Hugh Joseph Gaffey

Major General Hugh Joseph Gaffey (November 18, 1895 – June 16, 1946) was a senior United States Army officer.

Maj. Gen. Hugh J. Gaffey commanded the XXIII Corps (United States) (17 March 1945 – August 1945) during and through World War II.

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Gaffey graduated from Worcester Academy in 1916 and later attended Officers Training School at Fort Niagara, New York, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery Branch of the United States Army Reserve on August 15, 1917, four months after the American entry into World War I.

Assigned to the 312th Field Artillery Regiment, part of the 79th Division, at Fort Meade, Maryland, in August 1918 he was sent to the Western Front to serve with the American Expeditionary Force (AEF).

He served with the corps until July 1942, seven months after the American entry into the war, which occurred due to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

From left to right, Major General Hugh Joseph Gaffey and Lieutenant General George S. Patton , pictured here sometime in 1944.
Major General Hugh Gaffey addresses heads of regional German governments and Army technical staff at a conference held to discuss the transfer of government to local units. From left to right are: Brigadier General Perry, Assistant Commanding General, Major General Norman Cota , 28th Division; Major General Gaffey, and Lieutenant Colonel Campbell W. Newman. Neustadt, Germany, May 18, 1945.