The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-09-12
FOUR-sTAR GENERAL st WWNp

'l IT.
 General Eisenhower at Che con. ference at CasablaneA was inc trusted with one oe the biggest jobs tn the war, tle wAs selected by the British and American governments and their combined stafts Co drive the Axis out Of North Africa,
 Again President Roosevelt and General Marshall, in fun agree. ,menk with Prime Minister Churchill and the great British war lords had said. 'This is the man"
 WhNethey were clo0eted in con. ference Montgomery's British Army was administering heavy punish. menk to Rommers forces in retreat across the desertS of North Africa, They captured ancient Tripoll and left the, city burning, The Axis fled In panic across the T(lnlsian border
 Romnel was digging In along the Mareth Line for Q last desperate stand, TSlnls and BiRerte were under continuous bombardment by Allied air forces. The Americans were but. terihg atNAxis stroneholds barring the roads Go Tinisia from Algeria,
 News was now to come which marked the end Of Axis power on the African continent. Eisenhower was placed In supreme command Of all Allied Forces in North Africa on Feb, 6, ioAS. For the first time In history the British and Americans were united into c consolidated N-N.AA-.. R...N s.,.S SA~ AvA AuaauAaa Va commander,
 The "Big Four" were announced aS General Eisenhower, commander in chief, with three great British warriors on his General StaRi 0etiA erNl Alexander (dlreet superior of the ihdefatlgable Montgomery), Afr Marshal Tedder with hls Royal Ar Force; and Admiral Cunningham, with his powerful navy, Eisenhower, although outranked by oil three, was their chief,
 Prime Minister Churchill in maR. ing this unprecedented announce ment, said, "In General Eisenhower and in General Alexander you have two men remarkable for their un. selflshnesS of character and their disdain of purely personal ad- vancement. Let them alone, give them Q chance, and 1t is quite probable that one of these fine days the bells will have to be rung again" !"
 Admiral Cunningham, with the gallantry for which the British Navy Is famous, declared, "I am General Elsenhower's naval commander and want to emphasize that am very content to serve under him. He has welded together some of the most diverse ideas. Our British Stan ideas differ from the Americans in vari- ouS ways, but nevertheless General Eisenhower has joined the staff into Q happy family. It does not really matter whether you are British or American; in fact he never thinks of it that way Very few men could have done this"
 President Roosevelt on Feb II proposed General Eisenhower as a "four-star" full general to the Senate, Suspending all rules, they approved the appointment that afternoon, Eisenhower now joined General MacArthur and General Marshall as the third full general in active service.
 General Eisenhower was advised of his appointment by his wife in e cablegram which she quickly dis- patched when she heard of it in Washington, but she was anticipated by @ naval ofilcer who heard thu news over ships radio. The offl- cial confirmation was received by the general just as he received an enterprising French jeweler who was delivering l2 handsome silver stars,
 Eisenhower planned his stan on "busineSs basis" and called him self Chairman of the Board" Under him were Admiral Cunning. ham (British) as Mediterranean naval chief, with Vice Admiral Henry K. Hewitt CAmerican) as deputy; Air Marshal Tedder (Brit- isii) was chief of strategy with Gen. ''Tooey' Spaatz (American) as tac- tical leader and Maj .-Gen. Jimmy" Doolittle (American) as the bomber boss. General Alexander (Britishl was deputy Allied commander and the leaders in the field were Gen. eral Montgomery (British), General Clark (American), General Ander- son (British), and the Gen. George Patton (American).
 The Allied Headquarters grew to tremendous size, 1900 offlcers and l6.000 enlisted men, housed in l500 requistioned buildings in Algiers. In preparation for the Sicilian inva- sion General Eisenhower issued combat order which exceeded l00,. 900 words. and yet, despite the huge preparations, the general had the