Who was the Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe during WWII?

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe during the final phase of World War II. An American general, he was selected by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in December 1943 to lead the Allied expeditionary force in the European theater.

Eisenhower commanded the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, known as SHAEF. From this headquarters he coordinated American, British, Canadian, and other Allied forces for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. His role required managing rival national commanders, enormous supply problems, and the competing priorities of several fronts.

Eisenhower was not the tactical commander of every unit in Europe. Bernard Montgomery led the British and Canadian ground forces during major operations, while Omar Bradley and George Patton commanded American formations. Eisenhower, however, held overall Allied command in northwest Europe through the end of the war in Europe on May 8, 1945. Douglas MacArthur commanded Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific, not Europe.