Lloyd D Brown

Early life

Lloyd Davidson Brown was born in Sharon, Georgia on July 28, 1892. 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. 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 of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF).

Post-World War I

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.

World War II

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, an Army National Guard formation, succeeding Major General Omar Bradley, who had been assigned as General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s personal representative in the North African Theater of Operations. General Eisenhower was the Supreme Allied Commander in the theater. 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. There the division trained for several months until late July 1944 when it was sent to Northern France to take part in the Allied invasion of Normandy, codenamed Operation Overlord, 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.

Brown’s performance and subsequent reputation were mixed. Major General Charles H. 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 General Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander in the European Theater of Operations (ETO), believed Brown was personally brave, but not an inspirational leader, and that his soldiers underperformed as a result. Unlike several other division commanders who were relieved and later received second opportunities to command, such as Major Generals Terry Allen and Orlando Ward, in Brown's case Eisenhower recommended to General George Marshall, the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, that he not be given another command. Marshall concurred. Brown was replaced by Brigadier General James Edward Wharton, who was killed by a sniper while visiting the front-line soon after he took command. He, in turn, was replaced by Brigadier General Norman Cota, formerly the ADC of the 29th Infantry Division.

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 from the army in 1948. In 1949 he was promoted to major general on the retired list.

Awards

Brown’s awards included the Silver Star and Legion of Merit, and Lloyd Brown Hall at Fort Benning was named for him.

His home in Washington, Georgia, the Leitner-Norris Home, was built circa 1814. It is still a privately owned residence, and a local historic landmark.

Death and burial

Brown died in Washington, Georgia on February 17, 1950, and was buried at Resthaven Cemetery in Washington.

Family

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).