Posted by Vicky | Comments : (0)
Category : Archive Stories, Kay Summersby
Tags: AFHQ, Air Chief Marshal Leigh-Mallory, Anvil, Arnold, Bangor, Beaches, Bradley, Buzz Bomb, C-47, Capt Larry Hansen, Cherbourg, Chief of Staff, Combined Chiefs of Staff, D-Day, Deputy Theater Commander, Empire State Building, Florida, Fort Benning, Gen "Jumbo" Wilson, Gen de Gaulle, General John G. H. Lee, H-Hour, Hungary, Iceland, Invasion, King, King George VI, Leningrad, London, Lt John S. D. Eisenhower, Manhattan, Marshall, Mattie Pinette, Mediterranean Forces, Montgomery, Nazi Europe, New York State, Normandy, North Atlantic, North-Africa, Portsmouth, Potomac, President Roosevelt, Prestwick, Prime Minister, Ramsay, Sgt Farr, SHAEF, Southern France, Southwick CP, Stalin, Supreme Commander, Telegraph Cottage, Tex Lee, Trieste, Virginia, War Room, Washington, West Point, Winston Churchill
The rest of that day is history. Personally, I spent it praying for the invaders … and, like the rest of his official family, aching with sympathy for our apprehensive Boss.
Gen Eisenhower stood the appalling strain for another day. Then, in the early morning of June 7 it was 0720-H, just twenty-six hours after H-Hour he left for Normandy’s beaches. I fled to the lonely comfort of our trailer-headquarters. Working on the General’s “fan mail” never seemed so difficult, so unimportant; but it helped smother worries.
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Category : Archive Stories, Kay Summersby
Tags: 101st Airborne Division, Addison Road Station, Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Air Ministry, Algiers, American Red Cross, Anthony Eden, Anvil, Anzio, Army Group's Bryanston, Associated Press, Aussies, B-17, B-29, Belgians, Berkeley Square, Bovington, Bovington Airport, Britain's West Point, British Military Assistant, British War Cabinet, Bryanston Square, Cairo, Canadians, Capri, Chesterfield Hill, Churchill, Col Ivan Cobbald, Court Calendar, Czechs, Darmouth, Dominion Prime Ministers, Duke of Norfolk, Dutch, Edgeware Road, Edward Stettinius, England, European Theater Ribbon, Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts, Free French, Gen Charles Corlett, Gen Charles de Gaulle, Gen Maxwell Taylor, Grosvenor Square, Hackbridge Kennels, Hampton Court, Harvey Gibson, Hays Lodge, House of Lords, Hyde Park, Indians, Ireland, Irish, Italy, Kensington, King of England, LCT, London, LST, Lt Col Jimmy Gault, Luxor, Marrakech, Mayfair, Montgomery, New Zealanders, Newbury, Norfolk House, North-Africa, Norwegians, Overlord, Palestine, Paris, Park West, Piccadilly Circus, Poles, President Roosevelt, Prestwick, Richmond Park, Russian, Ruth Briggs, Salisbury, Sandhurst, Scots, Scots Guards, Sicily, Sir Louis Gregg, Snuffy Nixon, South Americans, Telegraph Cottage, Tenby, Times Square, Tooey Spaatz, Torch, Tunisia, Tunisian Victory Lunch, Welsh, Wes Gallagher, World War I, XIX Corps, Yorkshiremen
Suddenly the plane shot upward, roaring away from the airfield. We all smashed back against our seats. Maybe the wheels won’t come down, someone said in a small voice. Snuffy Nixon, the navigator, stuck his head in the cabin and broke the silence. Don’t worry, folks. I just got mixed up in my figuring and picked the wrong country. Not France ! we cried. No, said Snuffy, it’s not France. But it’s not England, either. He grinned over at me. This is Kay’s home. We almost landed in southern Ireland !
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Category : Archive Stories, Kay Summersby
Tags: Admiral, Admiral William P. Leahy, Algiers, American Expeditionary Force, Amilcar, Archive Stories, Axel Munthe, Bari, Bay of Naples, Britain, C-54, Caacie, Cairo, Capri, Caruso, Caserta Palace, Chemical Warfare, Chief of Staff, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Clark, Dakar, Distinguished Service Cross, Egypt, Eisenhower, Ellen Ruthmann, Flying Fortress, Gen Carl Tooey Spaatz, Gen Mark W. Clark, Gen Walter Bedell (Beetle) Smith, Harry Hopkins, Italian POWs, Italy, Legion of Merit, London, Maj Gen Leroy H. Watson, Malta, Marrakech, Marshall, Mattie Pinette, Mediterranean, Mike Reilly, Mount Vesuvius, Naples, Nazi Europe, North-Africa, Overlord, Pacific Theater, Palestine, Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt, Prime Minister, Prince Urnberto, Red Cross, Rome, Sarah Oliver, Sicily, Signal Corps, Sir Alan Brooke, Sir Winston Churchill, Smith, Spaatz, Sue Sarafin, Telek, Tunis, Washington, Watson, White House
Returning from Cairo to Algiers, I began digging away at the minor mountain of paper accumulated on my desk. Memories of Egypt and Palestine faded completely as I worked late each night to reduce those piles of the General’s fan mail. Like everyone else at headquarters, however, I was still busier on unofficial duties… working overtime on the old rumor that Gen Marshall, not Gen Ike, would head the new American Expeditionary Force building in Britain, and that Ike would go to Washington to become Chief of Staff.
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Category : Archive Stories, Kay Summersby
Tags: Advance CP, AFHQ Deputy Chief of Staff, Air Chief Marshal Tedder, Algiers, Bethlehem, Bizerte, Bond Street, C-54, Cairo Conference, Cairo-Jerusalem, Chief of Staff, Cleopatra, Egyptian, Egyptian History, Elliott Roosevelt, Fifth Avenue, Garden of Gethsemane, Gen Eisenhower, Gen Marshall, General "Jock" Whitely, Greece, Holy Manger, Holy Sepulcher, Italian Campaign, Italy, Jerusalem, Kansas, Karnak, King David Hotel, King Tutankhamen, Louise Anderson, Luxor, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Maj Emery, Mediterranean, Mena House, Middle East, Moslems, Mount of Calvary, Nile River, North-Africa, Palestine, Parisian, Pharaohs, Rameses II, Rome, Rue de la Paix, Ruth Briggs, Sphinx, Thebes, Turkish, Valley of the Kings
Big Brass gathered for the Cairo Conference were concerned mostly with world-wide strategy. But they also wanted to hear testimony on the war raging right there in the Mediterranean… so Gen Marshall dispatched a special C-54 to bring the star witness. Instead of flying over in lonely pomp, Gen Eisenhower made a characteristic gesture. He invited about a dozen of his lower-rank staff members to go along : There’s no use wasting all the space in this big plane, he explained. Besides, it may be the only chance you’ll ever get to visit the Middle East.
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Category : Archive Stories, Kay Summersby
Tags: Admiral Ernest J. King, Admiral William P. Leahy, Advance CP, AFHQ, Algiers, Allied Supreme Commander, American Secret Service, Amilcar, Archive Stories, Bay of Tunis, Bizerte, Cairo, Commander-in-Chief, Eisenhower, El Aouina Airstrip, Falla, Gen George C. Marshall, King of England, La Marsa, Mike Reilly, Mr. Harry Hopkins, Oran, President of the United States, Prime Minister, Roosevelt, Ruth Briggs, Tunisia, USS Iowa
General Eisenhower told me about it as we drove down from the villa, where I picked him up every morning, to the hotel headquarters of AFHQ in Algiers : It’s a top level secret, he confided, but I can tell you because you’re in on it. He smiled. In a week or so you’re going to be driving the President of the United States.
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Category : Archive Stories, Kay Summersby
Tags: 5th Army, 7th Army, 93rd Evacuation Hospital, Admiral Cunningham, Advance Command Post, Air Chief Marshal Tedder, Algiers, American, Amilcar, Anzio, Arkansas, Averell Harriman, Bea Lillie, Beetle Smith, Benito Mussolini, Bernard Law Montgomery, Bizerte, Bob Hope, British, Canada, Cape Bon, Cordell Hull, Darlan Fiasco, Donald Nelson, Drew Pearson, France, Frank Knox, Fredric March, French, French Committee of National Liberation, Gen Brehon Somervell, Gen Giraud, General de Gaulle, Gibraltar, Governor of Algeria, Grand Cordon, Henry L. Stimson, Henry Morgenthau, Hobart (Hap) Gay, Husky, India, Italian, Italy, James Landis, Kasserine Pass, King of Britain, King of Sicily, La Marsa, Lancaster, Legion of Honor, Lisbon, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Maison Blanche, Malta, Margaret Chick, Messina, Montgomery, Nana Rae, Naval Aide, Noel Coward, Overlord, Palermo, Patton, Prime Minister, Red Cross, Ruth Briggs, Secretary of War, Sicily, Sidi Athman, Sue Sarafin, Tooey Spaatz, Torch, Tripoli, Tunisian Campaign, United States, USO, Vivian Leigh, WAC, Washington
The King’s visit was so hush-hush that we drove to Maison Blanche airport just as usual, with only the motorbike escort to clear our way. No special guards were provided. At the field, we moved down to a distant corner and joined the British High Brass, including Admiral Cunningham and Air Chief Marshal Tedder. Butch whispered he would open the door for His Majesty.
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Category : Archive Stories, Kay Summersby
Tags: 3rd Inf Div, AFHQ, Algiers, Army Air Force, Eisenhower, II US Corps, King of England, Mateur, Mussolini, North-Africa, Oran, Pantelleria, Royal Navy, Sgt Huntll, Sicily, Supreme Commander, Truscott, Tunis, US Navy, West Point
For Me, that strange late Spring was filled with the scent of orange blossoms. I couldn’t smell the ordinary jasmine, the poppy fields; I could neither see nor hear the war being readied against Mussolini. I expected to be married before June melted into the African summer. Dick, now a full colonel, was in Oran with II Corps HQs. Gen Eisenhower not only promised each of us at least several days’ leave after our marriage, already approved by the Army after its usual ninety-day waiting period; he also offered, as a sort of refuge from the war, the use of his little farm outside Algiers. We would have a full-fledged honeymoon in North Africa. Dick arrived in Algiers the last week of May, en route to Gen Truscott’s 3rd Inf Div’ Hqs at Mateur. Ive got a command, at last, he told me. Got what I always wanted, a regiment and actual field duty.
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Category : Archive Stories, Kay Summersby
Tags: 9th Infantry Division, Admiral Cunningham, Admiral Darlan, Afrika Korps Prisoners, Allied Commander, Allied Force Headquarters, Arab, Arabian Nights, Archbishop Spellman, Archive Stories, Barney Fawkes, Beetle Smith, Bizerte, Casablanca, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Churchill, Civilian First Class Summersby, Clinique Glydne, Constantine, De Gaulle, Downing Street, Eisenhower, Elspeth Duncan, First Sea Lord, Foreign Office, Free French, French, Gen Arthur Wilson, General Anderson, General Giraud, General Sir Alan Brooke, General Truscott, George C. Marshall, Giraud, Hill 609, Hopkins, Kasserine Pass, London, Lt Dampier, Mac-Millan, Maison Blanche, Mateur, Mountbatten, Murphy, New York, Nogues, One Dozen Roses, Oran, Peg Chase, Peyrouton, Pound, President of Turkey, Red Ball Express, Rita Hayworth, Roll Out the Barrel, Roosevelt, Royal Navy, Sgt Clay Williams, Sidi Athman, Sidi Bou Zid, Sir Alexander Cadogan, Sir Alan Brooke, Sir F. N. Mason-Macfarlane, Spahi, St George Hotel, Supreme Commander, Tebessa, Tedder, Tex Lee, Tommies, Tunis, Vichy, Von Arnim, Yanks
Within twenty-four hours, the war ripped us apart again. Dick waved forlornly, shin-deep in mud, as Ethel, Jean, and I climbed into Gen Eisenhower’s 6-17 dispatched to make certain that we proceed to Allied Force Headquarters without further delay. When the plane pulled itself from Oran’s swampy airfield I could scarcely keep from bawling as Dick gradually diminished to a mere pinpoint near the airstrip far below. His last words still rang in my ears : Im trying to get up to the front, darling.
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Category : Archive Stories, Kay Summersby
Tags: Algiers, Atlantic, Ethel Westermann, Hedy Lamarr, Jean Dixon, Life Photographer, Margaret (Peg) Bourke-White, Mediterranean, Oran, Peg White, Royal Air Force, Scotland, Straikallen, Tangier, Telegraph Cottage, Tex Lee, Washington
Troopship life evolved into a world without privacy, a world of restless boredom and endless rumor. Fortunately, my two cabin companions were old friends : Ethel Westermann, the dispensary nurse who had been out to Telegraph Cottage for innumerable bridge sessions, and Jean Dixon, a friendly Washington girl whose British husband had been killed in the Royal Air Force. We took turns sleeping on a dirty mattress wedged into the floor beside a double-decker bunk. With three separate sittings for each meal, we spent much of the days inching along the deck in snake-like lines. Even loafing space was rationed. We queued, slept, and strolled; strolled, slept, and queued.
Between times, we joined the gossip-manglers.
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Posted by Snafu | Comments : (0)
Category : Archive Stories, Kay Summersby
Tags: 3rd Infantry Division's Hqs, Admiral Cunningham, Air Chief Marshal Tedder, Algiers, Ambassador Winant, Bournemouth, Brig Eric Mockler-Ferryman, Clyde, Col Julius Holmes, Dorchester, Eisenhower, Elspeth Duncan, Freeman Mathews, French Morocco, Gen Truscott, General Eisenhower, Greenock, Grosvenor Square, Harriman, Hendon, Huston Station, II Corps HQs, Inveteracy, Kensington Close, Kentallen, King of England, Lt Craig Campbell, Maison Blanche, Mateur, Mr. William H. B. Mack, Mussolini, Norfolk House, North Africa 40-45, North-Africa, Oran, Pantelleria, President Roosevelt, Road to Morocco, Robert Murphy, Scotland, Sicily, Telegraph Cottage, Torch Operation, Wardour Street
Inevitably, I had heard of the impending North African invasion. Talk in the back seat of my staff car was more Top Secret than anything on paper. In general, I knew about as much about Torch Operation as most senior commanders in the early autumn of 1942. One month before the birthday party I had taken Gen Eisenhower out to Telegraph Cottage in a hurry. For once he seemed preoccupied. He obviously didn’t want to talk; I had long made it a habit not to ask questions, ever. As we sped through Kensington he mumbled something about ‘big doings for a colonel’. The rest of the ride was in heavy silence. But Generals, three-star Generals don’t usually get excited over colonels. I knew something big was up. I don’t know how long we’ll be here, the General said as he got out at the cottage.
Mickey will look after you.
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Posted by Snafu | Comments : (2)
Category : Archive Stories, Kay Summersby
Tags: Addison Road Station, Admiral Cunningham, Admiral Darlan, AFHQ, African Desert, Afrika Korps, Algiers, Ambassador Winant, Arabs children, Arabs Man, Arabs Woman, Archbishop Spellman, Bizerte, Boisson, Bournemouth, Brigadier Eric Mockler-Ferryman, Buckingham Palace, Canine Auxiliary Air Corps, Casablanca, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Clinique Glydne, Colonel Julius Holmes, Constantine, Dakar, De Gaulle, Dorchester, Elspeth Duncan, Ethel Westermann, Free French in London, French Army, French Morocco, Gen Arthur Wilson, General Anderson, General de Gaulle, General Giraud, General Sir Alan Brooke, General Truscott, Gibraltar, Giraud, Grosvenor Square, Hendon, His Majesty, Hitchcock, Hopkins, Huston Station, Inveraray, Jean Dixon, Kasserine Pass, Kensington, Kentallen, Lt Col Arnold, Lt Col McGowan, Lt Craig Campbell, Margaret (Peg) Bourke-White, Mateur, Messrs. Murphy and Mac- millan, Mountbatten, Mr. Freeman Mathews, Mr. Harriman, Mr. Robert Murphy, Mr. William H. B. Mack, Nogues, North African Invasion, Norway, Off Limits, Opearation Torch, Oppenheim, Oran, Peyrouton, Portugal, Pound, President Roosevelt, Prime Minister of the British Empire, Red Ball Express, Scotland, Sergeant Clay Williams, Sidi Athman, Sidi Bou Zid, Sir Alexander Cadogan, Sir Alan Brooke, Sir F. N. Mason-Macfarlane, Spain, St George Hotel, Straikallen, Tangier, Tebessa, Tedder, Telegraph Cottage, Telek, Vichy Administration, Wardour Street
Within a fortnight I was driving a new general, Carl (Tooey) Spaatz. The now-famous and retired Tooey Spaatz was, in early 1942, a grimly silent major general. As chief of the new Eighth Air Force, he had a gigantic job. And he spent every waking moment pondering over problems involved in the daring principle of daylight bombing. A rather unspectacular, balding man who would hardly stand out in a crowd, he called to mind that pensive statue : The Thinker. He concentrated so intensively that I often thought he was asleep. Naturally, he had no time for the ordinary little details of everyday life. He was, in fact, coldly impatient with them. That’s how I came to drive for General Spaatz. His temper had finally boiled over because his sergeant was late again in arriving at a conference. The Yank chauffeur was naturally bewildered like many other Americans by the maze of tangled little streets which history had forced upon London. When the General heard of my MTC experience, he requested that I be loaned out to his headquarters immediately.
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Category : Archive Stories, Kay Summersby
Tags: Alene Dresmal, America, American Army Headquarters, Archive Stories, Army Driver, Audley Street, Austria, Belgium, Bushey Park, Captain Ernest (Tex) Lee, Chef Hunt, Cheltenham, Chequers, Claridge’s, Col Oveta Gulp Hobby, Cotswolds, Denmark, Dixie Belle, Dorchester, Downing Street, Egypt, Eighth Air Force, England, Ethel Westermann, France, Gen Carl Tooey Spaatz, Gen George C. Marshall, Gen Henry Happ Arnold, Gen Walter Bedell (Beetle) Smith, George Bernard Shaw, Germany, God Save the King, Grosvenor Square, Harry C. Butcher, Hendon Airport, House of Commons, Houses of Parliament, Hungary, Hyde Park, Iceland, Imperial General Staff, Inish Beg, Ireland, Italy, John G. Winant, Kathleen McCarthy-Morrogh, King Haakon, Lady Astor, Lambeth, London, Louise Anderson, Luxembourg, Maj Geg Dwight D. Eisenhower, Major Sy Bartlett, Martha Rogers, Mattie Pinette, May 1942, Mississippi, Moscow, Motor Transport Corps, Mr. Harry Hopkins, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Mrs. Mamie Eisenhower, North-Africa, Northholt, Paddington Station, Palestine, Park Lane, Pinetree, Prestwick Airport, Prime Minister, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, Rhode Island, Rover, Royal Engineers, Russia, Ruth Briggs, Scotland, Sergeant Mickey McKeogh, Sicily, St James Park, Supply Headquarters, T. J. Davis, Telegraph Cottage, the Netherlands, The Sheltered Life, Tower of London, US Air Headquarters, Waiter Moaney, War Office, Warwick Court, Westminster Abbey, Winston Churchill, Worth's of Paris, Wycombe Abbey
Tossed by the fortunes of war into close association with World War IPs top leaders, Miss Summersby tells the inside story of military command from a woman’s point of view. Hers is a portrait of General Dwight D. Eisenhower as few could see him, continuously, at moments of tension, making great decisions, during long hours of routine work, and while he relaxed at bridge or horseback riding.
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