Assault Commanders
The Allied preparation for coming events begins to assume its new shape with General Eisenhower appointed Supreme Com- mander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces which are to operate from the West, Air Chief Marshal Tedder as his Deputy, and General Montgomery as Commander-in-Chief of the British Armies under General Eisenhower. In view of the immense numbers of American troops which will be based on this country, it was natural that an American should be in supreme command ; but apart from that, General Eisenhower was marked out for the appointment by his splendid capacity, proved in Tunisia, for " welding the directing team together." That, as he said at a Press conference on Monday, is what he regards as his " own and personal job," and nothing could be of greater importance in operations which will be " combined " in the double sense that the three Services will have to work as one and that the forces of several nations will be engaged. That an air- man—Air Chief Marshal Tedder—should be his Deputy is another indication of the " combination " of forces to be used in invasion and of the immense importance of the full deployment of Allied air strength side by side with other arms in an attack on the Continent. So far as the British Expeditionary Force is concerned, nothing could inspire greater confidence than the appointment of General Montgomery. What is peculiarly satisfying in these appointments is that they associate three men who have proved their capacity to work together in Tunisia and Sicily and win great victories there.
