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Jacob Loucks "Jake" Devers〔Pronounced with the "dev" as in "devil" 〕 (8 September 1887 – 15 October 1979) was a general in the United States Army who, during World War II, commanded the 6th Army Group in the European Theater. He was involved in the development and adoption of numerous weapons, including the M4 Sherman and M26 Pershing tanks, the DUKW amphibious truck, the Bell H-13 Sioux helicopter and the M16 rifle. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, Devers was commissioned in the field artillery in 1909. During World War I, he was an instructor at the School of Fire at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and did not serve in France until after the November 11 armistice ended the fighting, when he attended the French artillery school at Treves. Between the two world wars he was a staunch advocate of mechanization at a time when the idea of phasing out horses met strong resistance from conservative gunners. When World War II broke out in Europe, Devers was stationed in Panama. He was promoted to major general in October 1940, took command the newly formed 9th Infantry Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, a base whose construction he oversaw. Appointed Chief of the Armored Force in August 1941, he supervised its expansion from four armored divisions to sixteen. He was an articulate proponent of the emerging tactical doctrine of combined arms, and rejected the American doctrine that held that tanks were for exploitation, not fighting other tanks. He pressed American industry to produce more powerful engines, and, often against the views of his superiors, pushed the development of the M4 Sherman, a medium tank with a 75mm gun. Not satisfied with the Sherman, he called for still more heavily armed and armored tanks. He wanted 250 of the new M26 Pershing tanks for Operation Overlord, but was overruled. In May 1943, Devers became European Theater of Operations, United States Army, (ETOUSA) commander. His principal tasks were overseeing preparation of detailed plans and the buildup of men and materiel for Overlord, and supporting the Combined Bomber Offensive. He clashed with General Dwight D. Eisenhower over the diversion of ETOUSA resources to Eisenhower's North African Theater of Operations. Eisenhower succeeded him at ETOUSA in January 1944, and Devers went to the Mediterranean as Commander North African Theater of Operations, United States Army, (NATOUSA), and Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theater, to British General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson. Devers was involved in the organization, planning and leadership of Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France in August 1944. He led the 6th Army Group in France and Germany through the advance to the Rhine, the German counterattack in Operation Northwind, the operations to reduce the Colmar Pocket and the Western Allied invasion of Germany. After the war he commanded the Army Ground Forces. ==Early life and education== Jacob Loucks Devers was born on 8 September 1887, in York, Pennsylvania, a small industrial town in the southeastern corner of the state. His parents were Philip Devers, a watchmaker and partner in a jewellery store, and Ella Kate Loucks Devers, a homemaker. He was the first of the couple's four children. He had two younger brothers, Frank and Phillip, and a younger sister, Catherine, known as Kitts. The Devers, of Irish and German-Alsatian ancestry were strict, hard working and religious. The family were members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church which did not believe in smoking or drinking. While providing a comfortable middle-class life for their children, the couple taught them to value dependability, integrity and industriousness. Growing up in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, young Jamie Devers (as he was called by his family) enjoyed the outdoors: camping, fishing and hunting. He played all the usual boyhood sports and made friends easily with his engaging smile and cheerful personality. In addition to his household chores, he did odd jobs around the neighborhood and worked on his maternal grandfather Jacob Loucks' farm. Initially, he was educated at Garfield Elementary School in York. He entered York High School in September 1901. A popular student, he was elected Class President. He had an excellent academic record earning high marks in mathematics and science. Always competitive though slightly built, the Devers captained the basketball team, played defensive quarterback in football and starred in baseball. Devers graduated from York High School in May 1905. He applied to, and was accepted by, Lehigh University, with the intention of studying engineering, but then Congressman Daniel F. Lafean offered him an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. He entered the Academy in June with the class of 1909. Among his classmates were George S. Patton, Jr., William H. Simpson, and Robert L. Eichelberger, who would also become four-star generals in World War II, and John C. H. Lee, who would become a three-star general. He did well in his studies, and excelled in sports, playing shortstop on the Army baseball team and guard on the Army Black Knights' basketball squad. He also played polo. He graduated from West Point on 11 June 1909, ranking 39th in his class of 103, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in his chosen branch: the field artillery. There were only nine positions available in the field artillery, but enough of the higher-ranking cadets chose other branches for Devers to secure his first preference. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jacob L. Devers」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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