The Supreme Command

(Includes maps) This volume tells the story of the Supreme Headquarters of that Allied Expeditionary Force which seized a foothold on the German-held shores of Western Europe in 1944 and which, by the following year, had completed the liberation of all Western Europe. The history of the battles fought by the American armies of the Grand Alliance as they drove from the Normandy beaches into the heart of Germany is given detailed exposition in other volumes of this series, some of which already have been presented to the public. The present volume deals with the command exercised by the Supreme Allied Commander, the decisions made by the Supreme Commander and his staff, and the operations conducted under the aegis of the Supreme Headquarters. The reader constantly will be reminded that the war in Western Europe was fought by Allies and that the commands and decisions which determined the ultimate conduct of this war came from an Allied headquarters. Every effort has been made to draw on the records of all the Western Allies and the memories of their leaders, as well as the records and memories of the German High Command. But this volume is an integral part of a series dedicated to the United States Army in World War II and inevitably is written from an American point of view.