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divisions in time. Churchill responded that it was "more difficult, less attractive, less immediately helpful or ultimately fruitful than
Roundup". After capturing Cherbourg and areas on the Cotentin Peninsula, the beachhead was to be defended and held through the winter of 1942 and into 1943 while troops were massed for a breakout operation to take place in spring 1943. The plan became popular and received the code name Sledgehammer. Hopkins added additional political weight to the proposed plan by opining that if US public opinion had anything to do with it, the war effort would be directed instead against Japan if an invasion of mainland Europe was not mounted soon.
224:
strategy and take the offensive in the
Pacific. Roosevelt said it would do nothing to help Russia. With Marshall unable to persuade the British to change their minds, President Roosevelt gave a direct order that Torch was to have precedence over other operations and was to take place at the earliest
168:
arrived in
Britain to press for a Second Front. After trying and failing to persuade Churchill, Molotov travelled on to Washington where he enjoyed a better reception and received more support for his requests. He then returned to London and was convinced that a second front in 1942 was actually part
114:
I am becoming more and more interested in the establishment of a new front this summer on the
European continent, certainly for air and raids. From the point of view of shipping and supplies it is infinitely easier for us to participate in because of a maximum distance of about three thousand miles.
219:
declined to approve the plan. Marshall and other U.S. generals continued to advocate
Operation Sledgehammer, which the British rejected. After Prime Minister Churchill pressed for a landing in French North Africa in 1942, Marshall suggested instead to President Roosevelt that the U.S. abandon the
160:
If
Sledgehammer had been carried out, the British could have landed only six divisions at most, but the Germans had 25–30 divisions in Western Europe. Assuming that it could be established in the first place, a beachhead on the Cotentin peninsula would be blocked off and attacked by land, sea and
72:
The operation was eagerly pressed for by both the United States military and the Soviet Union, but rejected by the
British, who concluded a landing in France was premature, and hence impractical. As a result, Sledgehammer was never carried out, and instead the British proposal for an invasion of
152:
Sledgehammer was a plan to capture the French seaports of either Brest or
Cherbourg during the early autumn of 1942 if Germany or the Soviet Union was at the brink of collapse. Sledgehammer was to be carried out mainly by British troops as the Americans could only supply two or three trained
225:
possible date, one of only two direct orders he gave to military commanders during the war. Torch met the
British objective of securing victory in North Africa and the American objective to engage in the fight against Nazi Germany on a limited scale.
183:
British officials pressed for action in North Africa, which would allow relatively-inexperienced
American forces to gain experience in a less risky theatre and the gradual buildup of overwhelming force before Germany was engaged head on. At the
156:
However, the elements required for such an operation were lacking: air superiority, amphibious warfare equipment, sufficient forces and adequate supply. In spite of this, the Joint Chiefs of Staff considered Sledgehammer to be feasible.
805:
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And even though losses will doubtless be great, such losses will be compensated by at least equal German losses and by compelling the Germans to divert large forces of all kinds from the Russian front.
161:
air. Cherbourg, the only suitable port, would no doubt be mined, and aircraft and artillery would be expected to attack the town in strength while the German armored forces were brought to bear.
820:
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was the original Allied plan for the invasion of continental Europe. It was to be mounted before April 1943 and executed by 48 divisions, 18 of which would be British.
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arrived in Britain to press the case for two possible American plans for a landing in Occupied France, Operation Roundup and Operation Sledgehammer.
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57:, the original Allied plan for the invasion of Europe in 1943. Allied forces were to seize the French Atlantic ports of either
196:. At the Second Claridge Conference in London, July 20–26, Churchill and Roosevelt aid Harry Hopkins agreed to substitute
24:
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Sledgehammer, which of necessity would be a largely British operation, given the lack of trained American forces in 1942.
815:
185:
50:
19:
This article is about a World War II military operation. For the 2012 Somali National Army and AMISOM offensive, see
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The Impact of the First World War on U.S. Policymakers: American Strategic and Foreign Policy Formulation, 1938–1942
212:
141:
54:
20:
676:. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. XI. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
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The Politics of the Second Front: American Military Planning and Diplomacy in Coalition Warfare, 1941-1943
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34:
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Cross-Channel Attack, 1942: The British Rejection of Operation Sledgehammer and the Cherbourg Alternative
778:
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748:
Allies and Adversaries: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Grand Alliance, and US Strategy in World War II
366:. Assistant editors: Carl O. Schuster, Paul J. Rose, William H. Van Husen. Garland Pub. p. 1270.
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via the English Channel "as soon as possible". In March 1942, in a letter to British Prime Minister
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Masters and Commanders: How Roosevelt, Churchill, Marshall and Alanbrooke Won the War in the West
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Senior U.S. commanders expressed strong opposition to the landings and after the western Allied
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in June 1942, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill decided to postpone the cross-
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239:, told Churchill that no major operation on the Continent could be carried out before 1944.
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during the early autumn of 1942, and amass troops for a breakout in the spring of 1943.
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The pressure to mount Sledgehammer increased further when Soviet Foreign Minister
649:– The War Department. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History.
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723:. Contributions in Military History. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
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53:. It was to be executed in 1942 and acted as a contingency alternative to
46:
94:
After the United States entered World War II in December 1941, the U.S.
23:. For the 2007 Operation that was part of Operation Marne Torch, see
556:
American Grand Strategy in the Mediterranean during World War II
272:
Matloff, Maurice (1990). "Introduction: The Basis of Strategy".
45:, as the first step in helping to reduce pressure on the Soviet
232:
was planned to take some of the pressure off the Soviet Union.
300:
The Marshall Story: A Biography of General George C. Marshall
215:(CCS) met in London on 30 July, General Marshall and Admiral
806:
Cancelled military operations involving the United Kingdom
811:
Cancelled military operations involving the United States
422:
Routledge Handbook of US Military and Diplomatic History
503:"Normandy Landings, Operations Overlord and Neptune"
425:. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis. 2013. p. 135.
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invasion until 1943 and make the first priority the
639:
Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare, 1943–1944
315:Sledgehammer was to be a largely British operation
275:Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare 1943–1944
750:. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: UNC Press Books.
77:took place in November 1942 under the code name
385:
383:
278:. Center of Military History United States Army
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393:The Second World War in Europe: Second Edition
821:Cancelled military operations of World War II
363:World War II in Europe : an encyclopedia
8:
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228:In the interim, a large-scale Canadian-led
558:. New York: Cambridge University Press.
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179:List of Allied World War II conferences
16:Planned World War II military operation
801:Battles and operations of World War II
777:(PhD thesis). University of Maryland.
446:Ward, Geoffrey C.; Burns, Ken (2014).
194:opening a second front in North Africa
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120:Roosevelt to Churchill, 9 March 1942
452:The Roosevelts: An Intimate History
235:In November 1942 Eisenhower, now a
674:The Invasion of France and Germany
647:United States Army in World War II
530:The Invasion of France and Germany
249:Diplomatic history of World War II
14:
608:1943: The Victory That Never Was
454:. Knopf Doubleday. p. 402.
327:Carew, Michael G. (2014-07-18).
360:Zabecki, David T., ed. (1999).
303:. Pickle Partners Publishing.
204:, for US reinforcement of the
1:
448:"The Common Cause: 1939–1944"
396:. Routledge. pp. 54–55.
25:Operation Sledgehammer (2007)
297:Payne, Robert (2017-02-07).
186:Second Washington Conference
773:Strange, Joseph L. (1984).
148:Operation Sledgehammer plan
98:pressed for an invasion of
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169:of Anglo-American policy.
41:invasion of Europe during
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610:. London: Penguin Books.
554:Buchanan, Andrew (2014).
746:Stoler, Mark A. (2003).
719:Stoler, Mark A. (1977).
390:Mackenzie, S.P. (2014).
230:raid on the French coast
213:Combined Chiefs of Staff
21:Battle of Kismayo (2012)
475:Willmott, H.P. (1984).
206:Western Desert campaign
696:. London: Allen Lane.
137:Operation Roundup plan
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31:Operation Sledgehammer
670:Morison, Samuel Eliot
177:Further information:
96:Joint Chiefs of Staff
526:Samuel Eliot Morison
125:On 8 April, General
816:Cancelled invasions
481:. Blandford Press.
333:. Lexington Books.
202:French North Africa
75:French North Africa
237:lieutenant general
200:, the invasion of
166:Vyacheslav Molotov
108:Franklin Roosevelt
67:Cotentin Peninsula
49:by establishing a
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478:June, 1944
90:Background
783:303317233
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741:. No. 12.
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540:, pp 7–17
63:Cherbourg
779:ProQuest
692:(2008).
672:(1957).
636:(1959).
626:42444987
606:(1999).
596:60071454
584:(1964).
282:April 9,
243:See also
118:—
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142:Roundup
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35:Allied
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662:2017
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622:OCLC
612:ISBN
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284:2016
129:and
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