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General Maxwell Davenport ‘Max’ Taylor (August 26, 1901 – April 19, 1987) was a four star general of the United States Army and diplomat of the mid-20th century, who served as the fifth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after having been appointed by President John F. Kennedy. He is the father of military historian and author Thomas Taylor.

World War II | Early assignments
He served on the War Plans Division staff in 1940 and took part in a defense cooperation mission to Latin American countries. He commanded the 12th Field Artillery Battalion from 1940 to 1941, and then served in the Office of the Secretary of the General Staff until 1942. He received temporary promotions to Lieutenant Colonel in December 1941, Colonel in February 1942, and Brigadier General in December 1942.

Combat in Italy
In 1942, Taylor became chief of staff of the 82nd Airborne Division, followed by command of the 82nd Airborne Division Artillery, and took part in combat in Sicily and Italy. In 1943, during the planning for the Allied invasion of Italy, Taylor’s diplomatic and language skills resulted in his secret mission to Rome to coordinate an 82nd air drop with Italian forces. General Dwight D. Eisenhower would later say, “the risks he ran were greater than I asked any other agent or emissary to take during the war.”

Hundreds of miles behind the front lines of battle, Taylor was forced, by the rules of engagement, to wear his American military uniform so that if captured he could not be shot as a spy. He met with the new Italian Prime Minister, Marshal Pietro Badoglio and General Carboni. The air drop near Rome to capture the city was called off at the last minute, when Taylor realized that German forces were already moving in to cover the intended drop zones. Transport planes were already in the air when Taylor’s message canceled the drop, preventing the suicide mission. These efforts behind enemy lines got Taylor noticed at the highest levels of the Allied command.

101st Airborne Division
After the campaigns in the Mediterranean, Taylor was assigned to command the 101st Airborne Division, which was training in England, after the 101st’s first commander Major General William C. Lee suffered a heart attack. He received temporary promotion to Major General in May 1944.

Taylor took part in the division’s parachute jump into Normandy on June 6, 1944, the first Allied general to land in France on D-Day, June 6 1944. He commanded the 101st Airborne Division for the rest of the war, including Operation Market Garden.

Taylor was not present for the division’s action during the Siege of Bastogne as part of the Battle of the Bulge, because he was attending a staff conference in the United States. The Divisional Artillery commander, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe exercised command in his absence. Taylor called the defense of Bastogne the 101st Airborne Division’s ‘finest hour’ of the war and stated that his absence was one of his greatest disappointments of the war.

(Colorised by Johnny Sirlande from Belgium)

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