Index to the General Orders of the 1st Army, in WWII
This is the twenty-seventh in a series of indexes of all the divisions, corps, armies and commands of the US Army during WWII. Others will be published as they are completed.
This work includes all decorations cited in the general orders of the 1st Army.* Please note that many decorations presented to members of the 1st Army may have been cited in general orders of other commands. Most awards of the Purple Heart Medal were cited in the general orders of the hospitals that the men were evacuated to, therefore not included in the work. This index does not attempt to list all of the awards of the Bronze Star Medal that were retroactively awarded under Change 13 to Army Regulation 600-45, Department of the Army, 4 November 1947. I have made no attempt to list the Unit Awards, awards of specific Battle Stars, and Good Conduct Medals.
How to read the sources: (GO#46,1945,1Army) is broken down as “GO” (General Order), “#” (Number 46, 1945), “1Army” (1st Army).
Most general orders numbered below #42 of the 1944 series do not give the numerical designation of the recipient’s assignment. I have listed the recipient’s branch of service; in the instances where there was no unit information provided in the general order.
* The following general orders are missing from the 1st Army’s file at the National Archives:
All of the 1942 series, any or all after (GO#6,1943,1Army) in the 1943 series and (GO#1,1943,1Army) (GO#3,1943,1Army) (GO#21,1944,1Army) (GO#17,1945,1Army) (GO#64,1945,1Army) (GO#65,1945,1Army) (GO#73,1945,1Army) (GO#74,1945,1Army) (GO#76,1945,1Army) (GO#91,1945,1Army) (GO#94,1945,1Army) (GO#118,1945,1Army)
*The last general order present at the National Archives is General Order #18 of the 1946 series, which is dated February 21, 1946. Currently I feel that it is very likely that the 1st Army awarded more decorations beyond general order #18 of the 1946 series. It is also likely that the 1st Army continued to award decorations for service during WWII throughout the 1947-1949 series, which I have not been located.
Anyone with copies of any of the missing General Orders is encouraged to contact the author.
Every effort has been made to minimize errors and misspelled names. An error may be attributable to the source document, or may have occurred while transcribing the names/units. Some of the original documents are of very poor print quality, making them difficult to decipher.
Distinguished Service Cross 564
Silver Star Medals 126
Soldier’s Medals 94
Bronze Star Medals 1,435
Air Medals 171
Purple Heart Medals 121
Total Awards 2,511
This book has 53 pages
ISBN 978-1-932891-04-1
ISBN 1-932891-04-8
Library of Congress Control Number 2004-275321
1st Army's WWII Order of Battle
The composition of armies during combat operations varies, almost on a daily basis. Making it difficult to construct their orders of battle other than during a short specific period of time
WWII Campaigns
Normandy
Northern France
Rhineland
Ardennes-Alsace
Central Europe