Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force " Not to be confused with Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ( SHAPE ) . " Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force ( SHAEF ; ) , was the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west Europe , from late 1943 until the end of World War II . U . S . General Dwight D . Eisenhower was in command of SHAEF throughout its existence . The position itself shares a common lineage with Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Atlantic , but they are different titles . History during the Second World War . Eisenhower transferred from command of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations to command SHAEF , which was formed in Camp Griffiss , Bushy Park , Teddington , London , from December 1943 ; an adjacent street named Shaef Way remains to this day . Its staff took the outline plan for Operation Overlord created by Lieutenant General Sir Frederick E . Morgan , COSSAC ( Chief of Staff to the Supreme Commander Allied Forces ) , and Major General Ray Barker . Morgan , who had been appointed chief of staff to the Supreme Allied Commander ( designate ) in mid - March 1943 began planning for the invasion of Europe before Eisenhower ' s appointment . and moulded it into the final version , which was executed on 6 June 1944 . That process was shaped by Eisenhower and the land forces commander for the initial part of the invasion , General Sir Bernard Law Montgomery . SHAEF remained in the United Kingdom until sufficient forces were ashore to justify its transfer to France . At that point , Montgomery ceased to command all land forces but continued as Commander in Chief of the British 21st Army Group ( 21 AG ) on the eastern wing of the Normandy bridgehead and the American 12th Army Group ( 12 AG ) commanded by Lieutenant General Omar Bradley was created as the western wing of the bridgehead . As the breakout from Normandy took place , the Allies launched the invasion of southern France on 15 August 1944 with the American 6th Army Group ( 6 AG ) under the command of Lieutenant General Jacob L . Devers . During the invasion of southern France , the 6 AG was under the command of the Allied Forces Headquarters ( AFHQ ) of the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations , but after one month command passed to SHAEF . By this time the three Army Groups had taken up the positions on the Western Front in which they would remain until the end of the war — the British 21 AG to the North , the American 12 AG in the middle and the 6 AG to the South . By December 1944 , SHAEF had established itself in the Trianon Palace Hotel in Versailles , France . On 26 April 1945 SHAEF moved to Frankfurt . Order of Battle . SHAEF commanded the largest number of formations ever committed to one operation on the Western Front , with American , French army of liberation , British and Canadian Army forces . It had three Army Groups under its command , which controlled a total of eight field armies ; SHAEF also controlled substantial naval forces during Operation Neptune , the assault phase of Overlord , and two tactical air force s : the US Ninth Air Force and the RAF Second Tactical Air Force . Allied strategic bomber forces in the UK also came under its command during Operation Neptune . After World War II . After the surrender of Germany , SHAEF was dissolved on 14 July 1945 and , with respect to the US forces , was replaced by US Forces , European Theater ( USFET ) . USFET was reorganized as EUCOM ( US Forces , European Command ) on 15 March 1947 .