Orlando Ward
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Orlando Ward (born in Macon, Missouri, November 4, 1891- died Denver, Colorado 1972) was a career United States Army Officer. During World War II, as a Major General, he commanded the U.S. 1st Armored Division during Operation Torch (North Africa). He also served as Secretary to Army Chief of Staff George Marshall in the critical years prior to the war and made major contributions to field artillery procedures in the 1930s that, a decade later, made the American field artillery especially effective in World War II.
[edit] Career
Orlando Ward graduated from West Point in 1914. His first assignment was as a lieutenant of black cavalry troops (E Troop of the U.S. 9th Cavalry Regiment) on border patrol in the wilds of Arizona and New Mexico. He later was part of Pershing's forces chasing Pancho Villa into Mexico. Recognizing that the horse had a limited future, he became interested in artillery and changed to that branch of the Army.
At the Second Battle of the Marne, under conditions that rendered other officers in charge useless, he took charge of the 2nd battalion of the U.S. 10th Field Artillery Regiment and kept the battalion effective until the tide of Germans was turned back. He was later awarded the Silver Star for his actions.
During the quiet period between the wars, he continued in field artillery, but was assigned posts like ROTC instructor at the University of Wisconsin (where Charles Lindbergh was one of his students). Eventually, he became an instructor at the Fort Sill Gunnery school, where he and others developed key Forward Observer procedures that made the United States artillery most effective in the Second World War.
When the Army was in the critical time of building up for World War II, Ward was Secretary to Chief of Staff George Marshall, assisting in finding the resources to build the military while political forces were fighting to keep the United States out of the war and to help the United Kingdom. He worked closely there with Bedell Smith and Omar Bradley. [1]
He left that post (and was promoted major general) to become the second commander of the First Armored Division and brought the division across the Atlantic to North Africa (with a layover in Northern Ireland) as part of Operation Torch. At the Battle of Kasserine Pass, the first major battle between Americans and Germans during World Ward II, his troops were initially trounced. The multi-national nature of the chain of command at the higher levels at the time appears to have contributed to the losses. His superior was relieved and replaced by George S. Patton. Impatient with the progress of the Division, Patton gave the unusual command for General Ward to lead a night assault on a stubbornly defended hill himself. Surprised, Ward did so and was lightly wounded. He was awarded a Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross, but when the division was still unable to make more progress, Ward was relieved and returned to the States. He returned to a combat command late in the war with the U.S. 20th Armored Division into Bavaria.
After the war, his two major assignments were as head of the U.S. 6th Infantry Division in Korea (prior to the war there) and as Chief of Military History, where he oversaw the production of the famous "Green Books," the official military history of World War II.
[edit] References
- Rick Atkinson (2002). An Army at Dawn. ISBN 0-8050-6288-2.
- Martin Blumenson. Kasserine Pass. ISBN 0-8154-1099-9.
- George F. Howe (1979). The Battle History of the 1st Armored Division. The Battery Press, Inc. ISBN 0-89839-025-7.
