Lewis H. Brereton

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Lewis H. Brereton
Lewis Brereton
Birth nameLewis Hyde Brereton
Born(1890-06-21)June 21, 1890
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedJuly 20, 1967(1967-07-20) (aged 77)
Buried
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch Coast Artillery Corps, U.S. Army
Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps
Aviation Section, Signal Corps
Air Service, United States Army
United States Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Forces
United States Air Force
Years of service1911–1948
Rank Lieutenant General
Service number0-3132
Commands held Third Air Force
First Allied Airborne Army
Ninth Air Force
Tenth Air Force
Far East Air Force
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsDistinguished Service Cross (2)
Army Distinguished Service Medal (2)
Silver Star
Legion of Merit (2)
Distinguished Flying Cross
Bronze Star
Purple Heart
Air Medal

Lewis Hyde Brereton (June 21, 1890 – July 20, 1967) was a military aviation pioneer and lieutenant general in the United States Air Force. A 1911 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, he began his military career as a United States Army officer in the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps prior to World War I, then spent the remainder of his service as a career aviator.

Brereton was one of the few senior U.S. commanders in World War II who served in combat theaters continuously from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to the German surrender, and he saw action in more theaters than any other senior officer. He began World War II as a major general commanding the Far East Air Force in the Philippines and concluded it as a lieutenant general in command of the First Allied Airborne Army in Germany. Brereton commanded forces in four controversial events of the war: the destruction on the ground of much of the United States Army Air Forces in the Philippines, Operation Tidal Wave; Operation Cobra; and Operation Market Garden.[1][nb 1]

Brereton was one of the first military pilots of the United States Army, assigned to the

Thomas DeW. Milling
) who were members of the United States Air Force and all of its progenitors, but the only one to do so on continuous active duty (Arnold, Lahm, Foulois, and Milling were all on the retired list when the USAF came into being).

Early life and career

Family and personality

Brereton was born in Pittsburgh, in 1890, the second son of William Denny Brereton and Helen (Hyde) Brereton. The family moved to Annapolis, Maryland while Brereton's older brother, William Jr., was a midshipman at the Naval Academy. His father was a successful mining engineer and a 4th-generation Irish-American. His mother was English and Episcopalian by birth.[2] At the age of eight, Brereton suffered a recurring infection of the middle ear, purulent otitis media, which proved impossible to treat in the pre-antibiotics era.[1]

His personality characteristics were said to be "cool and thoughtful", able to "think rapidly on his feet", with a "quick, analytical mind". However, he was also said to have an "appropriate temper" and "able to swear in three or four languages", a "party-loving streak", and when referring to himself, to use the

Omar N. Bradley, who intensely disliked Brereton, was quoted by a biographer of Dwight D. Eisenhower as saying that Brereton was "marginally competent ... (and) more interested in living in the biggest French chateau".[3][nb 2] However, from July 1942 to the end of the war, Brereton had a close association with and was well-regarded by Royal Air Force Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham,[4] who found in him not just a fellow bon vivant but an effective air commander on whom he could rely for efficient and competent cooperation.[5][nb 3]

Aviation training

and Brereton, December 4, 1912.
Curtiss F float plane of the type flown by Brereton in fatal crash of April 8, 1913.

He attended

Fort Washington, Maryland.[1]

In September 1912, he volunteered for detached service with the Signal Corps' Aeronautical Division to undertake flying training at the planned aviation school at

Point Loma peninsula across the channel from Rockwell. While stationed in San Diego, he married Helen Clason Willis on February 27, 1913, and subsequently had two children.[1]

In July 1916, he was promoted to

17th Field Artillery Regiment to qualify,[10][nb 7] and was assigned to duty with the 2nd Aero Squadron, also stationed on Corregidor, on January 17, 1917. Returning to the United States in March 1917, he was assigned to duty in Washington, D.C., at the Aviation Section headquarters in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer.[6]

Air Service in World War I

Salmson 2 armed reconnaissance aircraft

After

Services of Supply unit, Brereton's JMA rating enabled him to enter advanced flying training at Issoudun, which qualified him to take command of the 12th Aero Squadron on March 1, 1918.[1][nb 9] His unit had no aircraft on his arrival, and he could only procure a dozen obsolete Dorand AR.Is[11][nb 10] to fly until first-line Salmson 2 A2s became available. The 12th A.S. began combat operations from Ourches airdrome on May 3, patrolling the "Toul Sector" between Flirey and Apremont in support of the U.S. 26th Division[12] Brereton and his pilots moved overland to Vathiménil to receive their Salmsons in the first week of June and carried out extensive operations between Blâmont and Badonviller in the "Baccarat Sector" for three weeks supporting the U.S. 42nd Division.[13][14]

Brigadier General Mitchell and members of his staff in Dierdorf, Germany, January 1919. Lieutenant Colonel Brereton is stood second from the left.

Brereton left the 12th Aero Squadron on July 1, was promoted to major on July 2 and three days later became Air Service Officer to the I Corps. When the U.S. 2nd Division attacked Chateau-Thierry in mid-July, Brereton flew the first artillery adjustment mission near Vaux with his old command. Chateau-Thierry brought him to the attention of Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell, who assigned him command of the Corps Observation Wing on August 28, supervising the observation groups of three corps, one army, and a French group,[1] in preparation for the St-Mihiel Offensive.[14] On September 12, 1918, while flying a troops-in-contact observation mission on the first day of the offensive, Brereton became involved in an air-to-air combat over Thiaucourt that earned him the Distinguished Service Cross[15]

Mitchell, now the Chief of Air Service, Group of Armies and de facto commander of all U.S. air combat units, made Brereton his assistant for operations on October 26. Brereton was promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel on November 1. Less than 3 weeks before the end of the war, he proposed a plan to drop members of the 1st Division on the German-occupied city of Metz, in what would have been the first parachute airborne assault. While Mitchell supported the plan, General John J. Pershing, commander of the AEF, shelved it.[16]

After the armistice, he was appointed

Third Army Air Service, under Mitchell, on November 19, 1918, for occupation duty in Germany until February 1919.[6]

Inter-war service

Upon his return to the United States in early 1919, he was assigned to the

U.S. Embassy, Paris, France, under Ambassador Myron T. Herrick. Brereton served in Paris until August 1922, where he learned "to speak French with a Parisian accent", and to "appreciate fine wine".[2] On July 1, 1920, the date that the Air Service was given statutory existence as a combatant arm of the line, Brereton transferred from the Field Artillery in the permanent establishment rank of major, a rank he held for the next 15 years.[6]

Boeing GA-1

Brereton became commanding officer of the 10th School Group on September 1, 1922 at

3rd Attack Group, at that time one of only three combat groups in the Air Service, and replaced him with Brereton.[18] During this period the 3rd Attack Group conducted field tests on the new Boeing GA-1, a heavily armed and armored attack aircraft, ultimately determining it to be unfit for combat service.[1] On September 16, 1924 he transferred to Langley Field as an instructor at the Air Service Tactical School for its 1924–1925 term.[6]

Personal difficulties

On June 4, 1925, Brereton was named commanding officer of the

court martial of now-Col. Mitchell for insubordination.[2] Subpoenaed as a witness in November 1925, he was not called to testify. In July 1926, the Air Service became the Air Corps in the aftermath of Mitchell's conviction and resignation from the service.[1]

Huff-Daland XLB-5 prototype that crashed May 28, 1927, from engine failure.

During 1927, Brereton experienced a stressful amount of friction with superiors over his membership on technical boards, which required an inordinate amount of time from his command duties at 2nd BG. His 14-year marriage, never strong, was disintegrating and he developed a negative reputation for drinking. On April 7, the

Charles A. Lindbergh's return from France.[1]

In August 1927, after private treatment for his emotional problems, Brereton was restored to flying status by a flight surgeon, found not to be an

Post Field, Oklahoma, as well as instructor at the Army Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, from July 1928 to August 1931.[6][nb 15]
While stationed in Oklahoma, Brereton remarried, to Icy V. Larkin, and his officer fitness reports, which had fallen to "average" during most of his time in the Air Corps, returned to "excellent".

Restoration of reputation

Between July 7, 1931 and June 20, 1935, Brereton served in the

France Field, and the Panama Air Depot. His superior in Panama was the same Gen. Brown who had rejected him for duty at First Corps Area headquarters, but Brereton's work performance reversed the general's earlier opinions and he received excellent ratings that restored the professional reputation nearly destroyed in 1927.[1] On March 4, 1935, he received promotion to lieutenant colonel and became Air Officer, Panama Canal Department
.

Following his duty in Panama, Brereton returned to Fort Leavenworth for a four-year tour as the Chief of the Air Corps Subsection at the Command and General Staff School, for which he received temporary promotion to colonel. Brereton had only a few hours of instruction duty during each year's course, where the curriculum had not changed since 1926 and still emphasized horse cavalry.

Brereton then began six and one-half years of successive command assignments, including seven tours as a commanding general. He took command of

Barksdale Field, Louisiana, in July 1939. His performance during joint maneuvers resulted in increasingly high ratings that led to a promotion to brigadier general on October 1, 1940. He transferred to Savannah Army Air Base on October 25 to organize and command the 17th Bomb Wing (3rd and 27th Bomb Groups), was promoted to major general on July 11, 1941, and took command of the Third Air Force at MacDill Field, Florida on July 29. That assignment was to have included participation in the Carolina Maneuvers but on October 3, he was called to Washington D.C. to meet with the Chief of the Army Air Forces, Maj. Gen. Henry H. Arnold. There he was informed that he was relieved of command of Third Air Force to go the Philippines to command the Far East Air Force, which would be activated November 16, 1941. With war imminent, the assignment was crucial, and he replaced an aging brigadier general who had a penchant for drinking and suffered frequent bouts of malaria. General Douglas MacArthur, commanding in the Philippines, personally picked Brereton from three candidates.[21][nb 16]

After being briefed on October 15 regarding his new responsibilities by Arnold, his staff, and General

Pan American Clipper. He met almost immediately with MacArthur and delivered to him a memorandum revising War Plan Rainbow 5 to authorize more aggressive action in the event of war, including offensive air strikes.[22] He found that despite war warnings, the headquarters he inherited continued to operate under lax, peacetime conditions, in part because MacArthur and his staff did not expect war with Japan before April 1942. Airfield construction was behind schedule, many units were at half strength or less, a significant shortage of .50-caliber ammunition hampered training, and no equipment existed to provide oxygen to interceptor pilots, severely limiting operating ceilings.[23] Brereton immediately instituted a wartime regimen.[nb 18]

He had been in the Philippines less than two weeks when MacArthur sent him to Australia "for twelve precious days"

Clark Field lined up in orderly rows and ordered their immediate dispersal. On December 6, he sent half of the bomber force 800 miles south to Mindanao, but anticipating the imminent arrival from the United States of a second bombardment group, left the other half at Clark to make room for the expected reinforcements on the more distant airfield.[21]

World War II

Far East

B-17D Flying Fortress

Shortly after word of the attack on Pearl Harbor reached the Philippines on December 8, 1941, Brereton urged immediate air attacks against Japanese bases on Formosa in accordance with the Rainbow 5 war plan and Brereton's own aggressive nature.[21] However, Brereton was twice thwarted from seeing General Douglas MacArthur about bombing Formosa by MacArthur's chief of staff Richard K. Sutherland; Brereton sent his bombers and P-40 pursuit planes aloft to prevent them from being destroyed by air attack. Hours later, MacArthur initially denied permission for the attack, but then reversed himself minutes afterwards. Brereton ordered his bombers to return to base to prepare for the mission, and by then all fighters aloft had become short on fuel. While they were being fueled and armed for the afternoon mission, the bombers and many of the pursuit planes were caught on the ground when Japanese air units, whose takeoff from Formosa had been delayed for six hours by fog, attacked shortly after noon. Consequently, FEAF was largely destroyed on the first day of the war.[25][26][nb 19]

Multiple Japanese landings on Luzon between December 10 and December 23 forced the defenders to withdraw into

Batchelor Field, Australia, on December 29.[27] The next day he dispatched 11 of the bombers to Malang on Java to conduct operations.[28]

In early 1942, Brereton was named Deputy Air Commander, under

Sir Richard Peirse, of ABDAIR, a component of the short-lived ABDACOM unified command of Allied forces in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific. He also resumed active command of FEAF. Brereton arrived on Java on January 10, 1942, and except for a nine-day period at the end of January when he acted as commander of United States Army Forces In Australia,[29] remained until February 23, despite requesting relief from command on February 8 over "honest differences" with Peirse and demoralizing criticism from the British commander of ABDACOM, Gen. Sir Archibald Wavell.[30][nb 20] Brereton received a cable from Gen. George C. Marshall on February 22 giving him complete freedom of action in the evacuation of himself and his headquarters from Java, including choice of destination,[31] and he left for India via Ceylon on February 24 before orders from Arnold to organize an air force in Australia could reach him.[21] For his performance in commanding the FEAF, Brereton received his first award of the Distinguished Service Medal on February 18, 1943.[15]

On March 5, 1942, now in New Delhi, Brereton took command of and began to organize the new Tenth Air Force. In addition to setting up the new air force, Brereton was also ordered to prepare an air route for the resupply of China. On the night of April 2–3, 1942, he participated in the first bombing mission of the Tenth Air Force—conducted by an LB-30 and two B-17s, of which he co-piloted one of the latter—in an attack against Japanese warships at Port Blair in the Andaman Islands in support of the British, for which he was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross.[21][nb 21]

In June 1942, in response to the German threat to the Suez Canal in North Africa, he was transferred to Cairo with the best bomber aircraft and crews then in India.

Middle East

In June 1942, Brereton was appointed commander of

United States Army Middle East Air Forces. He formed a provisional bomb group from 19 Consolidated B-24 Liberators of the Halverson Detachment and the nine B-17s he had brought from India,[nb 22] but it was forced to fall back to Lydda in Palestine. With the arrival of B-24s of the 98th Bomb Group at the end of July 1942, USAMEAF began to attack German depots in Libya, the chief of which was Tobruk,[32] and ship convoys as far away as Navarino Bay in Greece.[33]

His small air force was reinforced by the

Western Desert Air Force.[34] While the heavy bombers continued to operate from Palestine,[32][nb 23] the mediums and fighters moved forward as the battle line advanced. On October 22, 1942, the U.S. Desert Air Task Force was formed with Brereton in command to support the British offensive at El Alamein and gain experience for arriving USAAF staff officers. By October 25, the small force under Brereton had flown 743 heavy bomber sorties and 259 medium bomber, dropping 806 tons of bombs.[35]

Ploieşti
, August 1, 1943.

The heavy bombers used the campaign as a proving ground for tactics, particularly pattern bombing against maneuvering ships.

Frank M. Andrews was reassigned following the Casablanca Conference
.

Among the missions undertaken in 1943 by the heavy bomber units under Brereton's command was the minimum-altitude bombing of oil refineries at

Ploieşti, Romania as part of Operation Tidal Wave. Intelligence estimates predicted a 50% loss among the attacking B-24s, and in fact 30% (54 of the 178) were destroyed or written off. The raid fell short of bomb damage expectations but the bombing was very accurate and heavy damage (but not decisive) was inflicted that would have been greater had not many bombs failed to explode.[39]
Air Force historian Dr. Roger G. Miller wrote:

In August 1943, Operation Tidal Wave took place under Brereton's command. Plans for the low-level bombing raid on the Ploesti oil refineries in Rumania originated in the Air Staff, but Brereton determined that the attack would originate from Libyan rather than Syrian bases, trained the bomber force, and ably defended the controversial low-level concept.[21]

Ninth Air Force

Watercolor portrait of Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton, 9th Air Force, United States Army Air Force 1945

In January 1943, the "Combined Bomber Offensive" plan was approved by the Combined Chiefs of Staff, calling for a force of 2,700 heavy bombers and 800 medium bombers based in England to attack German targets on the continent around the clock. In April, Maj. Gen. Ira C. Eaker, commanding the Eighth Air Force, submitted a plan to the USAAF requesting creation of a new tactical air force within the Eighth AF of 25 medium and light bomb groups to carry out the medium bomber portion of the CBO plan. His proposal was investigated and endorsed by a committee from Headquarters USAAF under Brig. Gen. Follett Bradley. At the same time but unrelated to the CBO, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed a consolidation of the Ninth and Twelfth Air Forces in the Mediterranean Theater, and suggested that Brereton be reassigned to become deputy commander of the Allied tactical air force commanded by Coningham.[40]

Gen. Arnold instead offered Brereton a choice of assignments on July 31: a command in the United States, a position of responsibility in the Cairo headquarters of the new combined air force, or command of the new tactical air force being formed as part of Eighth Air Force. Brereton "with utmost eagerness" chose the new command in England.[41]

The

Second Tactical Air Force. In October the air units of the Ninth in Africa were transferred to other air forces and the several command headquarters of the Ninth sent to England. The Ninth was re-activated on October 16 using the medium bomber component of the VIII Air Support Command as its nucleus,[nb 24] and Brereton made his headquarters at Sunninghill Park, Berkshire.[42] A temporary administrative "super-command" under Eaker ("USAAF in the UK", which in January was replaced by the United States Strategic Air Forces) stood up at the same time to coordinate the administrative activities of the Eighth and Ninth, but when the AEAF was activated on November 1, Brereton took his operational orders from it.[43]

P-51B Mustang of the 356th FS, 354th FG, Ninth AF.

The Ninth Air Force was organized into three combat commands that employed all tactical functions of combat airpower: bomber, fighter and troop carrier.

IX Bomber Command was an amalgamation of VIII ASC's medium bombers and two headquarters elements from the "old" Ninth, including the previous IX Bomber Command. IX Fighter Command was created out of the transferred headquarters of the Ninth AF and was basically a training organization for the subsequent tactical air commands. IX Troop Carrier Command was activated in England under a caretaker commander to organize and train its new units for airborne operations as they arrived in theater.[nb 25] Two tactical fighter commands, IX and XIX Air Support Commands, were added to the organization on November 29, 1943.[44][45][nb 26]

From the start Brereton benefited from a strong command team for his diverse tactical commands. Brig. Gen.

Paul L. Williams, experienced in directing airborne operations in North Africa, Sicily and Italy, to take over IX TCC on February 25, 1944.[44][45]

During the winter of 1943–44 Ninth Air Force grew at an extraordinary rate. In the first six months under Brereton's command, October 16, 1943 to April 16, 1944, the Ninth Air Force expanded from 2,162 to 163,312 men.

D-Day it had received and trained 11 medium bomb groups, 19 fighter groups, 14 troop carrier groups, and a photo-reconnaissance group. The number of personnel assigned to the Ninth Air Force was nearly 220,000, a total greater than that of the Eighth Air Force.[45][nb 30]

Operation Overlord

P-47D Thunderbolt of the 388th FS, 365th FG, Ninth AF.

Brereton was promoted to lieutenant general in April 1944 as his units began a campaign of planned attacks against airfields (April 1), railway centers and rolling stock (April 1), coastal batteries (April 13), and bridges (May 7) in France preparatory to Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy by the Western Allies on June 6, 1944.[48] When Leigh-Mallory proposed that an "Allied Tactical Air Force" be created to command both tactical air forces after D-Day, and that Coningham command it in addition to 2TAF, Brereton objected on the basis that the Ninth would be made subordinate to its RAF counterpart. Instead Coningham was assigned to command a temporary Advanced Headquarters of AEAF on the continent active during the initial phase of the campaign, where he and Brereton made a formidable command team for tactical air operations during the buildup of the Allied bridgehead.[49]

The

Douve River to assist the merging the two American beachheads. The assault did not succeed in blocking the approaches to Utah for three days. Numerous factors played a part, most of which dealt with excessive scattering of the drops. Despite this, German forces were unable to exploit the chaos. Many German units made a tenacious defense of their strongpoints, but all were systematically defeated within the week.[50] A follow-up operation was scheduled in which one wing of IX TCC would deliver the British 1st Airborne Division to Évrecy on June 14 to support a breakout attempt by British armored forces (Operation Wild Oats) but was so perilous that airborne and troop carrier commanders agreed to it only reluctantly. Crews were being briefed on June 13 when a strong German counterattack at Villers Bocage forced cancellation of the drop.[51]

Seven fighter groups moved to the continent shortly after the invasion, and by August all of the Ninth's fighter groups were operational in beachhead. Brereton had learned from Coningham and the Western Desert Air Force, and made a slogan of the Ninth that all units must "Keep Mobile".[52]

Operation Cobra

In mid-July 1944, the

First United States Army became stalled in its operations in the Norman bocage. Gen. Omar Bradley implemented Operation Cobra, a plan to end the near-stalemate by using massive air power to punch a hole in the strong German defenses near Saint-Lô, allowing the VII Corps to break through into the French interior. The key to the plan, at the insistence of Leigh-Mallory, was the use of heavy bombers to pattern bomb a small area of the defenses immediately before the start of the offensive, preceded by fighter-bomber attacks of IX TAC, and followed by attacks in the German rear by 11 groups of medium and light bombers of the Ninth Air Force. At a conference at AEAF headquarters at Stanmore on July 19, air commanders expressed serious reservations about the safety of U.S. troops, particularly their proximity to the target area, resulting in tactical compromises that ultimately proved inadequate.[53]

Poor weather delayed the attack until July 24, and a request for postponement another 24 hours was denied. After the aircraft began taking off, Leigh-Mallory vacillated before recalling the mission, and while some fighter-bombers completed their missions, the medium bombers did not take off from their English bases. The heavy bombers, however, were already in the air and did not receive the recall. Finding a severe ground haze over the target, most returned to base as instructed in their field orders, but others attacked, resulting in the bombing of American troops.[53] Brereton and Quesada were near the front with Bradley to observe the results, and were nearly killed by errant bombs.[54]

The next day, July 25, Operation Cobra was finally launched as planned with a "maximum effort" by the air forces that included 559 sorties by fighter-bombers and 480 by medium and light bombers of the Ninth Air Force.[55] Fighter-bomber attacks of the immediate front lines by eight groups of IX TAC, to a depth of 250 yards (230 m), were generally excellent, but as air planners had predicted, created smoke and dust that obscured aiming points for the bombers at higher altitudes. The second day of heavy bomber attacks also resulted in further accidental bombings of American troops, particularly the 47th Infantry of the 9th Infantry Division[56] and the 120th Infantry of the 30th Infantry Division. The latter was also attacked by B-26 bombers of the Ninth that dropped their bombs short of the German lines.[57][nb 31] In both days of bombing, approximately 3% of bombs fell within American lines,[56] resulting in 111 killed and 490 wounded.[nb 32] Although not apparent at first, the air attacks succeeded in their objective of disrupting German formations and destroying their communications, facilitating the break-through.[53][58]

Brereton was awarded the Legion of Merit for his performance in commanding the Ninth AF during 1944.[15]

First Allied Airborne Army

In July Gen. Eisenhower decided to implement tentative plans for a unified command of all British and American

SHAEF. He turned over command of Ninth Air Force to Maj. Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg on August 8 and made his new headquarters at Sunninghill Park. Brereton recommended that the organization be called the First Allied Airborne Army and despite personal friction between them, Browning became his deputy. On August 25 the IX Troop Carrier Command was assigned to the Airborne Army.[61]

Operation Market-Garden

After alerts and cancellations of several airborne drops to cut off retreating German forces, Eisenhower on September 10 approved Montgomery's three-division airborne assault in the

Rhine River at Arnhem. The anticipated date of the operation (dependent on good flying weather) was September 14. Because that date was so close at hand, the plans of a large cancelled drop, Operation Linnet, were revived and adapted to Market.[62]

Parachute assault of the 82nd Airborne Division on September 17, 1944

Brereton, however, made key changes to the Linnet plan, first in restricting glider missions to "single-tows", that is, one tug aircraft towing one glider, whereas Linnet had contemplated a double-tow mission. A combination of poor weather, extensive resupply missions to the pursuing Allied armies, and anticipation of last-minute airborne drops cancelled virtually all training for IX TCC in August, as a consequence of which Brereton believed that untried and unpracticed double-tows were too hazardous. Brereton also decided that the operation, protected by massive air support from the RAF and the AAF, would take place in daylight, to avoid the dispersion experienced during both the British and American airborne landings in Normandy in June. His decision was finalized when weather and other delays pushed back D-Day for the operation to September 17, which was the dark moon. Finally, the shorter hours of daylight in September caused Brereton to refuse authorization for two lifts per day, and as a result of the limited number of troop carrier aircraft, the air movement of the Army required three consecutive days to complete.[63]

Weather intelligence had indicated four consecutive days of clear weather, but after the first day, operations were delayed or postponed because of fog, low clouds, haze, and other conditions of poor visibility over the bases in England, the planned routes to the Netherlands, and the drop/landing zones.[64] Airborne operations on the first two days had been successful to an unexpected degree, but nevertheless the overall operation had begun to fall seriously behind schedule,[65] and only grew worse as the weather deteriorated. The cancellation of a reinforcement lift of an American glider infantry regiment and a Polish paratrooper brigade on September 19 proved crucial to failure of the operation.[66]

Operation Varsity

On October 17, 1944, after the completion of Market Garden, the staff of the First Allied Airborne Army learned that Gen. Bradley hoped to cross the Rhine River at Wesel, Germany, and on November 7 completed a study for an airborne operation by two divisions, Operation Varsity, to support the endeavor. A number of factors delayed the target date to January 1, 1945, and the Battle of the Bulge further disrupted the schedule. After the Allied counter-offensive in January, Eisenhower planned an assault over the Rhine in the same area, and Operation Varsity was revisited on February 10 with few changes in the outline plan. Its objective was to seize the low wooded heights overlooking the Rhine to prevent German artillery from disrupting bridging operations.[67]

Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton with British Brigadier Robert Goldsmith, FAAA deputy, and American officers of the Allied Air staff watching a large scale exercise by the British 6th Airborne Division in the West Country.

The Anglo-Canadian

US XVIII Airborne Corps by parachute and glider behind the Rhine, near Wesel and Hamminkeln. A second U.S. airborne division was added to the original plan, but when it became apparent that the Airborne Army barely had enough troop carriers for two divisions, the third division was placed in reserve and then released altogether from the operation on March 6. The consequences of the poor weather during Operation Market led Brereton to plan for the delivery of both divisions in a single lift.[68] On February 18, to establish a command post for the operation, Brereton moved the headquarters of First Allied Airborne Army to Maisons-Laffitte, near Paris.[69]

In late February Montgomery set the date for Plunder/Varsity as March 24, which SHAEF approved on March 8.[70][nb 33] On the afternoon of March 23, Brereton and Coningham, commanding all the cooperating air forces, made the final decision to launch Varsity when weather officers predicted clear weather the next day.[71] Although the Germans had anticipated the assault and prepared positions for 10,000 defending troops, the unprecedented size of the airborne operation overwhelmed the defense. Using 300 double-tow glider sorties, a troop carrier group of 72 Curtiss C-46 Commandos, and three parallel ingress lanes, nearly 17,000 troops were concentrated in the objective area in less than four hours, using 540 planeloads of paratroopers and 1,348 gliders.[72]

Post-war career and legacy

After serving continuously overseas in combat theaters since before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Brereton returned to the United States in May 1945 for assignment to Headquarters AAF at Washington, and in July was again given command of the Third Air Force. In January 1946, he was named commanding general of the

Mitchel Field, New York. The following month he was assigned to the Office of the Secretary of War for duty with the Joint Chiefs of Staff Evaluation Board as observer for Operation Crossroads. From July 1947 to June 1948 Brereton was Chairman of the Military Liaison Committee to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, then became secretary general of the Air Board to his retirement on September 1, 1948. Brereton retired in the grade of lieutenant general.[6]

The grave of Lieutenant General Lewis Brereton at Arlington National Cemetery.

He divorced in February 1946 and married a third time.

heart attack while in Walter Reed Army Medical Center
recovering from abdominal surgery July 10.

Dr. Miller reviewed both laudatory and condemnatory histories of Brereton and summarized his contribution to World War II:

As in the case of colorful figures ... little room seems to exist for neutral opinions about Brereton's reputation. Second, earlier historians generally have had a more favorable view of his performance; more recent historians have given him less credit for ability. Third, and closely related to the previous point, historians who have tended to give Brereton higher marks for competence, especially concerning the events in the Philippines, have largely been those ... who have written extensively on the history of air power. Fourth, an individual's view about Brereton's actions in the Philippines are generally the reverse of his view of Gen. of the Army Douglas MacArthur. Pro-MacArthur historians tend to condemn Brereton; anti-MacArthur historians are generally pro-Brereton. Many of the most serious assaults on Brereton's reputation have thus originated from those who have risen to MacArthur's defense.

and:

The evidence examined for this article suggests that Lewis Brereton was a capable commander and effective leader, but not a great general. He was a solid product of the U.S. military system prior to World War II, and as such was neither a star performer nor mediocre failure. He fits into that large middle ground of competent but unspectacular American officers who brought victory in World War II. Brereton had important strengths. In both world wars, he proved himself a brave, aggressive, and candid officer. Gen. Carl Spaatz (in his last Officer Efficiency Report on Brereton in 1946) justly described him as "personally fearless, forthright and given to firm and direct expression of his opinions regardless of the consequences to himself."[21]

Awards and decorations

SOURCE: Biographical Data on Air Force General Officers, 1917–1952, Volume 1 – A thru L[6]

Command Pilot Badge

Bronze oak leaf cluster
Distinguished Service Cross (with oak leaf cluster[15])*
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Distinguished Service Medal (with oak leaf cluster)
Silver Star
Bronze oak leaf cluster
Legion of Merit (with oak leaf cluster)
Distinguished Flying Cross
Bronze Star Medal
Purple Heart*
Air Medal
World War I Victory Medal* (with six battle stars)[1]
American Defense Service Medal
American Campaign Medal
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
(with three campaign stars)
Silver star
Bronze star
Bronze star
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
(with seven campaign stars)

  World War II Victory Medal

  Grand Officer, Order of Orange-Nassau, with crossed swords (Netherlands)

  Grand Officer, Order of Albert (Belgium)*[clarification needed]

  Commander, Order of Prince Danilo I (Montenegro)*

Commander and Officer of the Legion of Honor
(France)*

  Companion, Order of the Bath (CB) (Great Britain)

Croix de Guerre with three Palms
(France)*

  Combat Observer

  Technical Observer

  Junior Military Aviator

  Military Aviator Badge

*Decorations received for service in World War I. The officier of the Legion of Honor and one of the DSCs were awarded for World War I. The Purple Heart was awarded in 1932 after Brereton petitioned the Adjutant General to have it replace the Meritorious Service Citation Certificate he was awarded in 1918.[1]

Distinguished Service Cross citation

General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 15 (1919)

Action Date: 12 September 1918

Service: Army Air Service

Rank: Major

Unit: Corps Observation Wing, American Expeditionary Forces

Citation: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Major (Air Service) Lewis Hyde Brereton (ASN: 0–3132), for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Corps Observation Wing, Air Service, A.E.F., over Thiaucourt, France, 12 September 1918. Major Brereton, together with an observer, voluntarily and pursuant to a request for special mission, left his airdrome, crossed the enemy lines over Lironville, and proceeded to Thiaucourt. In spite of poor visibility, which forced them to fly at a very low altitude, and in spite of intense and accurate anti-aircraft fire they maintained their flight along their course and obtained valuable information. Over Thiaucourt they were suddenly attacked by four enemy monoplane Fokkers. Maneuvering his machine so that his observer could obtain a good field of fire, he entered into combat. His observer's guns becoming jammed, he withdrew until the jam was cleared, when he returned to the combat. His observer then becoming wounded, he coolly made a landing within friendly lines, although followed down by the enemy to within 25 meters of the ground. By this act he made himself an inspiration and example to all the members of his command.[15]

Dates of rank

Insignia Rank Component Date
No insignia in 1911 Ensign United States Navy March 1911
No insignia in 1911
Second Lieutenant
Coast Artillery Corps
August 17, 1911
 
First Lieutenant
Coast Artillery Corps July 11, 1916
 
First Lieutenant
Field Artillery
January 13, 1917
 
Captain
Field Artillery May 15, 1917
 
Captain
Signal Corps
June 27, 1917
 Major Temporary July 2, 1918
 Lieutenant Colonel
Army Air Service
November 1, 1918
 Major Air Service July 1, 1920
 Major Army Air Corps July 2, 1926
 Lieutenant Colonel Army Air Corps March 4, 1935
 Colonel Temporary August 26, 1936
 Colonel Army Air Corps August 1, 1940
 Brigadier General Army of the United States October 1, 1940
 Major General Army of the United States July 11, 1941
 Colonel
Army Air Forces
March 9, 1942
 Lieutenant General Army of the United States April 28, 1944
 Brigadier General Army Air Forces June 2, 1946
 Lieutenant General United States Air Force September 18, 1947
 Lieutenant General United States Air Force (Retired) September 1, 1948

[74]

Notes

Footnotes

  1. ^ Dr. Miller was a USAF historian. The title of his history of Brereton was part of a larger characterization of Brereton by a former subordinate, Major General Cecil F. Combs: "a cocky, aggressive, intelligent, experienced, pretty damn able commander."
  2. ^ D'Este also asserts that Brereton was a "protected protégé" of Arnold's, but despite four decades as peers in the army, they in fact had no personal history and never served together in any capacity.
  3. ^ "Mary" Coningham was frequently criticized for similar off-duty living habits throughout the war, like Brereton primarily by his detractors in the ground forces, which included Bradley. (Orange, pp. 144-145, 163, 221)
  4. ^ Brereton had to complete the required Aero Club of America's certification test twice because the first was not presented in the proper order to the ACA Secretary's satisfaction.
  5. ^ 1Lt. Rex Chandler, a student, was killed in the crash of Signal Corps No. 15 when he was knocked unconscious and drowned.
  6. revolution in China
    at the same time.
  7. ^ The 17th Field Artillery had been constituted in July 1916 but was not yet organized, thereby providing a vacancy for Brereton to fill. The move allowed Brereton to be placed on the Detached Service List without waiting for a vacancy to open by removal from it of another Coast Artillery officer in the same grade.
  8. ^ The law creating the Aviation Section in 1914 included a provision requiring three years' service as a JMA before being eligible for a Military Aviator rating, and all those previously awarded the rating were re-rated as JMAs. Following the war, Brereton received his MA rating back for "distinguished service." (Davis, p. 678, note 50)
  9. ^ Miller (Part I) states that Brereton while on an inspection trip found the 12th Aero Squadron performing labor duties at the Amanty training center. Its commander expressed a preference for bombardment duty to Brereton, who arranged a transfer so that he himself could take command.
  10. ^ The "AR" stood for Avion Renault, but American pilots quipped that it stood for "antique rattletrap".
  11. Carl A. Spaatz, Major Melvin A. Hall, and Captain Reed M. Chambers
    ) the rating of "Military Aviator" for "distinguished service" in France during the war, the only six awarded for service. When the Military Aviator rating was abolished in 1920, these six were permitted to keep it. (Davis, p. 678, note 50.)
  12. Organized Reserve unit allocated to the Air Service Tactical School, and its 54th School Squadron. (Clay 2010
    , pp. 1308. 1415)
  13. ^ Per Miller, Part II, Brereton's New York Times obituary stated that the divorce was not final until 1929.
  14. ^ Gen. Brown commanded the 2nd Division at Chateau-Thierry and had thought well of Brereton's command capabilities.
  15. ^ In this assignment, Brereton was also Aviation Officer to the inactive 5th Division from August 15, 1928, to February 15, 1929, when all divisional aviation services were demobilized throughout the Army. (Clay 2010, p. 1271)
  16. Jacob Fickel, a long-time friend of Arnold's, and Walter H. Frank. Fickel commanded the Fourth Air Force, while Frank headed Third Air Force's Interceptor Command (and became Third Air Force commander as soon as Brereton left for Washington). The general replaced was Henry B. Clagett, who had been sent to the Philippines in May specifically to prepare its air defenses for war. Clagett was both aware that war was near and hard-working, but, as Edmunds (p. 19) put it, "lacked the necessary elasticity of mind and body for realistic preparation for total war." Brereton was the youngest of this group of generals by at least four years. MacArthur remembered Brereton from World War I, when he had been chief of staff of the 42nd Division
    at the time Brereton's 12th Aero Squadron had supported it.
  17. ^ One of the delays was on Wake Island on October 31, where he observed the B-17s of the 19th Bomb Group land on their way to reinforce his new command. Traveling different routes, both arrived on Luzon on the same afternoon. (Edmunds1951, p. 8)
  18. ^ "Cleaned house" is the phrase used by Miller (Part II).
  19. ^ Brereton claimed that MacArthur approved the attack. Neither Arnold, notoriously impatient and quick to fire commanders, nor MacArthur attributed any blame to Brereton during the war. MacArthur remained mute on the matter until after the war, when he denied any knowledge of a request for an attack, after publication of the Brereton Diaries.
  20. ^ Except for the last two days of the Java campaign, the small combat force of ABDAIR was entirely American. Edmunds notes: "Seldom in the history of war have so few been commanded by so many." (Edmunds 1951, p. 272)
  21. ^ Brereton may have flown as co-pilot because of a "pronounced loss of stereo-optic vision" diagnosed in 1937, per Miller, Part I.
  22. ^ The 1st Provisional Group became the 376th Bomb Group on October 31 and its B-17s were sent to the Twelfth Air Force.
  23. ^ On October 12, these were organized into Bomber Command, USAMEAF, consisting of 61 heavy bombers that included the Liberators of No. 160 Squadron RAF.
  24. 98th Bombardment Wing. The 44th Bomb Wing, still forming, was redesignated the 99th Bombardment Wing and also assigned to IX BC. A third wing, the 97th Bombardment Wing
    , was activated at the same time, but its light bomber groups were not assigned until the spring of 1944.
  25. ^ IX TCC's first commander was Brig. Gen. Benjamin F. Giles.
  26. US Ninth Army
    in its thrust into Germany. Ninth Air Force also had a sixth tactical command, IX Air Defense Command under Brig. Gen. William L. Richardson, created in July 1944 to defend 9AF airfields.
  27. ^ IX BC was renamed 9th Bombardment Division on August 30, 1944.
  28. ^ IX Engineer Command, under Brig Gen. James B. Newman, was a highly mobile force of 16 engineer aviation battalions in four regiments for constructing air landing grounds.
  29. ^ IX ADC had a fighter wing and several night fighter squadrons for interception of attacking aircraft, but it primarily consisted of mobile antiaircraft and air warning battalions attached from the Army Ground Forces.
  30. ^ Personnel totals included 23,000 in bomber command; 36,000 in fighter command; 30,000 in troop carrier command; 62,000 in IX Air Force Service Command; 23,000 in engineer command, and 43,000 in air defense command. (Craven and Cate III pp. 111-118; Kohn and Harahan pp. 66-84)
  31. ^ Lt. Col. George gave the number as 42, but that was the total of all bombers mis-dropping on July 25. Richard Hallion, Chief Historian of the Air Force, set the figure at five in his 1994 monograph added to Army Air Forces in World War II.
  32. ^ The total does not include four airmen killed and 18 wounded on July 24 when one B-24 dropped its bombs on the 404th Fighter Group at landing ground A-5. (Carafano)
  33. ^ The date was advanced from March 31.

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Miller 2000, p. 4
  2. ^ a b c d Boothe (Luce) 1942, pp. 66–76
  3. ^ D'Este 2002, p. 610
  4. ^ Orange 1992, pp. 102, 104
  5. ^ Orange 1992, p. 202
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Fogerty 1953, entry "Brereton, Lewis Hyde"
  7. ^ Hennessy 1958, p. 60
  8. ^ Hennessy 1958, p. 229, see Appendix 10
  9. ^ Hennessy 1958, p. 80
  10. ^ Register of the Army of the United States, 1921, Adjutant General's Office, p. 1088
  11. ^ Simpson 1970, p. 43
  12. ^ Maurer 1978, p. 171
  13. ^ Maurer 1978, p. 186
  14. ^ a b "Lieutenant General Lewis Hyde Brereton". Inside AF.mil. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  15. ^ a b c d e "Lewis Hyde Brereton". Military Times Hall of Valor. Retrieved 22 November 2010. Citations/notations for both DSCs, both DSMs, SS, and LM are listed here.
  16. ^ "Amazing Parachute Facts and Stories", 173rd Airborne.com.
  17. ^ Clay 2010, p. 1303
  18. ^ Maurer 1961, p. 31
  19. ^ Miller 2001, p. 4
  20. ^ Clay 2010, p. 1309
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i Miller 2001, p. 22
  22. ^ Bartsch 2003, pp. 153–155, 173–175
  23. ^ Edmunds 1951, p. 77
  24. ^ Gillison 1962, pp. 184ff
  25. ^ a b Morton 1953, pp. 88–89
  26. ^ Correll 2007, pp. 66–68
  27. ^ Edmunds 1951, pp. 196–197
  28. ^ Edmunds 1951, p. 256
  29. ^ Edmunds 1951, pp. 270–271
  30. ^ Edmunds 1951, pp. 342–343
  31. ^ Edmunds 1951, p. 369
  32. ^ a b Coles 1945, p. 42
  33. ^ Mayock 1949, p. 20
  34. ^ Mayock 1949, p. 28
  35. ^ Coles 1945, p. 47
  36. ^ Coles 1945, p. 79
  37. ^ Coles 1945, p. 77
  38. ^ Coles 1945, p. 83
  39. ^ Simpson 1949, pp. 477–483
  40. ^ Ramsey 1945, pp. 10–15
  41. ^ Ramsey 1945, p. 13
  42. ^ Ramsey 1945, pp. 25–26
  43. ^ Ramsey 1945, p. 16
  44. ^ a b Ramsey 1945, pp. 27–28
  45. ^ a b c Craven & Cate 1951, pp. 111–118
  46. ^ Ramsey 1945, p. 168
  47. ^ Ramsey 1945, p. 208
  48. ^ George 1945, pp. 32–46
  49. ^ Orange 1992, pp. 187–189
  50. ^ Warren 1956, pp. 58, 72
  51. ^ Warren 1956, p. 80
  52. ^ George 1945, p. 161
  53. ^ a b c Sullivan 1988, pp. 97–110
  54. ^ Hughes 1995, pp. 205–206
  55. ^ George 1945, p. 124
  56. ^ a b Carafano, "The Ethics of Operation Cobra and the Normandy Breakout"
  57. ^ George 1945, p. 125
  58. ^ George 1945, pp. 126–127
  59. ^ Huston 1998, pp. 78–79
  60. ^ Huston 1998, p. 80
  61. ^ Warren 1956, pp. 81–83
  62. ^ Warren 1956, p. 89
  63. ^ Warren 1956, pp. 89–90, 150
  64. ^ Warren 1956, p. 118
  65. ^ Warren 1956, p. 115 and 127
  66. ^ Warren 1956, p. 133
  67. ^ Warren 1956, p. 156
  68. ^ Warren 1956, p. 157
  69. ^ Warren 1956, p. 159
  70. ^ Warren 1956, p. 160
  71. ^ Warren 1956, p. 173
  72. ^ Warren 1956, pp. 192–193
  73. ^ Col. Phillip Meilinger, USAF, "Lewis Hyde Brereton", American Airpower Biography: A Survey of the Field
  74. ^ Official Register of Commissioned Officers of the United States Army, 1948. pg. 201.

References

USAF Historical Studies

External links