Table Of Content

COMMAND DECISIONS Ediled With Introductory Essay By Kenl Roberts Greenfield The ;) IIthors Martin Blumcnson Maurice Matloff Robert W. Coakley Ralph S. Mavrogordato Slelson Conn Leo J. Meyer Byron Fairchild John Miller, jr. Richard M. Leighton Lou is MOrlon Charles V. P. von Lutlichau Forresl C. Pogue Charles B. MacDonald Roland G. Ruppenthal Sidney T. Malhews Robert Ross Smilh Earl F. Ziemke CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STilTES ARMY D.c. WASHINGTON, 1987 Library or Congress Catalog Card Number: 59-60007 The material in Decisions I. 2. 4-7. 9-14. and 16-23 appeared in © the Ilarcourt. Brace edition or 1959 by COII/II/alld DmJIOIIJ. Harcourt. Brace and Company. Inc. Fir'il I'tilllt'd 19IiO-Ci\IIJ Puh 70-7 I>'or sate by the Suprnnl.endenl or lJoc:umentll, U.S. Government Prmtmg Office Wll8hmgton. OC 2Q40:.!. Foreword The Center of Military History takes pleasure in offering Com mand Decisions in a new paperback format. The text remains un changed from previous printings. This widely acclaimed study analyzes a series of key decisions by heads of state and military commanders during World War II. As an adjunct to the U.S. Army in World War II series, the volume consists of twenty-three fully researched and separate essays that present a stimulating range of interpretive viewpoints. The authors include some of the most respected names in the field of military history. Command Decisions has proved extremely useful to both the military and academic communities. This softback edition should continue to appeal to readers int~rested in military history and specifically in the processes of critical decision-making at the highest levels. DOUGLAS KINNARD Washington, D.C. Brigadier General, USA (Ret.) 15 November 1983 Chief of Military History The U.S. Army Center of Military History The Center of Military History prepares and publishes histories as required by the U.S. Army. It coordinates Army historical mat ters, including historical properties, and supervises the Army muse um system. It also maintains liaison with public and private agencies and individuals to stimulate interest and study in the field of military history. The Center is located at 20 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20314. III Preface Decision has always exerted a powerful attraction for the student of military affairs. In the study of decisions in war, whether on the field of battle or in the councils of state, lie the great lessons of the conflicts that have shaped the course of history. These lessons the professional soldier seeks in order to fit himself for the ultimate responsibilities of command; the student of human affairs seeks them to explain past events. The historians writing the history of the United States Army in World War II have had a unique opportunity to study the decisions of that conflict. The response of the Army's schools and colleges, as well as the public, to this aspect of their work emphasized for them the interest of soldier and scholar alike in decision-making in war at various levels of government and command. As research progressed and material with which to illustrate this theme accumulated, it appeared that a book on the subject based on the work already ac complished would be of interest to a variety of readers: This volume is an outgrowth of that idea. It is not designed to be a systematic or comprehensive treatise on decision-making. Nor could it be. Because of the limitation of time selection had to be based more on readily available material than on such criteria as balance between levels of command, areas of opera tion, or the relative importance of the decison. Chosen therefore almost entirely from work already done, anp arranged in chronolog ical order, these studies are complete in themselves. Each can be read independently of the others. Only in the Introductory Essay has an effort been made to relate the decisions to each other and to the general problems of decision-making. All of the studies included in this volume deal with World War II. This restriction was agreed upon, not in order to make this a book about World War II, but because that is the field of study in which research and thought of the Army's historians is at present furthest advanced in depth and maturity. In publishing this volume the Office of the Chief of Military History has, in short, declared an extra dividend on its series, UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II. At a later date, when work on the postwar series now in v progress has advanced far enough, it may be possible to do the same for the UNITED STATES ARMY IN THE CONFLICT WITH THE COMMUNIST POWERS. Only one of these studies, the first, has been written specifically for this collection. The others have been derived from lectures, articles, and chapters of books in print or still on their way to publi cation. All have been recast to meet the requirements of the present volume. And in every case, they are studied reflections on events to which for a number of years the authors have been devoting their research and writing. The form of the present volume and the final selection of the studies to be included in it are the responsibility of a Panel composed of Col. Seneca Foote, Charles B. MacDonald, Maurice Matloff, Leo J. Meyer, Louis Morton, and Lt. Col. Ernest E. Steck, under the chairmanship of the Chief Historian, K. R. Greenfield. The task of assembling the studies originally was performed by Lt. Col. Clifton P. Semmens. Cotonel Steck has looked after the cartographic illustra tions. Preparation of the chronology, inserted as an aid to recollec tion, was supervised by Colonel Foote. Miss Ruth Stout did the final editing and, with the assistance of Mrs. Loretto Stevens, prepared the volume for the printer. Virginia C. Leighton compiled the index. To all these the authors wish to acknowledge their appreciation; respon sibility for the contents is theirs alone. Washington, D.C. THE PANEL 10 October 1958 VI Contents Number Page INTRODUCTORY ESSAY by Kent Roberts Greenfield ........ . 1. GERMANY FIRST: THE BASIC CONCEPT OF ALLIED STRATEGY IN WORLD WAR II by Louis Morton. . 11 The Color Plans, 1919-1938. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Strategic Adjustment, 1938-1940. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 The Critical Summer if 1940. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Shift to the Atlantic, September 1940-January 1941. . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 The Decision Is Made. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 2. THE GERMAN DECISION TO INVADE NORWAY AND DENMARK by Earl F. Ziemke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 German Interest in Norway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 The First Planning Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 The Final Planning Phase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 The Decision in Retrospect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 3. DECISION TO LAND UNITED STATES FORCES IN ICELAND, 1941 by Byron Fairchild. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 The Shifting Focus of American Interest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 The President's Decision and the War Department's Response. . . . . . 80 Problems, Remote and Immediate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 INDIGO Planning, First Phase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 A New Decision: Reinforcement, Not Relief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 A Final Glance at the INDIGO Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 4. JAPAN'S DECISION FOR WAR by Louis Morton........ 99 The Journey Begins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 The Road to War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 The Fatal Turn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 The End if the Road. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 5. THE DECISION TO EVACUATE THE JAPANESE FROM THE PACIFIC COAST by Stetson Conn...... 125 6. THE DECISION TO WITHDRAW TO BATAAN by Louis Morton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 War Plan ORANGE ... " .... ' . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 152 MacArthur's Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 "WPO-3 Is in Effect". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Effects?! the Decision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 VII ~~n ~~ 7. THE DECISION TO INVADE NORTH AFRICA (TORCH) by Leo J. Meyer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Plans for Cross-Channel Operations Get the Green Light. . . . . . . . . . 176 The President Breaks the Deadlock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 The Issue of Inside Versus Outside Landings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 The Transatlantic Essay Contest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 8. U.S. MERCHANT SHIPPING AND THE BRITISH IM- PORT CRISIS by Richard M. Leighton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Anglo-American Shipping Collaboration in 1942. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Casablanca and the Six-Million-Ton Misunderstanding. . . . . . . . . . . 206 The Shipping Crisis ofM arch 1943. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 The President Disposes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 9. THE PERSIAN CORRIDOR AS A ROUTE FOR AID TO THE USSR by Robert W. Coakley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 The Soviet Protocols and the Routes of Delivery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 Early Failure To Develop the Persian Gulf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 The Northern Route and the Second Protocol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 The Problem in Iran. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 The July Crisis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 The Decision on American Responsibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 The Military Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 The CCS Decision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 The Results of the Decision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 10. OVERLORD VERSUS THE MEDITERRANEAN AT THE CAIRO-TEHRAN CONFERENCES by Richard M. Leighton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Tools of Amphibious War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 Alarums and Excursions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 First Cairo: The Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 Tehran: Enter ANVIL, Compromise on OVERLORD. . . . . . . . . . . 271 Second Cairo: Scratch BUCCANEER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 11. MACARTHUR AND THE ADMIRALTIES by John Miller, jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 The Background: Rabaul and the Central Pacific. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 Decision To Expand Into. the Bismarck Archipelago. . . . . . . . . . . . 291 Japanese Decisions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Decision To Send a Reconnaissance Force to the Admiralties. . . . . . . 295 The Decision To Remain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 12. HITLER'S DECISION ON THE DEFENSE OF ITALY by Ralph S. Mavrogordato. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 13. GENERAL LUCAS AT ANZIO by Martin Blumenson. . . . 323 Vlll Number Page 14. GENERAL CLARK'S DECISION TO DRIVE ON ROME by Sidney T. Mathews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 15. THE 90-DIVISION GAMBLE by Maurice Matloft'. . . . . . . . 365 16. THE ANVIL DECISION: CROSSROADS OF STRATEGY by Maurice Matloft'. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 17. GENERAL BRADLEY'S DECISION AT ARGENTAN (13 AUGUST 1944) by Martin Blumenson. . . . . . . . . . . . 401 18. LOGISTICS AND THE BROAD-FRONT STRATEGY by Roland G. Ruppenthal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419 19. THE DECISION TO LAUNCH OPERATION MARKET- GARDEN by Charles B. MacDonald. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429 20. THE GERMAN COUNTEROFFENSIVE IN THE AR- DENNES by Charles V. P. von Luttichau. . . . . . . . . . . . 443 The Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444 Strategic and Tactical Considerations Influencing the Decision. . . . . . 448 The Consequences if the Ardennes Decision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458 21. LUZON VERSUS FORMOSA by Robert Ross Smith. . . . . 461 The Strategic Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461 The Debate Over Luzon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466 22. THE DECISION TO HALT AT THE ELBE by Forrest C. Pogue .................. , ................... , ... .. 479 The Situation in the Spring of 1945. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480 Berlin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482 A Line if Demarcation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488 Prague. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492 23. THE DECISION TO USE THE ATOMIC BOMB by Louis Morton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493 The Interim Committee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494 Military Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 The Decision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506 The Japanese Surrender. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514 CHRONOLOGY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519 CODE NAMES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529 BASIC MILITARY MAP SYMBOLS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533 INDEX............................ ............ ............ 535 IX