Lloyd Fredendall

Lloyd Fredendall

Lloyd Ralston Fredendall (born December 28, 1883 in Cheyenne , † October 4, 1963 in San Diego ) was a US lieutenant general who was known for his failure as commander of the II Corps.

Fredendall was the first of seven American corps commanders who were relieved of their command during World War II, and one of the few who did not do this for health reasons. He is considered "one of the most incompetent among the high-ranking officers who were entrusted with a higher command in World War II".

biography

Family and early military career

Lloyd Fredendall's father, Ira Livingston Fredendall, served in the US Army and served as the sheriff of Laramie , Wyoming .

He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1903 . In 1906 he was an officer cadet in 1907 Lieutenant 1911 Lieutenant and 1916, Captain ( Captain ). He served u. a. in the Philippines .

Fredendall was since August 1917 as a now (temporary) major in the First World War on the Western Front with the 28th Infantry Regiment as a trainer and he became in 1918 (temporary) lieutenant colonel ; however, he did not lead any troops. His permanent promotions to major took place in 1920 and lieutenant colonel in 1930. In the interwar period, he served as an instructor and successfully completed the US Army Command and General Staff School . In 1935 he became a colonel and was involved in administrative work. From 1936 to 1938 he was the commanding officer of the 57th Infantry Regiment in the Philippines. In 1939 he was appointed Brigadier General in command of the 5th Infantry Division . In October 1940 he was promoted to major general and he was commander of the 4th Infantry Division until July 1941. In 1942 he was commanding general of the XI. Corps and from 1942 to 1943 II Corps.

Second World War

Fredendall was used in North Africa during World War II under the younger General Dwight D. Eisenhower . In Operation Torch , the British-American invasion of French North Africa , he was the de facto military governor of Oran , Algeria . He led the II. Corps , a large military unit of the army made up of several divisions.

Although Fredenhall was popular with his superiors, he proved to be inexperienced and therefore incompetent in the field. He rarely left his command post, but he contradicted the advice of his officers, who had much more experience in the field than he had. One point of criticism during his campaign in Tunisia was that he had an elaborately designed command bunker built by a pioneer unit 110 km behind the front line. Brigadier General Omar Bradley called the headquarters "an embarrassment for any American soldier". Fredendall seldom visited the troops at the front. In addition, Fredenhall did not use any of the usual standard military codes when he was transmitting orders, but rather made use of a personal "slang code" he had invented himself, which did not enable his instructions to be implemented immediately. General Robinett, in command of Combat Command B, 1st Armored Division, received the telephone order from Fredenhall on January 19, 1943:

“Move your command, ie, the walking boys, pop guns, Baker's outfit and the outfit which is the reverse of Baker's outfit and the big fellows to M, which is due north of where you are now, as soon as possible. Have your boss report to the French gentleman whose name begins with J at a place which begins with D which is five grid squares to the left of M. ”

"Move your unit ie the running boys [ infantry ], the cork guns [ artillery ], Baker's squad and the squad that is the flip side of Baker's squad and the big boys as soon as possible to M, which is north of the Where you are now. Your boss should report to the French gentleman whose name begins with J at a place that begins with D and which is five map squares to the left of M. "

The mission of his corps was to occupy Tunisia from Algeria. Because he had spread his units too far apart and thus thinned his front lines too far, Fredenhall's troops were defeated in February 1943 by German forces under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and Colonel General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim in the battle of the Kasserin Pass . Fredendall was then removed from his post by Eisenhower and replaced by Major General George S. Patton . Eisenhower also made sure that Fredenhall was kept at a distance from the war and was sent back to the USA.

Since Fredenhall had not been formally reprimanded by Eisenhower, he was routinely promoted to lieutenant general in June 1943, despite the defeat in Africa . He commanded the 2nd Army , which was responsible for training soldiers at home.

Fredendall was married. In 1946 he withdrew from the army. He was buried in San Diego in 1963 at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.

Awards and a .:

• Army Distinguished Service Medal (1943)
• Philippine Campaign Medal
• European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal

literature

• Martin Blumenson : Kasserine Pass. Rommel's bloody, climactic battle for Tunisia . Cooper Square Press, New York 2000, ISBN 0-8154-1099-9 .
• Vincent M. Carr: The Battle of Kasserine Pass: An Examination of Allied Operational Failings . Air Command and Staff College - Air University, Maxwell 2003 online , accessed May 10, 2018.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Carlo D'Este: Patton. A genius for war . HarperCollins, New York 1995, ISBN 0-06-016455-7 , p. 459.
2. ↑ Peter Andrews: A Place to be Lousy In . In: American Heritage Magazine # 42 (December 1991), Issue 8, pp. 100-109.
3. ↑ George F. Howe: United States Army in World War II. Mediterranean Theater of Operations. Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative In the West . Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. Washington, DC 1957, p. 378.