| Original caption: “This is the brass that did it. Seated are Simpson, Patton (as if you didn’t know), Spaatz, Ike himself, Bradley, Hodges, and Gerow. Standing are Stearley, Vandenberg, Smith, Weyland and Nugent.” The assembled American top commanders of the European Theatre of Operations (ETO) at 12th Army Group Headquarters, Fürstenhof Hotel, Bad Wildungen, Germany, 3 days after the end of the war with Nazi Germany. Standing: Ralph F. Stearley (July 25, 1898 – February 3, 1973), Commanding Officer, 9th Tactical Air Division; Lieutenant General Hoyt S. Vandenberg (January 24, 1899 – April 2, 1954), Commanding Officer, 9th Air Force; Lieutenant General Walter B. “Beetle” Smith (October 5, 1895 – August 9, 1961), Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF); Major General Otto P. Weyland (January 27, 1903 – September 2, 1979), Commanding Officer, 19th Tactical Air Division; Richard E. Nugent (December 12, 1902 – November 5, 1979), Commanding Officer, 29th Tactical Air Division; Seated: Lieutenant General William H. Simpson (May 18, 1888 – August 15, 1980), Commanding Officer, 9th Army; General George S. Patton Junior (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945), Commanding Officer, 3rd Army; General Carl A. “Tooey” Spaatz (June 28, 1891 – July 14, 1974), Commanding Officer, United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe; General Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969), Supreme Commander, Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF); General Omar N. Bradley (February 12, 1893 – April 8, 1981), Commanding Officer, 12th Army Group; General Courtney H. Hodges (January 5, 1887 – January 16, 1966), Commanding Officer, 1st Army; Lieutenant General Leonard T. Gerow (July 13, 1888 – October 12, 1972), Commanding Officer, 15th Army. Eisenhower sat 1st, followed by the other generals. A 2nd photo of just the army commanders, with Bradley at the center, was also taken. Then, the Generals inspected a horse gifted to General Omar Bradley by Russian Marshal Ivan S. Konev (December 28, 1897 – May 21, 1973). Photo by Technician 4th Class Nathan R. “Nate” Cutler (July 2, 1911 – July 14, 1994), 167th Signal Photo Company, Bradley’s official photographer. Cutler, a photographer at the San Francisco dockyards, was sent to 12th Army Group in early 1944. After the war, he became a celebrated Hollywood photographer, renowned for his intimate portraits of celebrities. He photographed the cast of M*A*S*H for the show’s final episode in 1983. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0921.jpg |
| Image Size | 942.43 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2900 x 2291 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Office of War Information |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | May 11, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Bad Wildungen |
| State or Province | Hesse |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-208-YE-182 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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