Tedder took command of Mediterranean Air Command in early 1943, serving under Eisenhower during the planning and execution of the Allied invasions of Sicily and mainland Italy. The two men got along well, but it was actually not Eisenhower who requested him as his deputy at SHAEF. Ike wanted Tedder as his chief airman, but was happy to learn that the British recommended him to a position where they would be working much closer together. A German intelligence report described Tedder as being “superior in both intelligence and energy” to Eisenhower.
 
In the last year of the war, Tedder was sent to the Soviet Union to seek assistance during the Battle of the Bulge. On May 8, 1945, Tedder signed the German surrender on behalf of Eisenhower in Reims, France. He was granted peerage as Baron Tedder after the war; his coat of arms incorporated the flaming sword of SHAEF.

Chief of Staff
Ike’s chief of staff was U.S. Lieutenant General Walter Bedell Smith, nicknamed “Beetle” after his middle name. Smith had already been Eisenhower’s chief of staff at Allied Force Headquarters (AFHQ) in the Mediterranean, and his superior insisted on bringing him over to SHAEF. He was Ike’s “hatchet man,” who could be brusque, forceful and demanding when the situation called for it. At the same time, he also had the skill for more delicate diplomatic missions.

As SHAEF chief of staff, Smith was approached by three officers, two British and one American, during the Battle of the Bulge. They recommended that command of the U.S. First Army on the northern side of the salient should be temporarily transferred from Bradley to Montgomery. Smith’s first reaction was rejecting the idea out of hand and telling two of the officers they were fired. The next morning, having slept on it, he apologized to the officers and told them he will present their idea to Eisenhower as his own, believing it was the correct choice and knowing it would be received more favorably if it came from an American. Eisenhower listened to the suggestion and made the transfer.
 
In April 1945, Smith and other officers and representatives successfully negotiated with the Nazi governor of the Netherlands about sending food shipments to starving Dutch civilians, and opened further discussions for a peaceful German capitulation. He signed the German Instrument of Surrender on behalf of Eisenhower on May 8, 1945.
 
Deputy chief of staff (Operations)
Astute readers of the first half of this article (SHAEF – Part I) will notice that Smith’s position as chief of staff is the same position that was assigned to Lieutenant General Frederick Morgan in 1943. So what happened to Morgan? His superiors thought he might be offended by a lower position at SHAEF and offered him a combat command at the head of a British army corps. Morgan, however, expressed a desire to stay at SHAEF in some other capacity. He was therefore made Smith’s deputy chief of staff, with numerous special assignments to coordinate between various SHAEF divisions. Smith described Morgan as his British alter-ego, "a man I wouldn't willingly have dispensed with."

Morgan had previously worked with Montgomery, and was occasionally called in by frustrated American officers to take over while dealing with the notoriously difficult British officer. On one occasion, an enraged Smith handed over the phone to Morgan with the words "That's your bloody marshal on the other end of that. I can't talk to him any more. Now you go on." As the war went on, the divide between Eisenhower and Montgomery deepened. Morgan and a few other prominent British SHAEF officers remained loyal to Eisenhower. This came around to hinder their post-war careers once Montgomery became Chief of the Imperial General Staff.
 
Deputy chief of staff (Chief Administrative Officer)
Smith had two other deputies with special roles. British Lieutenant General Humfrey Myddelton Gale already served under Eisenhower in the Mediterranean, where he had the vital job of coordinating the American and British administrative and supply systems, which were different. In Europe, he had a different job, since supply was handled directly by Montgomery’s 21st Army Group and the American Headquarters Communication Zone. Instead, Gale was mainly coordinating the activities of headquarters sections and serving as chairman on supply-related committees.
 
Deputy chief of staff (Air)
Smith’s third deputy was British Air Marshall James Milne Robb, formerly Eisenhower’s air advisor, commander or RAF North Africa and deputy commander of the Northwest African Air Forces. He was brought on by Tedder, and he coordinated all correspondence and planning between SHAEF divisions regarding air activities.
 
Ground forces commanders
General Sir Bernard Law Montgomery was one of the most prominent British generals of the war, and you can read our two-part article for more details on his career. (Montgomery – Part I) (Part II) As the head of 21st Army Group, he was in command of all Allied ground operation during Operation Overlord, including the battles for Caen (Capturing Caen – Part I) (Part II) and the closing of the Falaise Pocket (The Falaise Pocket). His responsibilities were reduced to “only” commanding the 21st Army Group from September 1, 1944, onwards. He vehemently opposed the change, but was placated with a promotion to Field Marshal.

Lieutenant General Omar Bradley was the commander of the U.S. 12th Army Group and you can read more about his career here: (Omar Nelson Bradley) Lieutenant General Jacob Devers (With a Tank and a Smile) was the commander of the U.S. 6th Army Group and led it in Operation Dragoon (Operation Dragoon), the landings in Southern France in August 1944, and in the push across Europe afterwards.
 
Air Force Commander-in-Chief
Perhaps the most controversial person at SHAEF (admittedly for reasons that preceded this posting) was British Air Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, the head of RAF Fighter Command since November 1942. Leigh-Mallory commanded No. 12 Group during the Battle of Britain, and had an acronymous relationship with No. 11 Group commander Keith Park and Fighter Command head Hugh Dowding, who developed Britain’s air interception system (The Dowding System). Park intercepted incoming Luftwaffe bombers with single squadrons to reach them quickly and disrupt their formations before they could bomb their targets; Leigh-Mallory was a proponent of the “Big Wing,” a grouping of up to five squadrons that could shoot down more German planes. The problem was that the Big Wings took a long time to assemble in the air and only reached their targets after the bombs had already been dropped. While No. 11 Group was taking off from heavily bombed airfields and fighting for its life, Leigh-Mallory’s Big Wings went on pointless “free hunting” missions along the coastline, with Leigh-Mallory passing falsified kill records up the line to justify his strategy. A skilled political backstabber and an Air Ministry favorite, Leigh-Mallory and his allies sidelined Dowding and Park after the Battle of Britain.

Later in the war, No. 11 Group, now under Leigh-Mallory’s command, suffered heavy casualties on their “rodeos,” missions flown across the Channel and into France to provoke a Luftwaffe response. During Overlord, his interdiction missions managed to greatly slow down the German response, albeit at the cost of French civilian collateral casualties. Montgomery hailed him as “the only airman who is out to win the land battle and has no jealous reactions.” For full disclosure, Montgomery also called him a “gutless bugger who refuses to take a chance” once…
 
Leigh-Mallory and his wife died in a plane crash in 1944 en route to a new posting in the Far East. An inquiry found that the accident was caused by bad weather and might have been avoided had Leigh-Mallory not insisted on taking off anyway.
 
Deputy Air Force Commander-in-Chief
U.S. Major General Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg was Leigh-Mallory’s deputy. In 1939-40 Vanderberg developed two air defense plans for the Philippines, one based on RAF interception operations in the Battle of Britain; neither plan was actually used, as President Roosevelt was against any strong defense of the archipelago. He was the head of an air mission to the Soviet Union in 1943. He went on to have an illustrious Air Force career after the war despite his outgoing personality and surprisingly youthful appearance, which made him look less experienced and credible than he really was. Vandenberg Space Force Base (formerly Air Force Base), California is named after him.