Who's Who - George Windle Read
George Windle Read (1860-1934)
played a key role in constructing the vast army that General
Pershing made clear
he required in France.
Assigned the task in April 1917 Read performed his task admirably, and was thereafter sent to France himself to take active command.
Handed command of the U.S. 30th Division and then U.S. II Corps, he worked closely with Rawlinson's British Fourth Army in their successful assault upon the Hindenburg Line at the St. Quentin Canal on 29 September 1918, Read supplying two divisions from II Corps. In snapping the Siegfried line Rawlinson ensured that it was effectively breached beyond repair.
With the war over Read was asked to repeat his initial role, albeit in reverse. He therefore oversaw the return of the victorious American Expeditionary Force to the U.S.
The "Red Baron" was the allied nickname for German air ace Manfred von Richthofen, the leading ace of the war.
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