World War II

Howley was assigned to schools in the U.S. and then in England. He was made director of the Military Government Officers' Division based in Shrivenham. Only upon his insistence in taking part in Normandy was he not left behind. For the invasion Howley was designated commander of the Civil Affairs Detachment, with the "mystifying" code name of A1A1. In Normandy he landed on Omaha Beach on D plus 4 with a mixed American-British unit, along with French liaison officers. While the 9th Infantry Division worked to push the Germans out of Cherbourg, but with most of the street fighting over, Howley's A1A1 detachment exercised its mission authority. He augmented and reconstituted the local government, and got the city back on its feet. "The Cherbourg Civil Affairs operation was subsequently described by Allied observers as efficient beyond all expectations."^[9][10]

After an initial mix up of orders, Howley's follow-on assignment became Paris. There he commanded a combined delegation of 150 officers and 200 enlisted men, and entered Paris along with the first troops. This job was much bigger than Cherbourg, and was to provide relief to the beleaguered French capital and its citizens. While in Paris, Howley was selected by Eisenhower's military government chief, Lieutenant General A.E. Grassett, to lead a military government detachment to Berlin. The British troops assigned to his unit received initial orders to return to England for their own preliminary preparations.^[11]

In December 1944, Howley set up his headquarters in Barbizon, France, preparing for Berlin. Around SHAEF Barbizon was called "Howley's mystery town." There, he states, they girded themselves "for virtually all eventualities, except, of course, the curious behavior of our Russian allies." Governing Berlin would not be an easy proposition in any case, as it was to be on a unanimous four-power basis. They would have to agree on every point, from food distribution to education.^[12]

Commandant of the U.S. Sector of Berlin

Allied Commandants of Berlin, 1949. From left, Gen. Bourne (Brit.), Gen. Howley (U.S.) Gen. Kotikov (USSR), Gen. Ganeval (Fr.).

Colonel Howley reached Berlin on July 1, 1945, after substantial haranguing by the Soviets. He had about 500 officers and men, and 120 vehicles as he began his expedition through the Soviet Zone. As soon as he arrived at the demarcation line he was told he was limited to 37-50-175, as per the Berlin Agreement. This stipulated, so they said, that he could pass with no more than 37 officers, 50 vehicles, and 175 men.^[13] There is no documented evidence of any such agreement. Howley "felt the hairs rising on the back of his neck," as he experienced the first of his many personal disagreements with the Soviets. He ended up serving over four years in Berlin, first as deputy, and then as Commandant of the U.S. sector, and was relieved in 1949.

The city of Berlin was in absolute shambles, having been devastated by thousands of tons of bombs by mostly British and American bombers. This was followed by brutal, close quarter combat in the streets. On top of that, the city was stripped by the Soviets of vital industrial infrastructure, especially in the western sectors.^[14] The citizenry was starving, physically sick, mentally exhausted, and almost completely demoralized. To make any of this right was the herculean task that awaited the prospective U.S. military governor, and Howley brought to bear a broad background of leadership, experience, and pragmatism.^[15]

As director of OMG Berlin Sector, he served as Deputy Commandant and G5 to several commanders of the U.S. Berlin garrison. These were generals Floyd L. Parks, James M. Gavin, Ray W. Barker, Frank A. Keating, Cornelius E. Ryan (no relation to the renowned Irish journalist and author), and William Hesketh. But it was Howley's presence during these first two years that imbued stability in the U.S. sector despite the constant rotation of U.S. commander. The reasons for this were two-fold: first, Howley's expertise was in Military Government. His several superiors, however, were combat soldiers, who often lacked the experience and vision in dealing with civil affairs or in governing Berlin. And secondly, except for Keating, all of his predecessors averaged a stay of less than three and a half months in Berlin. General Lucius D. Clay promoted Howley to Commandant on December 1, 1947, and he succeeded Hesketh.^[16] Howley finally had free hand in dealing with the Soviets, but not before the city had suffered significantly, including some of its brightest citizens.

There were a myriad duties to attend in trying to resurrect a very large city of millions that had been left to itself and abandoned by its former Nazi leaders. In trying to accomplish this he ran into many walls, not the least of which was Howley's greatest antagonist—and there were plenty to choose from—Soviet Commandant Major General A. G. Kotikov.^[17] Howley's interminable squabbles and face-offs with Kotikov are well documented.

Lucius D. Clay pinning star on Brigadier General Howley, April, 1949.

As commandant of the U.S. Sector of Berlin, Howley was finally promoted to brigadier general in March, 1949. In this he was decorated personally by his superior, General Clay, U.S. Military Governor for Germany and commander-in-chief of the European Command.^[18][19]

G.P. Putnam's Sons, publisher of Berlin Command, put it best, "Frank Howley was a hard-hitting Philadelphia advertising man before he went on active duty with the Army. Tough-minded, brilliant, never giving an inch, he was magnificently suited to face the Russians day after day during the four years he served as deputy and commander of the U.S. forces in besieged Berlin."^[20]

In the end, Howley conferred more than 2,000 hours with his Russian, British, and French counterparts.^[21] On August 31, 1949, he was relieved of his command and departed Berlin a week later. It was time to go home. He was succeeded by Major General Maxwell D. Taylor, but only as Commandant. Military rule was out, and civil rule was in.

Soviet Walkout from the Kommandatura

On the night of June 16, 1948, the Soviet delegation unexpectedly withdrew from quadripartite meetings. The commandants and their respective staffs had been quibbling most of the day, having only reached one minor agreement. Towards midnight, Colonel Howley indicated he was tired, asked to be excused, and left his deputy to carry on.

Even though Howley's actions complied with protocol completely, after briefly consulting with their ever present political commissar, the Soviets took offense at Howley's gesture. They declared that unless Howley returned and apologized for his "early" retreat, they would depart and not return. Indeed, they all arose and walked out. Unbeknownst to the western Allies at the time, the Soviets planned to instigate a blockade of western Berlin within days. Howley's departure that night had served them well. Some Kommandatura committees continued to function for several weeks with all four powers represented, even though the Soviet delegation did not attend all scheduled meetings. On August 1, 1948, the Soviet flag was lowered, they left for good, and the four-power Kommandatura ceased to exist.

After that time the three western allied commandants continued to hold unofficial meetings at their own HQ offices. Instead of issuing Kommandatura orders, they basically issued unilateral orders, each man to his own sector, Howley included. However, these were issued in a manner of familial or neighborly cooperation.^[22]