Henry Balding Lewis

Major General Henry Balding Lewis
Major General Henry Balding Lewis
	Major general
Commands held	[none] Assistant chief of staff and adjutant general, 12th Army Group in Europe in WWII under General Omar Bradley, adjutant of the Infantry School at Fort Benning, adjutant US Military Academy West Point, adjutant general US Forces China
Battles/wars	Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal; Fundacion Internacional Medal (Ecuador)

Major General Henry Balding Lewis,

Veterans Administration

.

Biography

Henry Balding Lewis was born May 8, 1889, at Fort Wood located on

12th Army Group

under General Omar Bradley, the largest group ever constituted by the US Army. After the war he served with General Bradley in the Veterans Administration.

Early life

Henry Balding Lewis, the son of Major General Edward Mann Lewis spent his early years with his family at The Presidio in San Francisco, Fort Huachuca in Arizona, and Chicago Illinois. Following in the footsteps of his father, and other Lewis family members who served in the military going back to before the American Revolution, "Monk" Lewis was selected to enter the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1909. His classmates included Geoffrey Keyes, Paul Newgarden, Richard U. Nicholas, Charles H. Corlett, William A. McCullogh, Douglas T. Greene, Robert M. Perkins, Louis A. Craig, Carlos Brewer, William R. Schmidt, Alexander Patch, Robert L. Spragins, Francis K. Newcomer, Henry B. Cheadle and Lunsford E. Oliver. Like Crittenberger, they were all destined to become general officers.

Border duty

After graduation in 1913, he joined the 20th Infantry Regiment and served with that unit when they were transferred to El Paso Texas, to defend the border with Mexico. In 1914, he married his sweetheart Sara "Lally" Clitz Anderson, daughter of Major Robert Houstoun Anderson Jr, granddaughter of General Robert Houstoun Anderson of Savannah. They were married at Fort Sam Houston in the base chapel. Due to his energy and organizational skills, he was promoted to assistant provost marshal and aide to Brigadier General George Ball Jr. until 1917.

World War I

At the outbreak of the First World War he was serving with the

Hawaiian Department

. While serving there, his only child Frances Harriet Lewis was born.

Interwar years

After the war, the family returned to the mainland for a short stint at Fort Pike, Arkansas with the 3rd Division. In 1921, they moved west again as Lewis served as the assistant adjutant of the 2nd Division at Camp Travis, Fort Sam Houston. While there he served with his father, The commander of the 8th Corps area Major General Edward Mann Lewis. This would be the last time he would share the same duty station with his father. While there, they witnessed the birth of Army aviation, and helped transition the cavalry to a mechanized force.

On May 16, 1922 Lewis was transferred to the United States Army Adjutant General's Corps. His next duty station was at the United States Military Academy where he was adjutant of the academy, serving under superintendent Douglas MacArthur only 10 years after his graduation. MacArthur instituted sweeping reforms to the academic process, including introducing a greater emphasis on history and humanities. He made major changes to the field training regimen and the Cadet Honor Committee was formed under his watch. MacArthur was a firm supporter of athletics at the academy, as he famously said "Upon the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that, upon other fields, on other days, will bear the fruits of victory".

During his time at the academy, Lewis was the technical advisor for a silent movie shot on campus. Classmates was directed by John S. Robertson and was released in 1924.

Tianjin (Tientsin) China

After spending 4 years at the academy, he joined the

The Presidio of San Francisco

until 1942.

World War II

From 1942 to 1943 he served as assistant adjutant – General of the Army in Washington, D.C., before joining the

12th Army Group in Europe to help plan operation Overlord, the Normandy Invasion in 1944. During the planning of the invasion, and in subsequent operations in France and Germany, he established and integrated the Adjutant General Section of Headquarters, United States Army Adjutant General's Corps and formulated the policies under from which the department would operate. His untiring efforts, leadership, tact and sound judgment were largely responsible for the efficient operation of the command. He served as Omar Bradley's deputy chief of staff and adjutant general until the end of the war.^[2]

The Twelfth United States Army Group was the largest and most powerful United States Army formation ever to take to the field. It controlled the majority of American forces on the Western Front in 1944 and 1945. It was commanded by General Omar Bradley with its headquarters established in London on July 14, 1944.

Bradley's

George Patton. Until September, when General Dwight D. Eisenhower assumed overall command of the Allied land forces in Northwest Europe, the U.S. forces in Normandy were included with the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army in the British headquarters formation 21st Army Group, commanded by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery

.

After the breakout from the beach-head at Normandy, the Twelfth Army Group formed the center of the Allied forces on the Western Front. To the north was the British 21st Army Group (the 2 aforementioned field armies) and, to the south, advancing from their landing on the Mediterranean coast, was the Sixth United States Army Group (Seventh United States Army and French First Army).

As the Twelfth advanced through Germany in 1945, it controlled four field armies: First United States Army, Third United States Army, Ninth United States Army and Fifteenth United States Army. By V-E Day, the Twelfth Army Group was a force that numbered over 1.7 million men. For his exceptionally meritorious service as adjutant general, Lewis was made an Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire after being recommended by both General Omar Bradley and Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.^[3]

After the war

In 1946, he was appointed director of organization, coordination and planning at the

Veterans Administration, again serving under General Omar Bradley. His last duty station was also in Washington, D.C., serving as the Assistant Adjutant General of the Army, and chief of Personnel Bureau, Office of the Adjutant General. He retired on May 31, 1949, serving the nation for 41 years of his life. He died on May 21, 1966, in San Francisco, California, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery

with his wife, Sarah Clitz Anderson. His only child, Frances Harriet Lewis married Colonel Frank Henry Stone in 1942, and they were both eventually interred alongside General Lewis in Arlington.

Decorations

	Army Distinguished Service Medal
	Legion of Merit
	Bronze Star Medal
	Mexican Border Service Medal
	World War I Victory Medal
	American Defense Service Medal
	American Campaign Medal
	European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with Five Battle Stars
	World War II Victory Medal
	Army of Occupation Medal
	Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal
	Honorary Commander, Order of the British Empire (Military)
	Officer of the Legion of Honor (France)
	Croix de Guerre (France)
	Commander, Order of Leopold II (Belgium)
	Commander, Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands)
	Commander, Order of Adolphe of Nassau (Luxembourg)
	Luxembourg War Cross (Luxembourg)
	Order of Abdon Calderón (Ecuador)
	Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945 (Czechoslovakia)

Gallery

The Birthplace of HBL – Fort Wood in New York Harbor
USMA barrage balloon in 1912
Sally Clitz Anderson Lewis "Lallie" on her wedding day to HBL July 1914 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas
US 20th Infantry Regiment Soldier in Mexico 1916
20th Infantry Regiment on the Border in 1916
Major General Edward Mann Lewis and son HBL (on horse) at Fort Travis, Texas in 1922
HBL as adjutant, US Military Academy at West Point 1923
HBL at his desk
HBL in China with the 15th Infantry Regiment in 1927
15th Infantry Regiment formed up in front of the former German barracks in Tietsin, China in 1927 – HBL was adjutant, US Army Forces in China
15th Infantry Regiment in Tietsin, China in 1927 – HBL was adjutant, US Army Forces in China
Fort Benning Herald article on HBL 1935
White House invitation from President and Mrs. Roosevelt
Sara "Lally" Clitz Anderson Lewis – wife of General Henry Balding Lewis
General Lewis with his Jeep in World War II
12th Army Group cable announcing the surrender of Germany in 1945
HBL and the 12th Army Group meets Soviets for dinner at the end of World War II
Warrant Raising HBL to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
General Omar Bradley Awards DSM to HBL
12th Army Group Report of Operations Final After Action Report Volume 1
Bradley Signed to HBL thanking him for his service in World War II and the VA
HBL and Gen Bradley signed photograph upon retirement
HBL gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery
Medals and awards for Major Henry Balding Lewis