In 1943 a new planning staff was assembled under the Chief of Staff Supreme Allied Command (COSSAC) under Eisenhower. This was absorbed early in the following year by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). All the forces assigned directly to the invasion were controlled by SHAEF.

The leaders in the photograph (clockwise from top left) are: Lieutenant-General Omar Bradley, Commander, 1st US Army; Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, Naval Commander-in-Chief; Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Air Commander-in-Chief; Lieutenant-General Walter Bedell Smith, Chief of Staff; General Sir Bernard Montgomery, Commander, 21st Army Group (all Allied land forces); General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander; Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, Deputy Supreme Commander.