Jacob L. Devers

Jacob Loucks Devers
General Jacob "Jake" Loucks Devers
Nickname	Jake
Born	September 8, 1887(1887-09-08) York, Pennsylvania
Died	October 15, 1979(1979-10-15) (aged 92) Washington, D.C.
Buried at	Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1909-1949
Rank	General
Commands held	6th Army Group
Battles/wars	World War II Operation Dragoon Operation Overlord Operation Varsity
Awards	Army Distinguished Service Medal Bronze Star

General Jacob "Jake" Loucks Devers (September 8, 1887 - October 15, 1979), commander of the 6th Army Group in Europe during World War II. He was the first United States military officer to reach the Rhine after D-Day.^[1]

Biography

Devers was born in York, Pennsylvania. He graduated 39th out of 103 graduates from the United States Military Academy in 1909. Some of his classmates were George S. Patton (46), John C. H. Lee (12), Robert L. Eichelberger (68), Edwin F. Harding (74), and William H. Simpson (101). Much of his energy between the world wars was spent in the tactical and technical improvement of his branch, the Field Artillery.^[2]

At the outbreak of World War II in Europe, Devers was serving in Panama. He then commanded the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina from November 15, 1940 to July 15, 1941. On August 14, 1941 Devers, the youngest major general in the Army's land forces, was posted to Fort Knox, Kentucky to head the Armored Force. During his command, Fort Knox grew from two armored divisions to 16 divisions and 63 separate tank battalions. In May 1943, Devers was appointed overall commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe, where, from his London headquarters, he organized and trained many divisions for the cross-channel attack.^[2]

In January 1944 Devers had become Commanding General North African Theater of Operations, U.S. Army and also Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theater under General Sir Maitland Wilson.^[3] When the Allied landings in Southern France took place in August 1944 (Operation Dragoon) Devers formed a special headquarters in Corsica to oversee the Franco-American forces commanded by Lieutenant General Alexander M. Patch. As the ground forces built up in southern France French Army B headquarters was activated alongside Patch's 7th Army and Devers' headquarters became that of an army group subordinated to Wilson's theater H.Q.. It was officially designated 6th Army Group once his forces had advanced to link with the Allied advance in northwest Europe and had become subordinate to Dwight Eisenhower's Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF).^[4] With his twelve American and eleven French divisions, Devers cleared Alsace, reduced the Colmar Pocket, crossed the Rhine River and accepted the surrender of German forces in western Austria on May 6, 1945.^[1][2]

General Devers' career that spanned more than thirty-five years. He was promoted to brigadier general in May 1940, major general in October 1940, lieutenant general in September 1942 and general on March 8, 1945. He retired on September 30, 1949. He died in 1979 in Washington, D.C. and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.^[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} David P. Colley (November 2, 2009). "How World War II Wasn’t Won". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/opinion/23colley.html?em. Retrieved 2009-11-23. "One Allied army, however, was still on the move. The Sixth Army Group reached the Rhine at Strasbourg, France, on November 24, and its commander, Lt. Gen. Jacob L. Devers, looked across its muddy waters into Germany. His force, made up of the United States Seventh and French First Armies, 350,000 men, had landed August 15 near Marseille — an invasion largely overlooked by history but regarded at the time as “the second D-Day” — and advanced through southern France to Strasbourg. No other Allied army had yet reached the Rhine, not even hard-charging George Patton’s." 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} David P. Colley (2008). Decision at Strasbourg: Ike's Strategic Mistake to Halt the Sixth Army Group at the Rhine in 1944. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1591141338. http://books.google.com/books?id=5ow-MQAACAAJ&dq. 
3. ^ Jackson, p. 176.
4. ^ Jackson, pp. 176-178.

Bibliography

• Jackson, General Sir William & Gleave, Group Captain T.P. (2004) [1st. pub. HMSO:1988]. Butler, Sir James. ed. The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume VI: Victory in the Mediterranean, Part 3 - November 1944 to May 1945. History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-845740-72-6. 

External links

• Papers of Jacob L. Devers, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
• Army.mil: Jacob L. Devers
• Lost Victory - Strasbourg, November 1944

Military offices
Preceded by Frank M. Andrews	Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe 7 May 1943 to 16 January 1944	Succeeded by Dwight D. Eisenhower

Persondata
Name	Devers, Jacob Loucks
Alternative names
Short description	U.S. Army General
Date of birth	1887-9-8
Place of birth	York, Pennsylvania
Date of death	1979-10-15
Place of death	Washington, D.C.