U.S. forces sealed off Libya before the fall of 1940.
Operation Torch
Unfortunately for the Allies, the Soviet Union declared war on Poland at the beginning of 1940. While their armies remained in continental Europe, Eisenhower planned and executed Operation Torch. After sealing off the Mediterranean Sea, the Americans landed a little under half of their effective combat divisions in Tunisia. The combination of armor and air support allowed the Allies to run over the Italian divisions stationed on the northern part of the continent.
The liberation of Ethiopia stymied the Allies, but only up to a point. The Italians defended their colony as best as they could, but Ike drove them into the Indian Ocean. Some of the divisions were able to escape to Italy, but many were cut off and destroyed by the U.S. and Royal Navies as they tried to pass through the Suez Canal.
Operations Husky and Fortitude
Allied landings in Sicily went off without a hitch.
With the destruction of many Axis divisions, General Eisenhower and his command staff turned their attention to plans for Operation Husky. The downfall of Sicily was swift and exacting, throwing the Italian Command Staff into complete disarray. The collapse of the defenses in Sardinia also deprived the Germans of a critical airbase, allowing the Army Air Corps to take control of the skies over the Tyrrhenian Sea and Italy proper.
The Allied commanders pondered an amphibious operation at Salerno or Rome, but the defenses in the region of Calabria opened up in early October of 1940. General Eisenhower ordered an amphibious operation to take Potenza. Several infantry divisions prepared their landing barges for the dual invasion, but it was here that the Italians dealt a heavy blow to American morale.
Amelia Earhart gave her all for her country on November 21st, 1940. She was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for her heroism over Italy.
While the death of Amelia Earhart was a hard hit, the Golden Angels carried on in the name of their commander. Since the beginning of the invasion, Earhart’s band of female flyers earned multiple awards, including seven Distinguished Flying Crosses, nineteen Bronze Stars, and the Distinguished Unit Citation. Despite their heroism, the advance on the ground turned into a bloody fight for the center of Italy. In an interview with Time after the war, General Eisenhower thought that their troubles were due to a lack of trained and organized Mountaineers.
Fortunately, the Allied advance retook Rome and created massive pockets all over the peninsula. The largest one was formed in July of 1942 at Anzio. Over 100 German and Italian divisions were trapped at the seaport by an Allied force that was a third of that size. Since they were cut off from the sea, the Axis forces ran out of supplies and surrendered to the Allies by the end of the month.
The victory at Anzio infuriated Hitler and Mussolini. Meanwhile, the Allies pushed into the Alps.
The surrender shocked the world, and proved to be a major PR coup for Roosevelt and Halifax. While they picked up major political boosts, General Eisenhower seized the initiative and began to plan for Operation Overlord. Rather than risk an amphibious invasion, the Americans planned to cross into Southern France on foot. The Italians and Germans were on the retreat. However, a British decision to land at Brittany hampered the Allied advance. Our brothers fought hard, but panzer divisions drove them back into the sea.
Operation Dragoon led to a bloody slugfest in south-central France. While it was a success, General Eisenhower forced the British to reinforce him in the south.
The Pacific War
U.S. Marines land at Guadalcanal, encountering little resistance.
While the fall of China and the invasion of India had shaken the Allies, U.S. forces embarked on an island-hopping campaign with next-to-no resistance from Japan. Led by General Douglas MacArthur, the U.S. Marine Corps marched across the Pacific with a series of carefully planned and executed landings that avoided heavy resistance. Naval Intelligence compelled the Marines to move on to the next objective, avoiding heavy fortifications that would take months to dislodge. Meanwhile, the American hold on the Philippines enabled the deployment of close air support on the enemy.
Ever since the Chinese disaster, the Administration feared the consequences of an invasion of Japan. However, President Roosevelt was not concerned at all. Secret cities were forming in the middle of America. They were a part of a highly classified program that would end of the war by any means necessary.
“I have become death, the destroyer of worlds.” – J. Robert Oppenheimer
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