World Military Leaders: A Biographical Dictionary

first day in France and did not see any further combat
in that conflict. During the years between the two world
wars, Clark served in various Department of War assign-
ments, and by the beginning of the Second World War
he held the rank of major.
The American entry into the war in late 1941 gave
Clark the opportunity for promotion: He was advanced
to the rank of major general and named as chief of staff
of the Army Ground Forces. In 1942, General George
Marshall sent Clark to England, where he met Prime
Minister Winston Churchill, who nicknamed him “the
American eagle.” He was then selected to lead a covert
mission to the French colonies in North Africa to gather
intelligence for a potential Allied invasion of North
Africa, which would eventually lead to an invasion of
southern Europe. Upon his return to the United States,
Clark was named by General Dwight D. eisenhoWer
as deputy supreme commander of the North Africa inva-
sion, codenamed Operation Torch. When it took place,

Clark commanded II Corps, and after an initial severe

setback, the Germans were defeated.

Following this operation, Clark was promoted to

lieutenant general (the youngest in U.S. history) and

named commander of the U.S. Fifth Army, a combined

American and British force that invaded Italy at Salerno

on 9 September 1943. A history of the battle, released

by the U.S. Department of War (the precursor of the

Department of Defense), reported: “Under orders from

General Clark, the VI Corps and, in turn, the 36th Di-

vision had prepared landing plans. The 141st and 142nd

Regimental Combat Teams (36th Division) were to land

as assault forces, in six waves on the Paestum beaches,

advance to the railroad about 2,500 yards inland, reor-

ganize in assembly areas, then move on to their objec-

tives—the hills 10 miles distant. Once established on

the hills, they would control the entire southern half of

the Salerno plain.” However “easy” this initial landing

was, writes historian James Lucas, “the advance up the

General Mark Clark reviewing the troops in World War II

clARk, mARk wAyne