav Line could not be mounted until May, and VI Corps could not be withdrawn from Anzio until it succeeded.

Devers did not have much faith in either of them, even before Lucas's relief. Lyman Lemnitzer later recalled that Fifth Army staff feared that Devers would relieve Clark every time both met.

Jacob dever s wife f best friend: We are your new and

Marshall insisted that Anvil required an experienced commander, and with Patton gone, Clark was the only one in the theater. Then, Devers received a cable that IV Corps headquarters was on its way to the theater. It was commanded by Major General Alexander Patchwho had a distinguished combat record by leading the soldiers and Marines of XIV Corps in the Guadalcanal campaign in the Pacific; before that, he had commanded the 47th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Division when Devers was commanding the 9th.

Devers sent a cable to Marshall on 1 July proposing for an army group to be formed, with himself as commander.

Jacob dever s wife f best friend: Have a look around

Operation Dragoon was a crushing success. In a few short weeks, the French and American forces drove the Germans from southeastern France and captured major ports, including Marseilleon 28 August. Marshall chose Lieutenant General Joseph T. McNarney on 22 October. Devers argued that they could better be supported over the 6th Army Group's line of communications from the Mediterranean.

Eisenhower agreed and further ordered for three more divisions scheduled to join Bradley's 12th Army Group in Northern France although they were unlikely to do so until the supply and the transport situations improvedbe diverted to Marseilles, and join the 6th Army Group. Details: droe yorkheritage. Those officers who did not like General Devers implied he was always smirking at them.

Regarding the appearance of General Devers, he did often appear to be smiling. As a cadet at West Point he even received a demerit from an instructor who thought he was smiling during drill. He had that kind of face. Need a break? American generals, with the exception of Patton, were invariably forced toward a mold to appeal to one of the most formidable shapers of public opinion in those days: American mothers.