Brown, Lloyd Davidson.

Brown, Lloyd Davidson, 28-07-1892, in Sharon, Taliaferro County, Georgia, USA, to Benita Allen Brown (1895–1925) and his wife Katherine, born Green Brown (1895–1981).

He graduated from Augusta’s Academy of Richmond County in 1908, and the University of Georgia in 1912. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta and Phi Beta Kappa, and after graduating was employed as an instructor at Georgia Military Academy.

In 1917, the same year of the American entry into World War I, Brown received his commission in the United States Army  as a second lieutenant in the Infantry Branch, and was originally assigned to the 26th Infantry Regiment. under command of Lieutenant General Robert Lee Bullard Robert Bullard, died on 11-09-1947, at the age of 86 and is buried at the U.S. Military Academy Post Cemetery, with his wife Ella (Reiff) Bullard (05-11-1870 to 03-03-1963)

.During the war he served on the Western Front as a company commander of ‘G’ Company, 2nd Battalion, 61st Infantry Regiment, part of the 5th Division  f the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), . under command of Major General John Eugene McMahon,  John McMahon died in Princeton, New Jersey, at the age of 59 years old on 28-01-1920. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Brown’s post-war assignments included Professor of Military Science at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Georgia, and postings as a company commander and regimental Plans, Operations and Training (S3) staff officer for the 45th Infantry Regiment in the Philippines.

He graduated from the Infantry Officer Course in 1923, the Infantry Advanced Course in 1928, and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in 1930.

In the late 1930s he served on the staff of the National Guard Bureau,  and was an instructor and advisor for the Illinois Army National Guard’s 131st Infantry Regiment.   under command of Major General Joseph Brown Sanborn.

Lloyd Brown served on the War Department staff at the start of World War II, and subsequently served as Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations and Training (G3) at Headquarters, Army Ground Forces. During the U.S. Army’s huge wartime expansion he was accused of encouraging Regular Army officers to have National Guard senior officers replaced by writing negative performance evaluations on them, enabling Regular Army officers to fill these positions and receive promotions and command assignments.

In 1942 he became the assistant division commander (ADC) of the 102nd Infantry Division as a temporary Brigadier General.

In February 1943 he was promoted to temporary Major General as commanding General (CG) of the 28th Infantry Division, , nicknamed “Iron Division” an Army National Guard formation, succeeding Major General Omar Nelson “Brad” Bradley, who had been assigned as Supreme Allied Commander Dwight David Eisenhower‘s personal representative in the North African Theater of Operations. Brown led the division during training in the United States and left for the United Kingdom in October 1943, arriving in South Wales soon afterwards. The division trained there until late July 1944 when it was sent to Northern France to take part in the Allied invasion of Normandy, and saw its first combat in Operation Cobra, in an attempt to break out of the Normandy beachhead and end the temporary stalemate. He served until being relieved in August 1944 over concerns that his division was not progressing rapidly enough against German defenses. The casualities of the 28th Division durin their European campaign: total casualities 16.762, killed in action 2.316, wounded in action 9.609 and missing in action. 8847.

Brown’s performance and subsequent reputation were mixed. Major General Charles Harrison “Cowboy Pete” Corlett, then commanding the XIX Corps, thought Brown needed a medical leave because he was sick and “rundown.” One of Brown’s battalion commanders thought Brown was not up to the challenge of commanding large units in combat and described him as “frantic.” Bradley, now a Lieutenant General, commanding the U.S. 12th Army Group, and Eisenhower believed Brown was personally brave, but not an inspirational leader, and that his soldiers under performed as a result. Unlike several other division commanders who were relieved and later received second opportunities to command, such as General Allen, Terry de la Mesa Sr, “Terrible Terry”   and 2* Major General Orlando Ward, in Brown’s case Eisenhower recommended to George Marshall, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, that he not be given another command, and Marshall concurred. Brown was replaced by James Edward Wharton, who was killed by a sniper while visiting his front line units soon after he took command. Wharton was replaced by Norman Daniel “Dutch” Cota.

Brown reverted to his permanent rank of colonel and served in various staff assignments, including Director of Training at the U.S. Army Infantry School, until retiring on 31-12-1948. Upon retirement, he was promoted to Major General on the retired list.

Lloyd Brown’s first wife was Benita Allen (1895-1925), whom he married in 1919. In 1929 he married Katherine Green Brown (1895-1981).

With his first wife he had a son, Allen Davidson Brown (1925-2001). Allen Brown, Industrial Engineer and World War II Veteran. He enlisted in 1943 and served in the Army during World War II. He then attended Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), from which he graduated in 1949. He was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, and worked as an industrial engineer for the Union Camp Paper Corporation.

Death and burial ground of Brown, Lloyd Davidson.

Lloyd Davidson Brown died in Washington, Georgia on 17-02-1950, age 57, and was buried at Resthaven Cemetery in Washington.Legacy.]

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