Operation Husky Essay

In order to prepare the U.S. 7th Army for its invasion of Sicily Patton turned over his command in North Africa. During this time Patton’s reputation suffered greatly after slapping a soldier, who was suffering from shell shock, accusing him of cowardice. This incident landed Patton a reprimanding from President Eisenhower and he was forced to make a public apology. Despite this fact, the invasion of Sicily was a major

The battle of Sicily, also named the Allied Invasion of Sicily, began on July 10th, when Allied seaborne troops arrived on the shore of Sicily. and lasted until August 17, 1943, when the Axis powers officially withdrew from the island. After the British captured Tunisia in the North African campaign, they decided to pursue north in favor of an offensive on southern Italy to ultimately capture the entire island. The U.S. also saw benefit from this invasion, as this would open up the Mediterranean for cheaper shipping between Allied forces by removing Axis naval and air forces from the island. Allied forces had the clear advantage in this invasion.

During Casablanca Conference in January 1943, the Allies decided that, after they had gained all North Africa, the next move would be in the Mediterranean. The idea was to kick Italy out of the war. By the summer of 1943 the Canadian soldiers who had not been involved in the Dieppe raid had been in the Britain for almost three and a half years, waiting for a chance to fight. On June 26, the word came at last; they were told to pack up their bedrolls and get ready to move out. The Canadians were headed for Sicily, The Island just off the toe of the Italian “boot”. There they would join the Britain Eighth army under the hero of El Alamein, General Montgomery. The battle plan was to invade Sicily and trap Germany and Italy soldiers between the

After the Axis’s power defeat in the North African Campaign the Allies decide to attack Italy hoping that it would stop some of the fascist regime from the war.1 The purpose of the attack was to stop air and sea potential from the Axis’s hold on the island and gain access to Mediterranean sea as well as defeat the Italian

The development of the allied military strategy in World War II (WWII) presented challenges for the U.S. and Great Britain as they worked together to defeat the Axis powers. First, this paper will review the environment at the time of WWII when Admiral Stark penned the “Plan Dog” memorandum and MAJ Wedemeyer’s War Defense Team put together the “Victory Plan”. Next, it will look at the advantages and disadvantages of coalition operations with supporting examples. Then, a review of two major meetings between U.S. and Great Britain will identify what strategic decisions were made and the effects they have on the war. Finally, this paper will explore the foundations of strategy (Clausewitz and Sun Tzu) by which the allied forces used and

Allied land component integration struggles hindered operational progression throughout the Sicilian Campaign. Initial planning and operations for Sicily revealed, General Alexander’s lack of experience and effective leadership resulting in granting General’s Montgomery and Patton too much latitude in operational decision-making. [Swanson, p. 58] In essence, General Alexander’s lack of command guidance and restructuring Allied land force boundaries allowed the General Patton to divert forces toward Western Sicily and away from operational objectives of meeting the German Army. [Swanson, p. 58] Among other things, poor weather, lack of experience and absence of inter-service joint training encumbered integrated Allied airborne operations, subjecting

After the military disaster in Dunkirk, the Allies desperately needed to free Europe from Nazi Germany. The French were not the only Allies in need as Stalin’s Soviet Russia was doing their best to defend against Hitler’s lightning fast blitzkrieg. The British, American and Canadian forces needed to get on the ground in France in order to push back the Germans. An Allied invasion would create a two front war similar to the one that led to Germany’s defeat during World War I. Allied forces would need to cross the English Channel from Great Britain to the northern coast of France and make an amphibious landing. Amphibious landings on the coast depended on factors to be just right. Supreme Allied Commander, United States Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Allied Ground Forces Commander, British General Bernard Montgomery, were in charge of the planning of this massive invasion codenamed Operation Overlord.

Operation Anaconda: Questionable Joint Planning Success Operation Anaconda, although a win for the US and Coalition Forces, was seen by many as a joint planning nightmare. Throughout history , the military has closely examined engagements through case studies to improve the planning process. Operation Anaconda’s case studies displayed mistakes, power struggles, and lack of credible Intel while planning the execution of Operation Anaconda causing question about the success of the operation. Mistakes during planning Once 911 happened and the US started gathering intel from the Middle East, the proper authorities inside Washington saw the potential for military action; this initiated the planning step.

In 1943 the British and American Allies shared a common language and a common enemy, but they disagreed on the war’s grand strategy. (site) General George Marshall, Army Chief of Staff, wanted to conduct a cross channel invasion bringing the fight directly to the Germans. Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister, wanted to fight in the edges of the Axis territory and exploit the soft underbelly of Southern Europe. (site) These strategic differences culminated in the Sicily Campaign, where the Allies’ command and control function, in many cases, proved to be inadequate to consistently integrate joint functions at the operational level, as it failed to ensure all senior leaders adhered to the three key attributes for Mission Command and,

“In actuality, there was no logic or rationale in attacking Sicily and the planning did not fall within any context of leading to an overarching strategic objective. The British preferred peripheral attacks on the soft underbelly of the Axis Forces moreover, were the foundation in establishing limited objectives for Operation HUSKY. Secure lines of communications, divert German aggression to the west, and force Italy to drop out of the war. However, the Americans felt the invasion of Sicily, was a waste of valuable time, assets, and only delayed the cross channel invasion of Germany. The Americans wanted an immediate cross channel crossing in Northwest France to, “hit the Axis powers head on.” This division among the Allies led to disagreement and tension, which compromised the concepts of mission command

On many occasions, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill personally intervened to settle disagreements between American and British planners in the CSS. The Soviet Union pressured the Western Allies to execute an operation to provide some relief from the onslaught of German forces. Prime Minister Churchill and the British generals favored an amphibious landing in Northern Africa to help the British 8th Army who had been fighting against the Italian and German Forces since June 1940. (Hart,

The military tactics used and created during the Italian Campaign lead to the rest of the victories in Europe. Thomas Tandy Lewis’ article “Operation Mincemeat” explains, “...Hitler was persuaded that the … planned attack will be directed mainly against Sardinia and the Peloponnesus….On July 10, the Germans were unprepared. Of the 300,000 defending troops on the island, more than two-thirds were poorly armed and ill trained Italian soldiers.” Operation Mincemeat was an ingenious military plan created by the Allies

Unless you’ve served in a unit that took part in or read one of the few books detailing Operation Anaconda, you more than likely have never heard of it. Rightfully so, many of the people involved in the operation aren’t the type to openly brag or even acknowledge their involvement in anything. But, it is because of this why we must learn about this operation; to gain an understanding and respect of what these men went through – for both sides.

The main forces for the invasion of Sicily were the U.S. 7th Army under Patton and the British Eighth Army under Montgomery. The invasion began on July 10, 1943, with combined air and sea landings involving 150,000 troops, 3,000 ships and 4,000 aircraft, all aimed at the southern shores of the island.

The invasion into Italy was when he Allies decided to target Italy, which lay to the north, across the Mediterranean sea. On July 10, 1943, the Allies began their invasion of Axis-controlled Europe with landings on the island of Sicily, off mainland Italy. Encountering little resistance from demoralized Sicilian troops, Montgomery’s 8th Army came ashore on the southeast part of the island, while the U.S. 7th Army, under General George S. Patton, landed on Sicily’s south coast. Within three days, 150,000 Allied troops were ashore. On August 17, Patton arrived in Messina before Montgomery, completing the Allied conquest of Sicily and winning the so-called Race to Messina.