[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

[CougarGA7]

Both of these are letters from Stark the day after the attack on the Italian fleet. These do not have the new concerns concerning air strikes in them mostly due to what we see in this first letter; they really don’t have a lot of information on the details of this strike just yet. Once they get a chance to really digest what has just happened they will be a bit more concerned.

One of the focal points of this first letter from Stark to Admiral Richardson concerns the status of the war plan RAINBOW III. Those familiar with the war plans know that RAINBOW V was the plan that was in effect at the time the U.S. entered the war, but at this time it was still up in the air as to which of the plans would be the primary plan moving forward. In fact, at first there were only a request for 4 RAINBOW plans based on the expected scenarios and it was only after the Navy suggested the possibility of a “Pacific First” conflict with the assumption that Britain and France (at the time) would completely control things in the Atlantic that the 5th plan was put on the table (numbered 2 moving 2 through 4 to 3 through 5). RAINBOW III was the plan to control the western Pacific as fast as possible for the defense of North America.

The second one I find a bit humorous. It takes a couple jabs at the British and in an off handed way accuses them of intentionally trying to pull the U.S. into the war. Not to say that this in fact is not true. Churchill went so far as to tell his son Randolph only 8 days after becoming Prime Minister that drawing the U.S. in was how he could defeat the Nazis. Further in this letter from Stark to Admiral Hart, who is in charge of the Asiatic Fleet, is some insight on what the Navy leadership thinks will happen in the western Pacific in the event of war with Japan.