Up Ike, Up Andy

The most important U.S. command in World War II last week fell upon the husky shoulders of Lieut. General Dwight David Eisenhower. When he was appointed Chief of the Allied Forces in North Africa, with American, British and French land, sea & air forces under him, there was no longer any doubt that 52-year-old "Ike" Eisenhower was to be the Pershing of 1943. His immediate responsibility: to crack Tunisia, a nut which was beginning to look tougher every day. His probable eventual responsibility: to invade Europe.

Eisenhower's elevation to a full general, giving him equal rank with Marshall and MacArthur, seemed to be only a matter of time. By the account of newspaper dopesters, a British General (Alexander), Admiral (Cunningham) and an Air Marshal (Tedder) will serve under him, as will French General Giraud. Only 23 months ago Ike Eisenhower had been a lieutenant colonel, five ranks and a million years below four stars.

Airman to England. To succeed General Eisenhower as Commander of U.S. Forces in the European theater went Lieut. General Frank Maxwell Andrews, whom many flyers rank No. 1 among American military airmen. Silver-haired, deep-chested Frank Andrews is the soft-spoken father of U.S. air power by virtue of his term (1935-39) as first chief of the GHQ Air Force. He was the ranking and most determined advocate of the now-battle-tested heavy bomber.

"We intend to go all-out in intensifying our air warfare," said "Andy" Andrews in London last week. "I believe very strongly in strategic bombing." Yet the Nazis could not take his appointment to mean that an invasion of the Continent would not also be launched from England. One of his jobs, said West Pointer Andrews, would be to "prepare for the reception of the large U.S. forces who undoubtedly will be brought to the United Kingdom."

The Eisenhower Command would be studded with many stars (according to the dopesters' line-up):

General Sir Harold R. L. G. Alexander, 51, reputed the "most aggressive soldier" in the British Army, the small, tough strategist who as British Middle East commander planned the westward rout of Rommel. As Eisenhower's chief deputy, Alexander would have direct command over all ground forces: the British Eighth Army (General Sir Bernard Law Montgomery), the British First Army (Lieut. General Kenneth A. N. Anderson), the U.S. Fifth Army (Lieut. General Mark Wayne Clark), the French West African Army (General Henri Giraud).

Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, 52, skinny, acidulous Royal Air Force commander in the Middle East, would direct all air operations. His deputies: Air Marshal Arthur Coningham, the New Zealander who was his air operations chief in the desert, Major General Carl Spaatz, Chief of U.S. Air Forces in Northwest Africa.

Admiral Sir Andrew Browne Cunningham, 59, was the only likely choice to head the naval forces, U.S. and British, on which General Eisenhower must depend for his invasion fleet as well as his supplies.

In Egypt Major General Lewis Hyde Brereton again took command of U.S. forces in the Middle East, including the Ninth Air Force, of which he had been commanding officer under Andrews. Airman Brereton has seen more war in more places than any other U.S. general, in the Philippines, in India and in Africa. In his new job, he was likely to have to wait a while for more combat.

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