Books on US Army planning 1941-44...war buffs help!

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lithium01
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Books on US Army planning 1941-44...war buffs help!

Post by lithium01 »

Hey all

Wondering if you can help me out here. I am doing research concerning the American army's doctrine and decision making process from 1941-1944. Specifically, why Torch in 1942 Husky 1943 and finally Overlord in 1944?

I am familiar with the predominate historiography. Brits were senior at that point and would not acquiesce to Marshall's France schemes in 1942. FDR needed US troops to fight Germany for political reasons in 1942.

Thats fine, even logical but the US Army/ military had a funny way of insisting on a "Germany First" through concentrated force doctrine.

Why did the Brits perceive Marshall as unprepared when he presented his cross channel scheme in spring 1942? I'd imagine if that is what the army really strove for, they'd at least present a coherent argument.

Why did the US Army shift from the 200+ division plan to an Army that just had 90 divisions? 90 divisions would not defeat the wermacht.

Why did the US put so much emphasis, support, and personnel (all the smart ones) into the USAAF...if it intended on landing in Northern France ASAP?

Why were more Army troops in the Pacific than Atlantic as late as January 1944?

Your own insights and any literature you could point me to (primary sources would be best) would help!!!

Thanks

[ October 08, 2001: Message edited by: lithium01 ]</p>
Randy
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Post by Randy »

One book that might help, at least give you a start would be George Forty's book "US Army Handbook 1939-1945." This book has alot of OOB info, but also has some of the basic mobilisation planning. It might be a good place to start. Hope this helps.
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mikhailov
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Post by mikhailov »

Some books that may help are "World War II Order of Battle" by Shelby Stanton, "The GI Offensive in Europe" by Peter Mansoor, and "Eisenhower's Lieutenants" by Russell F Weigley. To paraphrase from these books, by the end of 1941 the Army had 36 divisions, and estimated at least 200-215 would be needed. 37 more divs were formed during 1942. The Army numbered over 5,000,000 men, with 1,940,000 in the Army Ground Forces. In '42, the USAAF grew from 270,000 to 1,270,000, and the Army Service Forces grew to 1,857,000. In August, Marshall proposed an Army of 7.5 million, consisting of 111 divisions and 224 air groups. At the beginning of 1943, the Army halted the creation of new divisions, because the anticipated cross-channel assault was postponed to 1944, and the shipment of units overseas was behind schedule. The Army had to postpone, then cancel plans for 12 more divs in 1944 due to an increased demand from the air forces and supply units. The US needed some men in the production economy, a large Navy (approx. 4 million men)for the Pacific war and to convoy the troops to Europe. The Army eventually grew to over 8 million, but only 2.5 million were in the AGF and only about 89 divisions were raised. Alot of the manpower was siphoned off the the USAAF, rear-echelon units, and the navy. The Army had expanded greatly, and lacked qualified commanders, and needed officers and enlisted men to train and serve as cadres for follow-on divs. Also, the Army relied heavily on non-divisional units (separate tank, AA, TD battalions) and replacements to keep existing divisions somewhat up to strength. The downside of this is that with fewer divs, the existing units had to remain in the line longer. The Army classified their recruits on a test called the AGCT, the USAAF had the highest percentage of category I and II recruits (the highest categories), followed by the Army Service Forces. The AGF had the lowest percentage of cat I and II recruits, and the highest percentage of Cat IV and V recruits. Basically, the USAAF and the ASF had a higher priority than the ground forces. Within the AGF, the airborne and other specialized units had further priority over the infantry. The books go into much more detail, but I hope this helps somewhat.
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Rune Iversen
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Post by Rune Iversen »

Another vey classic book about the allied strategic situation in the fall of 1944 is Chester Willmotts "Crusade in Europe".

This book deals mainly with the difficulty the allied had with deciding upon a broader strategic plan (Montgomery/Pattons "Narrow thrust compared with Eisenhowers "Broad front"
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Redleg
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Post by Redleg »

I have a book, "Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare, 1943-1944". US War Department. Part of the US Army in WW2 series. Believe there was a 1941-1942 volume also.

These may cover some of the issues you are interested in.

You might be able to find it at:
http://bookstore.gpo.gov/sb/sb-098.html or similar sites.

Redleg
Major Ed
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Post by Major Ed »

The book 13Z mentioned is a part of the War Department's "green" book series. There are 30-40 books in the series. Most larger libraries in the US have a set in the reference section.

You can find a complete list of the books and a short synopsis of each at the Center for Military History's website:
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/wwii/11-9/11-9c.htm

Hope you find the information you want.

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Neil Stalker
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Post by Neil Stalker »

there is a series of articles at the military gamer site - www.militarygameronline.com called The Great Crusade that may answer a few of your questions. The series covers the war from Italy through to the end of the war in Europe.There is also a bibliography.
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Sunray
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Post by Sunray »

For most of your questions, read

COMMAND DECISIONS, CMH Pub 70-7

Its free on line at http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/70-7_0.htm
Chapter 1 = Germany First
Chapter 7 = Torch
Chapter 15 = the 90 division gamble
etc ...

Cheers
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