The present system of U.S. Army commands emerged from a War Department reorganization of February 28, 1942, which restructured the Department for the wartime program of organizing, training, arming, supplying, transporting, and providing strategic control to the enlarged U.S. Army. During World War II all Army activities in the United States were grouped under the Commanding Generals of the Army Air Forces, the Army Ground Forces, and the Army Service Forces. A small group of air, ground, and supply officers assisted the Chief of Staff in strategic planning and direction and in coordinating the action of the three commands to provide theater commanders with means for conducting war operations. There existed in the Zone of Interior a separate air force and a ground force for the development of equipment and for organization and training. The fighting units created by these separate commands were merged into fighting teams or task forces in combat under commanders of the various theaters of operations, defense commands, or task forces. There are currently 13 major Army commands, organized both functionally and geographically. The photographs in this series depict the many activities and personnel of the 5th Army while in northern Italy during 1944 and 1945. People represented in this series include Gen. George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff; Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark, Commanding General of the 15th Army Group; Maj. Gen. Lucian K. Truscott, Commanding General of the 5th Army; French Gen. Alphonse Juin; Assistant Secretary of War Robert Patterson; British Cabinet Minister for the Mediterranean Harold MacMillan; Rep. Clare Booth Luce; Irving Berlin; and German Pastor Martin Neimueller. Among the many subjects depicted in this series are views of German and Allied defensive positions in northern Italy; aerial views of the Appenines Mountains, the Piave River area, San Benedetto, and Bologna; views of Allied supply convoys;engineering activities such as road and bridge repair and construction; awards ceremonies for 5th Army troops; and combat. Some other subjects of interest include views of Allied radar installations; Italian civilians, partisans, and collaborators; and captured German and Italian equipment. Units represented in this series include the 85th and 88th Divisions, the 235th Engineer Battalion, the 68th Coast Artillery Anti-Aircraft Battalion, and the 132nd Field Artillery Battalion. There are no original negatives for this series.
