The U.S. in WWII
1942-43
Ernest J. King
George C. Marshall
Chester W. Nimitz
Japanese Offensives of 1941 - 1942
The Philippines hold out…
…until May 1942

Journey into captivity
since known as the
“Bataan Death March”
U.S. Navy raids Japanese bases
Battle of the Coral Sea, May 3-8,
1942
First Carrier Battle

Shoho, Lexington sunk

Japanese invasion turned back
Battle of Midway, June 4-5, 1942

Japanese carrier force destroyed

Yorktown also sunk
Allied Strategic Issues

“Germany First”:

What was the best way to knock Germany out of the
war?
The British or “Peripheral” Strategy





Strategic bombing.
Aid to the U.S.S.R.
Support subversive activities in occupied
Europe.
Employ armored, mobile forces on edges
of German-controlled territory.
Avoid direct, large-scale confrontation with
Wehrmacht until risk minimal.
Strategy of U.S. military planners.


Defeat of Germany required large-scale
land operation in northwest Europe.
Sought to engage and destroy Wehrmacht
as soon as feasible


Constrained by need to mobilize men and
material.
Reflected appreciation of...?
U.S.-proposed operations for
Europe.

Operation BOLERO:


Operation SLEDGEHAMMER:


Build-up of U.S. ground and air forces in
England starting in 1942.
Emergency invasion in Europe for 1942.
Operation ROUNDUP

Larger invasion envisioned for 1943.
Churchill proposes another idea…

The invasion of northwest Africa.


Reflects British strategy.
Assists current Allied operations against
Rommel’s Afrika Korps
The decision for Operation TORCH


Roosevelt: committed
to engaging U.S.
ground troops against
German forces in
1942.
British: absolutely
opposed to
SLEDGEHAMMER
The Consequences of TORCH

Cross-Channel invasion delayed:


Partially due to ongoing material shortages.
Partially due to momentum generated by
Allied forces committed to the
Mediterranean.
But as time goes on…

Approach of U.S. military planners comes
to dominate Allied strategy.



With some help from Stalin.
Reflects changing nature of AngloAmerican relationship.
U.S. planners at times will threaten to
divert more resources to Pacific War.
Mechanisms for Cooperation



U.S. creates the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (JCS)
U.S. JCS joins with British counterparts to
create the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS).
British and U.S. create joint and combined
commands for particular geographic areas
as well.
Manpower & Selective Service

1942: all males 18-64 required to register.


Upper limit ultimately dropped to 38.
During war, 36 million men registered


10 million inducted into military
6.4 million rejected (mostly for medical
reasons)
How many served?




16 million, between Dec. 1941 and Dec.
1946.
At war’s end, 12 million people in uniform.
1/6 of U.S. male population served.
Army creates only 90 divisions.
Labor and the war

The induction of so
many young adult men,
combined with war
demands, created labor
needs filled by other
groups:




Women
African Americans
Agricultural laborers
Retirees
Labor demand spurred migration


Workers came from
Southern & Prairie
states.
Went to factories in
North & East, parts of
Midwest, and the
Pacific coast.
Industrial Mobilization



Goes smoother, more efficient than WWI.
Problems with competing needs, multiple
demands for resources.
Agencies created to centralize mobilization
policy:


War Production Board (1942)
Office of War Mobilization (1943)
Harnessing Science

Government agencies
contracted with
university and
industrial labs to
pursue war-related
research &
development
products.
The Intelligence War

ULTRA: highest
classification of
intelligence gained from
breaking Axis codes.


Much came from British
breaking German Enigma
codes.
MAGIC: intelligence
gained from U.S. ability to
break Japanese “Purple”
codes.
Important use of intelligence:
The Battle of the Atlantic
Defeat of the U-boats stemmed from:






Building merchant
ships
Building escorts
Convoys
Better air cover
Intelligence
Technology
Guadalcanal:
August 1942 – February 1943

Campaign
encompasses
ground, sea & air
combat.

7 major naval
battles
Meanwhile, in New Guinea…

Australian & U.S. troops stop a Japanese overland
advance towards Port Moresby (July-Sept. 1942).
MacArthur’s forces drive Japanese
troops back

Take Buna on north
coast by end of 1942.
Pacific Commanders

William Halsey

Douglas MacArthur
Operation CARTWHEEL:
June 1943-March 1944
Germany First?


Into 1943, U.S. sends about same number
of ground troops & planes to Europe and
Japan.
Most ships deployed to Pacific.
Operation TORCH:
November 8, 1942
Allied forces
stymied in Tunis

Will hook up with
Montgomery’s British
8th Army in March.
U.S. troops
routed at
Kasserine Pass,
February 1943
Strategy Conference:
Casablanca, January 1943

Invasion of Sicily
approved.



Operation HUSKY
Churchill proposes
invasion of Italy
Cross-Channel
invasion to be delayed
to 1944.
Sicily: July-August, 1943
July 1943: Mussolini overthrown


Germans react
quickly.
Italians don’t want to
fight for the Allies.
Allied forces land in September
Italy 1944: Anzio & Cassino
Images of
Monte Cassino
Rome captured June 4, 1944
Tehran Conference:
November-December, 1943

Western Allies commit
to cross-Channel
invasion in 1944.


Operation OVERLORD
Also agree to an
invasion of southern
France.