Omar (Nelson) Bradley - World War II, Summary of service
US soldier, born in Clark, Missouri, USA. The son of a schoolteacher, he trained at West Point (1915) and rose slowly through the ranks in the peacetime army. A protégé of the army chief-of-staff, George C Marshall, he succeeded George C Patton in command of the II Corps (1943) and led it in the Tunisia and Sicily campaigns. He commanded the US 1st Army in the Normandy landings (6 Jun 1944). On 1 August he assumed command of the 12th Army Group in France, and with 1·4 million combat troops it became the largest field command in US history, which he led until the surrender of Germany (May 1945). A hard-working, unassuming officer, known as the GI general for his concern for the welfare of ordinary soldiers, he earned a high reputation for his handling of large forces in battle. He later served as head of the Veterans Administration (19457) and as army chief-of-staff (19489). In 1949 he became the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff. He retired in 1953 and held a series of public and private posts during his later years.
| Omar Bradley | |
|---|---|
| February 12, 1893 – April 8, 1981 | |
|
General Omar Bradley, United States Army, 1949 official photo |
|
| Place of birth | Clark, Missouri |
| Place of death | Fort Bliss, Texas |
| Allegiance | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1915–1953 |
| Rank | General of the Army |
| Commands |
82nd Infantry Division 28th Infantry Division U.S. II Corps First Army 12th Army Group Army Chief of Staff Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff |
| Battles/wars |
Mexican Border Service World War II |
| Awards |
Army Distinguished Service Medal Navy Distinguished Service Medal Silver Star Medal Legion of Merit Bronze Star Medal |
Omar Nelson Bradley (February 12, 1893 – April 8, 1981) was one of the main U.S. Army field commanders in North Africa and Europe during the World War II and a General of the Army of the United States Army. He served on the U.S.-Mexico border in the army in 1915. After a brief service in Hawaii he then studied at the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth in 1928–29. From 1929 he taught at West Point again, taking a break to study at the Army War College in 1934. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1936 and worked at the War Department working directly for Army Chief of Staff George Marshall from 1938.
World War II
Bradley did not receive a frontline command until early 1943 after Operation Torch. In the approach to Normandy Bradley was chosen to command the substantial 1st Army. By August, Bradley's command, the renamed 12th Army Group, had swollen to over 900,000 men and ultimately consisted of four field armies.
Unlike some of the more colorful generals of World War II, Bradley was a polite and courteous man.
After the German attempt (Operation Lüttich) to split the US armies at Mortain, Bradley's force was the southern half of an attempt to encircle the German Seventh Army and Fifth Panzer Army in Normandy, trapping them in the Chambois pocket (or Falaise pocket) (Operation Totalise). Montgomery's arguments and the eagerness of George Marshall and Henry Arnold to use the First Allied Airborne Army, ultimately carried the day, leading to Operation Market-Garden. The debate, while not fissuring the Allied command, nevertheless led to a serious rift between the two Army group commanders of the European Theater of Operations. Bradley bitterly protested to Eisenhower the priority of supplies given to Montgomery, but Eisenhower, mindful of British public opinion, held Bradley's protests in check.
Bradley's Army Group now covered a very wide front in hilly country, from the Netherlands to Lorraine and, despite his being the largest Allied Army Group, there were difficulties in prosecuting a successful broad-front offensive in difficult country with a skilled enemy that was recovering his balance. Courtney Hodges' 1st Army hit difficulties in the Aachen Gap and the Battle of Hurtgen Forest cost 24,000 casualties. Further south, George Patton's 3rd Army lost momentum as German resistance stiffened around Metz's extensive defences.
Bradley's command took the initial brunt of what would become the Battle of the Bulge. In a move without precedent in modern warfare, the US 3rd Army under George Patton disengaged from their combat in the Saarland, moved 90 miles to the battlefront, and attacked the Germans' southern flank to break the encirclement at Bastogne.
Bradley used the advantage gained in March 1945—after Eisenhower authorized a difficult but successful Allied offensive (Operation Veritable and Operation Grenade) in February 1945—to break the German defenses and cross the Rhine into the industrial heartland of the Ruhr. By V-E Day, the 12th Army Group was a force of four armies (1st, 3rd, 9th, and 15th) that numbered over 1.3 million men. He was made army chief of staff in 1948 and first official Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1949. On September 22, 1950 he was promoted to the rank of General of the Army, the fifth—and last—man in the 20th century to achieve that rank.
As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Bradley strongly rebuked General Douglas MacArthur, the commander of the U.N. Bradley spent his last years at a special residence on the grounds of the William Beaumont Army Medical Center, part of the complex which supports Fort Bliss, Texas.
The U.S. Army's M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle and M3 Bradley cavalry fighting vehicle are named after General Bradley. General Bradley stated in his 1981 autobiography that he supported integration of the armed forces, but feared a loss of morale and effectiveness if the services were "instantly" integrated.
User Comments Add a comment…