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Defence Organisation
The object of the Western Union defence organization is to provide for the coordination of defence between the Five Powers in the military and supply ﬁelds and for the study of the tactical problems of the defence of Western Europe; in addition, to provide a framework on which, in the event of any emergency. 3 command organization could be built up. It can be compared with the defence organization in the United Kingdom.

The Treaty of Brussels contained a mutual defence clause as set forth in Article IV:


 * If any of the High Contracting Parties should be the object of an armed attack in Europe, the other High Contracting Parties will, in accordance with the provisions of Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, afford the Party so attacked all the military and other aid and assistance in their power.

Article V set forth the obligations of Brussels Pact members to cooperate with the United Nations Security Council to maintain international peace and security, and Article VI set forth the obligations of Brussels Pact members to not enter any third-party treaties that conflicted with the Treaty of Brussels.

From April 1948, the member states of the Western Union decided to create a military agency under the name of the Western Union Defence Organisation (WUDO). WUDO was formally established on September 27–28, 1948.

The overall command structure was patterned after the wartime Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), which included a joint planning staff.

In December 1950, with the appointment of General Eisenhower as NATO's first Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), the members of the Treaty of Brussels decided to transfer the headquarters, personnel, and plans of the Western Union Military Organisation (WUDO) to NATO. This provided the nucleus of NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), which took over responsibility for the defence of Western Europe.



Defence Committee
Government direction and control is provided by the Western Union Defence Committee which, in peacetime, was composed of the national defence ministers. The Defence Committee was served by the Chiefs-of-Staff Committee and the Military Supply Board, meeting regularly in London. These bodies were analogous to [the UK's] Chiefs of Staff Committee and Joint War Production Staff, respectively.

Secretariat
The secretariat worked for the other bodies, and had a British Secretary General.

Military Supply Board
In parallel with this Chiefs-of—Staff organisation, the Western Union Military Supply Board advised the Defence Committee on all questions affecting military supplies and made recommendations as to how the requirements of the Five Powers for Military Supplies could be met. The Supply Board was on a high level and is composed of one representative from each country. The British representative, who is to be chairman for the first year, is also Chairman of the British Joint War Production Staff. The infrequent meetings of the Board were served by a permanent Executive Committee working in London, composed of representatives from each country.

Combined Allied Command
The Combined Allied Command of WUDO (UNILION) was established in the French town of Fontainebleau, south of Paris. UNILION employed c. 100 officers and 300 other personell. . The top-level section of UNILION was housed in Château des Fougères in the neighbouring commune of Avon.

Branch commands


Three subordinate commands, for each service, were housed in the Henri IV quarter at the French Palace of Fontainebleau:
 * Sea Command (UNIMER)
 * Air Command (UNIAIR)
 * Land Command (UNITER)

Chiefs-of-Staff Committee
The Western Union Chiefs of Staff Committee (WUCOS), based in London, United Kingdom, directed the operative organisation, and consisted of the five national chiefs of staff.

WUCOS advised the Defence Committee on all matters affecting the defence of Western Europe, taking account of commitments in other parts of the world. Within this broad direction its special tasks were to ensure that within Western Europe questions such as:
 * The military resources of the ﬁve countries are organized to meet the strategic requirements of the Allies.
 * The forces of the various nations are welded into an effective ﬁghting machine.
 * The combined resources of the ﬁve nations are allotted in the best way.
 * A proper balance is maintained between the conflicting requirements of internal security and home defence on the one hand, and the European battle on the other.
 * The evaluation, preparation and distribution of the necessary resources, in particular to the Commander of the European battle, whose special task will be to make the necessary operational plans and to put them into operation.
 * The exact area of the responsibility of the command of the European battle in war is to be deﬁned. It will be necessary to keep this constantly under review.

WUCOS included observers from the United States and Canada. This American liaison mission was initially led by Major General Lyman L. Lemnitzer, U.S. Army, and subsequently by Major General A. Franklin Kibler, USA.

Commanders-in-Chief Committee
The Western Union Commanders-in-Chief Committee, responsible to the Western Union Chiefs-of-Staff Committee, was created on 5 October 1948.

The committee consisted of Western Union Commanders-in-Chief for the three military branches (Land, Naval and Air), as well as the senior officer, designated Chairman. Château de Courances served as private residence for Chairman Montgomery.

Much ill-feeling was caused in the headquarters from disagreements between Chairman Montgomery and de CinCLand Lattre.

As WUDO's capacities were transferred to NATO's SHAPE, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery resigned as Commanders-in-Chief Committee Chairman on 31 March 1951 and took the position of deputy SACEUR Supreme Allied Commander Europe on 1 April 1951.

Their immediate task was to study the tactical problems of the defence of Western Europe, i.e. make plans to meet a Russian armed threat in Western Europe. They did not assume executive command of any forces in peacetime, although they were in close contact with Military Governors of the occupation zones, and it is hoped that it may be possible, to a limited extent, to adjust peacetime dispositions to meet the needs of defence.

The committee formed a nucleus command organization which, in war, would be capable of commanding all land forces and supporting air forces to meet a Russian armed threat.

Exercises
The Western Union undertook the following training exercises (incomplete list):
 * Exercise Verity (Naval; 1949) - involving 60 warships from the British, French, and Dutch navies held in the Bay of Biscay during July 1949. The exercise was under the overall command of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Rhoderick McGrigor, RN, the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet.  The 60-ship flotilla included the British battleship HMS Anson (79); the British carriers HMS Implacable (R86), HMS Victorious (R38) and HMS Theseus (R64); and the French carrier Arromanches.  Admiral McGrigor summarized the accomplishments of Exercise Verity by noting: "The object of these manoeuvres is to show that we are willing and able to work together in case of aggression. I can say straight away that it's been a very great success." Following Exercise Verity, WUDO announced that a major ground military exercise was scheduled for Fall 1949 under overall command of Général d'Armée Jean de Lattre de Tassigny.


 * Exercise Cupola (Air; 1950)
 * Operation Bulldog (Air, 1949)

Planned clandestine operations

 * Operation Gladio, a clandestine "stay-behind" operation preparing for, and implementing, armed resistance in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion and conquest.