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Britain and America during World War II formed the most important military alliance in the history of warfare. Never before had two countries so coordinated their industruial, scientific, and military operations to defeat a common enemy. There were important differences between the two nations Many World War II histories stress the common ties of language and culture that bound America and Britain and to often ignore the very real differences. The Alliance in fact was created out of mutual necesity. [Soybel] Differences between the two countries were resolved or put aside to achieve the overal objective--the unconditional surrender of NAZI Germany. America had the industry and resources to do that. The British at great cost had gained the expeience and the appreciation of NAZI strengths that America in 1942 still lacked. The Alliance was forned by the personal commitment of President Roosevelt and Primeminister Churchill. This personal relationship helped over come the very real differences between the two countries. The relationship began with aid to Britain, especially after the fall of France. A key factor in the Alliance was Lend Lease. Joint military planning began even before America entered the War and was based on agreement that the number one priority was the defeat of NAZI Germany. The Allied leaders met in a series of war conferences to make major decessions. The achievment of the alliance are very extensive and include victory in the North Atlantic, the key victory of the Western Allies. Specific achiievements of the Alliance are notable. The P-51 Mustang which broke the Luftwaffe was a marriage of an American air frame and a British engine. The very important code-breaking operation was an Anglo-American operation. Victory in the North Atlantic was an Anglo-Amerucan indertaking with an important Canaduian contribution. The British shared their scientific advances on radar abnd the United States developed the technology to mass produce radar sets. The D-Day invasion was a joint undertaking of breath taking proportions. It succeeded in large measure because the British managed to delay it until 1944 and America provided the air power to drive the Luftwaffe out of France as well as an abundance of supplies needed to cross the Channel. The Manhattan Project creating the atomic bomb was another joint undertaking.
Britain and America during World War II formed the most important military alliance in the history of warfare. Never before had two countries so coordinated their industruial, scientific, and military operations to defeat a common enemy. The British could have never reentered the Contginent without the Americans. The Americans would have had great difficulty even fighting the Germans without the British springboard.
There were important differences between the two nations Many World War II histories stress the common ties of language and culture that bound America and Britain and to often ignore the very real differences. One of the major differences was the British Empire. At the time the Empire was still very important to Britain and most particularly to Churchill. America and President Roosevelt were very critical of imperialism. The Alliance in fact was created out of mutual necesity. [Soybel]
America had the industry and resources to defeat NAZI Germany. Britain by the time America entered the War, had stopped the NAZIs at the Channel, but faced a European continent now dominated by NAZI Germany. The British at great cost, however, had gained the expeience and the appreciation of NAZI strengths that America in 1942 still lacked.
The Alliance was formed by the personal commitment of President Roosevelt and Primeminister Churchill. President Roosevelt wrote to Churchill after he was recalled to the Admiralty in the opening days of the War. What followed was the development of a momentous personal relationship. After exchanging letters and assisted by Harry Hopkins diplomacy, the two finally met at the Atlantic Conference off Canada, jist before America entered the War (November 1941). This personal relationship helped over come the very real differences between the two countries. The personal commitment of the two leaders overcame the substantial differences between the two countries. Commanders who could not cooperate were replaced. Even Britain's most important commander was almost replaced because of his insubordinate behavir toward Eisenhower.
World War II histories often refer to Britain fighting alone. In fact Britain was never entirely alone. The relationship began with aid to the Allies even before the NAZIs launched the War. TZhe relationship with Britain deepened after the fall of France. American amended the Neutrality Acts. President Roosevelt saw to it that Britain received moth-balled destroyers for the Nattle of the Atlantic. The nost important assistance program was the passage of Lend Lease. America undertook the protection of Iceland, releaving British troops. And the President committed the American Navy to a shooting war in the Noth Atlantic months before the United states entered the War. These actions were virtual acts of war. Hitler who thought nothing of invading neutral countries which were not taking hostile acts, held off from retailating. U-boat commanders were even ordered to avoid action with the U.S. Navy. Hitler wanted to keep America out of the War as long as possible.
Adolf Hitler on December 11, 1941, declared war on the United States. This conviently solved FDR's dilema of how to enter the war against the NAZIs when America had been attacked by the Japanese. Curiously, America was the only country on which Hitler ever declared war. The entry of America into the War changed all calculations of strategic ballance. The Soviets alone in 1941 were already out producuing the Germans in many areas such as tanks. The entry of America was to mean that German war production would be only a fraction of Allied production and that difference was already being felt on the battlefield. The story of American industry in the War is phenomenal. FDR in 1941 was already supplying Britain and the Soviets through Lend Lease. The declaration of war enabled FDR to harnass the vast American economy to war production. This was something that the Germans had still not done as late as 1942. Within the first year alone, America built 24,000 tanks and 48,000 planes. An impressive start, but just the beginning. American industry in 1942 equaled the armaments production of all three AXIS countries combined. And this was occurring at a time when the Societs alone, not to mention the British, were already out producuing the Germans. America in 1944 doubled its arms production again. [Fest, p. 656.] These were numbers the Germans could not hope to match. In no theater did these overwealming numbers show up more than the air campaign. At a time that the Luftwaffe could not fulfill its required role along the vast Eastern Front, a tidal wave of long range American bombers (B-19 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators) flowed into England, each had the range to hit every German city including Berlin. The American planes began arriving in England early in 1942. England became, in effect, a huge unsinkable air craft carrier in the North Sea. Combined with the RAF's new Avro-Lancasters, the Allies were building a massive air armada aimed at German industry.
Joint military planning began even before America entered the War and was based on agreement that the number one priority was the defeat of NAZI Germany. Differences between the two countries were resolved or put aside to achieve the overal objective--the unconditional surrender of NAZI Germany. Strangely this was not a carefully considered goal. In fact it seems to have been a goal set by President Roosevelt at the Casablanca Conference without even consulting Primeminister Churchill.
The Allied leaders met in a series of war conferences to make major decessions. The achievment of the alliance are very extensive and include victory in the North Atlantic, the key victory of the Western Allies. Some of these conferences included other allies, includig the Soviets, but the Anglo-American consultations were central to the war in the west.
President Roosevelt had committed the U.S. to a shooting war in the North Atlantic by fall 1941.
It was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, however, that finally brought America into the War (December 7, 1941). The Allies had already decided that defeating NAZI Germany would be the primary objective. Within a few weeks after the Japanese attack, the first of what would become a flood of Amerucan troops into Britain was underway. Even before this the Americans and British had been discussing the formation of the Vth U.S Army Corps at bases in Ulster (Morthern Ireland) and Scotland. Roosevelt and Churchill decided that U.S troops would take over the defence of Ulster which would free up British soldiers for deployment elsewherein other locations. Ulster was important because it provided air bases and sea bases to support the Atlantic convoys. It also provided staging nd training areas for American army units. The first Americans units left New York for Belfast (January 6, 1942). The first American landed at Belfast (January 26, 1942). He became something of a celeberty. Ironically that soldier was Milburn Henke, a naturalised citizen of German ancestry. Military facilities did not exist to accomodate the number of Americans who were arriving and the operations they wuld undertake. The Americans set about construct 26 new airfields and improving naval dock facilities at Derry. These facilities would play an important role in the critical Battle of the Atlantic, vital to ensure that Britain';s new American ally could project its power to Britain and beyond. .
America began building in facilities in early 1942. American and British Chiefs of Staff on January 13, 1942 order the movement of US air forces to the United Kingdom to support the existing British air campaign against Germany. The first American airmen (1,400 men) sail for Northern Ireland on January 18. Major General Ira Eaker is appointed Commanding General, Bomber Command, US Army Forces in British Isles (USAFBI) and on January 31, 1942 ordered to the United Kingdom. The War Department officially states on April 7, 1942 that the 8th Air Force will be established in the UK. Lieutenant General Henry "Hap" Arnold on April 12 completes air plans for Operation BOLERO, the buildup of US armed forces in the UK for an attack on Europe. The advanced echelon of HQ 8th Air Force and bomber, interceptor and base commands, along with 15th Bombardment Squadron (Light), 2nd Air Depot Group, and a weather detachment totalling about 1,800 men, on April 27 sailed from Boston, Massachusetts for the UK. The 8th Air Force was to become the largest air unit ever committed to battle. It would play a fundamental role in taking the war to Hitler's 1,000 year Reich.
Specific achievements of the Alliance are notable. The P-51 Mustang which broke the Luftwaffe was a marriage of an American air frame and a British engine. The very important code-breaking operation was an Anglo-American operation. Victory in the North Atlantic was an Anglo-Amerucan indertaking with an important Canaduian contribution. The British shared their scientific advances on radar and the United States developed the technology to mass produce radar sets. The Manhattan Project creating the atomic bomb was another joint undertaking.
Britain's only significan land victory during World War II without the Americans was El Alemaine (October 1942). Mongomery was only able to accomplish it, however, with staggering quantities of American equipment and supplies. The following Operations-- Torch (November 1942), Sicily (July 1943), and Italy (September 1943) were all Anglo-American operations. The D-Day invasion was a joint undertaking of breath-taking proportions. It succeeded in large measure because the British managed to delay it until 1944 and America provided the air power to drive the Luftwaffe out of France as well as provide an abundance of supplies needed to cross the Channel. The ensuing lineration of France and the Low Lands and the invasion of Germany were all Anglo-Americam operations. Here we should mention that the British 8th Army had many units from other Allied countries including Australians, Canada, France New Zealanders, Palestinian Jews, Poles and others. The British armies in France had an important Canadian contribution. The Strategic Air Campaign and the Battle of the Atlantic were also joint military operations.
Soybel, Phyllis L. A Necessary Relationship The Development of Anglo-American Cooperation in Naval Intelligence (Praeger, 2005), 190p.
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