Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-07-14
SHAEF's Dissolution
Cuts Eisenhower's
Command 10 US. Men
B. the Associated Press.


PARIS, July 1.-THE greatest
unified military command of all
time-supreme headquarters of the
Allied Expeditionary Force-was dis
solved at 1901 am. today.
Gen. Eisenhower, the supreme
commander, said it was his 'hope
and prayer" that the unparalleled
unity which has been achieved"
would point the way to perma-
nent and lasting peace"
Ending II months and one day
after it was launched to bring Ger
many to hersknees in defeat, SHAEF
was disbanded virtually on the eve
of the Big Three Potsdam Confer
ence for inter-Allied agreement on
the first steps of rehabilitation
Under the peace.
British newspapers paid tribute
to the supreme command and Gen.
Eisenhower's leadership and the
ARMY newspaper Stars and Stripes
hailed it as q conclusive demon
stration of the effectiveness of in
ternational corporation"
Armies Under National Control.
AS SHAEF was dissolved, the Al
lied armies reverted to their own
national control and Gen. Eisen-
hover became strictly an American
commander for the first time in
nearly three years. Gen. Eisenhow-
er stepped into his new job as COM
mander of USFET-United States
forces in the European theater-
and as American representative on
the European control council at
Berlin.
Gen. Eisenhower, who returned
to his headquarters at Frankfurt.
Germany, from the United States
on Wednesday, babe farewell to
the troops who had served under
his command in an order Of the
day which said mo praise is too
high for the manner in which you
have surmounted every obstacle"
Under the new set-up, United
States headquarters, at least for the
time being, will be at Frankfurt.
Under USFET will be two major
groups, or functions: The commu-
nications zone and occupation and
control. The former is commanded
by 1t. Gen. John G. H. Lee, and
will devote itself to the major task
of getting men out of the European
theater.
Occupation and control covers all
American troops in Germany,
whether there to stay or not. 1t
may be well toward the end Of 1945
before the number of troops left in
Germany is down near the size to
be designated ultimately as the
army of occupation.
Leadership Unchanged in Italy.
The French have set up an occu-
patton force which in effect con-
sistS of the French LIST Army, and
the British 21St Army Group re-
mains as the basis on which the
British occupation and control or
ganization will be built.
"SHAEF rear" in London was all
but dissolved in recent weeks, and
in Paris all that remained were
public relations Offices and some
facilities, largely communications
and transportation.
But in Italy, the oldest of Al
lied commands in the European
war, AFHQ, remained in effect
Present indications were that 1t
would survive in some form or an
other for many months, probably
as long as there are any substan-
tial number of American and Brit
ish troops in Italy.
SHAEF officially came into ex-
tstence on February -, 1914. It's
original designation was COSSAC-
chief of staff supreme Allied COM
mand. It's first headquarters were
a few buildings in a residential
section of London.
On October 1, "SHAEF forward"
moved to Jullouville near Gran
vile in Normandy. Later Gen.
Eisenhower moved his forward
headquarters to Reims, then to
Frankfurt.