Lunsford E. Oliver

Lunsford Errett Oliver
Nickname(s)	"Bug"
Born	March 17, 1889 Nemaha, Nebraska
Died	October 13, 1978(1978-10-13) (aged 89) Williamsburg, Massachusetts
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1913 - 1948
Rank	Major General
Service number	0-3536
Commands held	5th Armored Division
Battles/wars	Pancho Villa Expedition World War I World War II Operation Torch Battle of Normandy Battle of the Bulge
Awards	Distinguished Service Medal (2) Legion of Merit (2) Silver Star Bronze Star (3)

Lunsford Errett Oliver (March 17, 1889 – October 13, 1978) was an American soldier, who commanded the 5th Armored Division during World War II.

Early life and Army Career Before World War II

Lunsford Erret Oliver was born on March 17, 1889 in Nemaha, Nebraska as a son of Thomas Jefferson Oliver and Mary Lorraine Evans.^[1] He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and graduated in the summer of 1913. Subsequently he was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers as a Second Lieutenant on June 12, 1913.^[2] Many of his West Point classmates later became general officers, including Alexander Patch, Geoffrey Keyes, Willis D. Crittenberger, Douglass T. Greene, Charles H. Corlett, Paul Newgarden, William R. Schmidt, Robert L. Spragins, Louis A. Craig, Selby H. Frank, Henry B. Lewis, John E. McMahon, Jr., Carlos Brewer, Richard U. Nicholas, Robert H. Van Volkenburgh, Robert M. Perkins, William A. McCulloch, Francis K. Newcomer and Henry B. Cheadle.

Oliver was first assigned to Fort Brown, Texas on border patrol duty as a supply officer during the Pancho Villa Expedition. He was appointed to the Engineer School in Washington, D.C. for further military education and graduated on March 31, 1916. He then served with the 1st Engineer Battalion at the Washington Barracks, before he was transferred to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia.

Lunsford Oliver stayed on active service during World War I, organizing and training railway engineer battalions. After the war, he contributed to the Mississippi River Flood Control Project.^[3] and then between years 1924 - 1927 served as an engineer in Alaska Road Commission, which was responsible for the construction of many important Alaska highways. In 1928, he attended the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for further military education.

During the years 1933 - 1937, Oliver served as an District Engineer in Vicksburg, Mississippi and in 1938, he attended United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.^[4] After his Army War College studies, Oliver was assigned as an instructor to the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He served in this capacity until 1940, when he was assigned as the Armored Force Engineer at Fort Knox. While there, Colonel Oliver initiated the research that led to the development of the steel treadway bridge.

Service in World War II

Colonel Oliver was assigned to the 1st Armored Division in January 1942 to assume command of Combat Command B (CCB), then promoted to the rank of brigadier general on February 16, 1942. The division deployed to Ireland on May 6, 1942 to train for eventual operations in North Africa. In September, BG Oliver went to London to assist in the planning for Operation Torch (Allied invasion of Northwest Africa). Oliver was promoted to the rank of major general on November 20, 1942,^[5] then Combat Command B under his command landed successfully near the city of Oran in late November 1942 and started to advance toward the Djedeida airfield, occupying it with little resistance on November 28, 1942. Major General Oliver was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal.^[6] Combat Command B encountered its first major enemy resistance at Medjez-el-bab, Tunisia where they fought for fours days starting on December 6, 1942.

Oliver was appointed commander of the 5th Armored Division, where he succeeded Brigadier General Sereno E. Brett at Camp Cooke in early 1943. MG Oliver led the division throughout the remainder of the war, including training in the Mojave Desert near Needles, California through March 1943, the Tennessee Maneuvers through the Summer, and final validation and reorganization of the division at Pine Camp (Now Fort Drum, New York) through the Winter into early 1944. MG Oliver led the division on two ships to England, arriving on February 24, 1944. The division served in Western Europe starting with landing on Utah Beach on July 26, 1944 until Victory in Europe Day and after. The 5th Armored Division, under MG Oliver's command, was the first division to reach the Seine River, the first division to reach Luxembourg, the first division to fight in Germany, and when halted by orders from Ninth Army, the division sat 45 miles from Berlin, closer than any other Allied division.^[7]

Decorations

Here is the ribbon bar of Major general Lunsford E. Oliver:

References