We are darned lucky that Roosevelt didn't have his way with Churchill. Imagine the US Army of late 1942 invading France at Calais, say. We would have been lucky to evacuate 50% of our people. Dieppe writ large.
What a fool Roosevelt was. It seems like he was a knave as well. It looks like he had John Kennedy's morals. Americans elected him President four times.
Putting on my analyst's hat I see that Dieppe (August 19, 1942)prevented Roosevelt blowing the whole damned war. Seems like the Dieppe operation was a reconnaissance in force to assess the possibility of an invasion of France in 1942. The hard won answer was invasion yes, but survival, no.
OK piece on Dieppe, not highbrow:
http://users.pandora.be/dave.depickere/Text/dieppe.html
The only reason Torch worked at all is that the French were even more disorganized and pig headed than you would expect of the French.
War is such a shock. It cannot be put into words. People just freak. It is odd to watch happen, then it becomes tiresome. You become very old on the inside.
Patton knew what he was doing, but Eisenhower caused real damage by interfering with the actual fighting. In Sicily, also. By 1944 he came to see that he was, indeed, as MacArthur said of him, "The best clerk I ever had." Well, that is a little harsh, but Eisenhower was a political general, not a fighting general.
Speaking of Patton, both he and Rommel were most effective when they were the very closest possible to the actual battle. Fighting generals. James Gavin. MacArthur during the Great War, Creighton Abrams in WWII. Halsey in the Navy. Of my generation, General "Tommy" Franks, every bit the equal of any of the others.
Morning Iris7.
I agree that a landing in france in 1942 or 1943 would have been a disaster. The Germans were still too strong, the Luftwaffe was not defeated, not enough specialized landing craft, not enough troops, not enough training, and on and on.
Kasserine showed that the Americans were'nt ready to face the Germans head on. Better for us to learn at Kasserine and in Sicily than on the beaches of france.
What a fool Roosevelt was. It seems like he was a knave as well. When I read the section reproduced below, I wondered if Roosevelt intentionally did this in an attempt to make Churchill's plan fail (and by implication make himself appear smarter) or if he just had a callous disregard for the casualties he would cause, as has been suggested of Pearl Harbour.
In any event, Roosevelt was every inch a Democrat.
the president issued a warning over the radio to the French to capitulate. This message fully alerted the French defenders of the impending invasion and they were completely ready for it.