Going to War with Ernest N. Harmon (I of III)

Northern Africa

By the time Brigadier General Ernest N. Harmon took command of the Second Armored Division (for the first time) in the spring of 1942, the “Hell on Wheels” division already had name recognition and boasted George S. Patton as one of its former commanders. President Roosevelt himself had even commented on the division’s combat readiness. None of that mattered to Harmon. From his assumption of command speech:

“General Crittenberger (Harmon’s predecessor) has just remarked that the President of the United States considers you one of the finest combat divisions in the Army. That may be very well and true. But let’s ask ourselves another question before we swell with pride. What in the hell does the President of the United States know about the Second Armored? How does he know – way up there in Washington – whether you are good or not? You and I are working together. We will find out.”

His words were met with cheers from the men.

Harmon hit the ground running and quickly pinned on his second star before being ordered to relocate his division to Fort Bragg, NC. From there he was summonsed to Washington D.C. for a secret meeting with Generals Patton and Marshall whom he found in a secure room examining a map of Northern Africa.

According to Harmon, Patton greeted him as he entered.

“Ernie, do you want to go to war?”

“Sure, when do we start?”

Patton and Marshall then briefed Harmon on the planned invasion of Northern Africa (code name TORCH) where the Second Armored Division would play a major role. Less than a year later the “Hell on Wheels” division had accomplished the mission but even bigger challenges lay ahead. From Norwich Matters:

After establishing an allied foothold in Morocco, Harmon deservedly sipped bourbon in Casablanca with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill before being summoned to Algiers by General Dwight D. Eisenhower. German field marshal Erwin Rommel (aka “The Desert Fox”) was heading west across North Africa and Harmon was needed to stop him.

Eisenhower dispatched Harmon to the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia with instructions to take over II Corps, the First Armored Division, or both, if Harmon deemed it necessary. Ike was concerned about the competence and judgment of his combat commanders, and there was too much riding on the upcoming showdown with Rommel’s Afrika Corps to take any chances. Harmon took charge and prepared a counterattack to retake the Kasserine Pass, but Rommel sensed a reanimated enemy and quietly withdrew his forces overnight rather than risk battle.

The hole in the Kasserine Pass was plugged, but General Harmon’s celebratory return to Eisenhower’s headquarters lasted just long enough for him to be given his next monumental mission – the invasion of Italy.

Part I: Northern Africa

Part II: Italy

Coming Soon…

Part III: The Battle of the Bulge

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References:

Combat Commander: An Autobiography of a Soldier, E.N. Harmon with Milton MacKaye and William Ross MacKaye, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1970.

Norwich Matters, Copyright 2011 by Randall H. Miller.