How America Had Prepared To Enter WW2 | Battlezone | War Stories

[Music] um [Music] in those first anxious months after pearl harbor the united states gradually adapted itself to the tremendous demands of a global war in washington our immediate military capabilities and our potential strength as well were carefully weighed by the commander-in-chief who took personal command and directed the part all americans would play in the war effort we know now that if we lose this war it will be generations or even centuries before our conception of democracy can live again and if we can lose this war it will be only because we slow up our effort and waste our ammunition sniping at each other here are three high purposes for every american first we shall not stop work for a single day if any dispute arises we shall keep on working while the dispute is solved in the american way by mediation conciliation or arbitration until the war is won second we shall not demand special gains or special privileges or advantages for any one group or occupation third we shall give up conveniences and modify the routine of our lives if our country asks us to do so we will do it cheerfully remembering that the common enemy seeks to destroy every home and every freedom in every part of our land as his principal advisor on the vital military planning of our conduct of the war against our enemies in europe and asia the president commander-in-chief of the armed forces relied heavily on his chief of staff general george catlett marshall marshall's rapid absorption of the fundamentals of a presentation his decisiveness and his utter refusal to entertain any thought of failure infused the whole war department with energy and confidence his ability to delegate authority not only expedited work but impelled every subordinate to perform beyond his own suspected capacity it would have been easy for general marshall during 1940 and 41 to drift along with the current to let things slide in anticipation of a normal end of a brilliant military career instead he had for many months deliberately followed the hard way determined that at whatever cost to himself or to anyone else the army should be decently prepared for the conflict a little more than two months after pearl harbor brigadier general eisenhower succeeded general leonard giroud as assistant chief of staff in the war plans division it was evident that somewhere on the war department level there would have to be an agency which could assemble and concentrate the sum total of strategic information for general marshall's attention in early march general eisenhower became the first chief of the newly created operations division principal concern of our top strategist in washington was which of our imposing enemies to attack first the situation in the pacific dominated by the japanese who in the western pacific was almost as swift as hitler's early successes in europe with a vital part of our pacific fleetlands submerged or crippled at pearl harbor the japanese controlled the vast stretches of the pacific as far east as the hawaiian islands the vulnerable american position in hawaii was a major concern of our top commanders in washington the garrison in hawaii was so weak that there was general agreement between the war and navy departments that its air and ground strength should be reinforced as rapidly as possible and should take priority over other efforts in the pacific the navy department had given general marshall no estimate of the date when they expected the fleet to be sufficiently repaired and strengthened to take offensive action in the pacific area our naval situation in the western pacific was at that moment completely depressing the fleet could not attempt any aggressive action far from a secure base and dared not venture with surface vessels into philippine waters it was painfully clear that the philippines could not at that time be reinforced directly by land and sea forces but our military problem concerning our asiatic enemy was not confined to the islands of the pacific on the western shore of the continental united states the japanese successors were regarded with mounting apprehension by americans in the state's west of the rockies many feared that a japanese invasion was imminent the clamor of ground and air commanders on the west coast for defensive strength clamors emphasized in hysterical terms by mayors city councils and congressmen would if answered have absorbed more than all united states shipping troops and immediately available anti-aircraft force than in existence the most pressing problem of the moment to the army high command in washington was supplying and reinforcing allied fighting forces in strategic positions all over the world australia was the base nearest to the philippines that we could hope to establish and maintain reinforcement of this australian base and the island stepping stones to it was a continuous process throughout the winter equally important was our air supply route via south america to eastern africa a vital link with british forces based in egypt and to the british hate army which was desperately fighting the germans on the north african desert russia was accessible by way of the middle east and our sea route to india was the vital line of supply for isolated china most heavily attacked of all our convoys were those on the run to great britain and to northern russia by way of the arctic ocean meanwhile in washington the operations division worked around the clock formulating the plans for the pattern of our future blows against the enemy through the 24 hours of each day a steady stream of reports requests for decisions summaries of intelligence poured into operations division from every continent and from the islands of the pacific still held by us and our lives rifles for coastal command [Music] the defense measures in this area less than a month after the attack on pearl harbor britain's prime minister winston churchill arrived in washington to confer with president roosevelt on the most effective methods of coordinating british and american war plans on both a military and a political level this historic meeting was the first of many conferences of british and american leaders charged with mapping overall policy for a live military strategy throughout the war fight effectiveness in world war ii established for all time the feasibility of developing and employing joint control machinery that can meet the sternest tests of war the key to the matter is a readiness on highest levels to adjust all nationalistic differences that affect the strategic employment of combined resources with these two things done success rests in the vision the leadership the skill and the judgment of the professionals making up command and staff groups in world war ii america and great britain understood and applied these troops in december 1941 the united states was faced with the problem of which way to turn to the west the nation which would attack us a few weeks earlier must be stopped in the islands of the south pacific to the east lay the nation which hoped to conquer the world led by the little fearer who planned to stifle freedom everywhere our enemies widely separated strategically were each in possession of a rich empire the british and american staff saw no reason to change prior conclusions that the european enemy should be the first object of our [Music] attacks immediacy of movement was the keynote we had to attack to win it was a period of intense activity [Music] that's [Music] the normal channels of administration were abandoned the slow and methodical process of drawing up detailed movement orders was ignored a single telephone call would start an infantry unit across the continent troops and equipment and trained with nothing in writing to show by what authority they moved but the really tough job of transportation was getting american troops to england to train for the day when the allies would be strong enough to attack the german army in those first months after pearl harbor thousands of american soldiers embarked at east coast port getting them safely to england depended on the cooperation of every american at home for the slightest mention of the departure for overseas of a friend or relative however innocently meant might be intercepted by enemy agents and possibly caused the loss of many american life to combat such unguarded talk the us government launched an extensive drive to remind the young thinking citizen of the urgent necessity for him to obey security regulations at all times the campaign was a great success most americans quickly learned not to indulge in any speculation on troop movements ship sailings or possible locations of american camps overseas the enemy was not standing idly by while the united states slowly gathered its forces the axis high command in berlin plotted to thwart any offensive move we might make the nazi's major weapon against our transfer of troops to england was the submarine roaming the length and breadth of the atlantic the u-boats made the ocean crossing a risky operation for any allied ship each trip between the us and england was a dangerous mission for monotonous but not everyone on the atlantic was asleep [Music] most of the gi's even those who had never seen an ocean liner before looked forward to the day when they would put into an english port and they could once again move about more freely on dry land until then it was just a matter of continuing to exist [Music] the most dangerous moments for those on shipboard were at dawn and at dusk at these times the crew was always doubly alert yes yes in the late winter of 1941 42 the u-boat campaign in the atlantic was at almost the height of its effectiveness we were monthly losing ships including valuable tankers by the score the typical month was march 1942 when we lost in the atlantic and arctic areas 88 allied and neutral ships of 507 502 tonnage during may 1942 when 120 allied and neutral vessels were sunk in the same waters the united states sustained its highest loss of merchant shipping in any one month of the war 40 vessels for a time even our vital sea lines to south america were in peril shipping was at a premium simultaneously we needed every type of fighting vessel cargo and personnel ship but in spite of these considerable losses the united states was succeeding in landing thousands of american fighting men on english shores in june 1942 general eisenhower was placed in command of the european theater of operations united states army and quickly assumed his post in london the enormity of the job at hand made it imperative that he plunged into work at once the united states theater in europe was established for the purpose of preparing the american part of the invasion of the continent agreed upon between the british and american governments as the main strategical effort in defeating germany across the english channel only twenty miles away within sight of the british coast the germans were hard at work turning the coast of france into the outer wall of the new nazi fortress of europe which they called festung europa to storm that fortress the invader would have to face the mightiest weapons the nazis could bring to bear on the beaches in june 1942 the possibility of best tongue europa being stormed successfully seemed remote indeed [Music] in the summer of 1942 as the light offensive strength was masked in england that courageous nation was still suffering from the battle of britain the luftwaffe no longer got through as often as it had earlier in the war but it would be many months and even years before london would resemble its pre-war south life of the british became even more bleak as the scarcity of food resulted in further cutting of the already meager rations that year the british citizen was limited to 24 cents worth of meat as his total allotment for the week our friendly invasion would vastly increase the strain on the population we had to expect inevitable clashes with civilian processes and in spite of the best will in the world on both sides we had to anticipate and do our best to prevent mutual irritations that would naturally lead to misunderstandings and could not fail to impede the war effort if the united kingdom had possessed great open spaces in which to concentrate the american forces the problem would have been less acute intensive programs were devised to fit the newly arrived americans into the highly complex life of a thickly populated area for american gi's the little luxuries of life were available at their own post exchanges the scarcities which had become commonplace to every britain did not exist for the american soldier i have never yet met an american soldier who did not feel that america had a staunch and sturdy alive we found however that a british family inspired by a determination to show real hospitality was likely to utilize an entire week's rations to entertain an american at once we encourage soldiers to carry rations on these home visits on the streets of english cities american troops became a familiar site oh [Music] the major problem of accommodating the two million americans who would be arriving in britain during the next two years was the immediate task at hand the plan to bring large fighting forces to great britain required those highly populated islands to ready themselves for the absorption of two million americans and to provide for them necessary facilities including training grounds in which to prepare for the great invasion because of the density of population every soldier arriving in england made living conditions just that much more difficult training a man into perfect physical condition is not the only concern of a good army commander an equally important consideration is the psychological preparation for a soldier about to go into battle i have heard commanders attempt to oversimplify this psychological problem with the assertion that soldiers fight for only a few times cynical speech is an intelligent human being who demands and deserves basic understanding of the reasons why his country took up arms and of the conflicting consequences of victory or defeat yes take children from the faith of their fathers and teach them the state as the only church and the head of the state is the voice of god hello [Music] so that was the way of life or better way of death in that other word belief in an underlying cause is as important to success in war as any local discipline from america two came the machines and equipment the troops would need in mounting an invasion force the modest flow of material which landed in great britain in the summer of 1942 was to increase to gigantic proportions during the two years that followed but in the summer of 1942 the amount of that material fell short of allied needs the great bulk of the fighting equipment needed for the invasion did not exist production limitations ruled out any possibility of a full-scale invasion in 1942 or early 1943 indeed it soon became clear that unless practically all american and british production could be concentrated on the single purpose of supporting the invasion of europe that operation could not take place until early 1944 but the much needed equipment soon began arriving in larger quantities on the hopelessly overcrowded island the united kingdom was one gigantic air base workshop storage depot and mobilization camp it was claimed facetiously that only the great number of barrage balloons floating constantly in british skies kept the islands from sinking under the seas as the temple of preparations mounted the method by which the allies would finally come to grips with the enemy became the principal concern of general eisenhower and his associates there seemed to be three lines of action deserving of earnest study the first was the direct reinforcement of the british armies in the middle east in an effort to destroy rump second was to seize northwest africa to catch rummel in a giant vice the third was to undertake a limited operation on the northwest coast of france with a relatively small force a bridgehead for use in the large-scale invasion agreed upon as the ultimate objective meanwhile the allied air offensive against germany was accelerated while the luftwaffe's attacks on england declined in frequency and intensity the allied strikes were the greatest in the history of air warfare at that time [Music] heavy long-range bombers were becoming available in increasing numbers as many as 600 were often used in a single allied raid on germany [Music] the u.s army air forces believed in daylight bombing with the heavily defended fortress type of bomber as the backbone i emphatically agreed we believe that in close formations permitting concentration of a terrific firepower they could carry out daylight operations without undue losses [Music] there's charlie doing his twirl again i wish i had something like that to play with you guys wouldn't know what to do with a turd if you had one took six months to teach you how to pull a trigger well it enemy fighters at seven o'clock high [Applause] [Music] joe you're firing when they're too far out let them get in closer closer i could have kissed that last guy if you wish my type [Music] [Music] [Music] at the target areas deep in enemy territory allied bombers usually encountered stiff opposition but our losses at that time were not great and the results in bombed out nazi war factories and other military objectives were considerable bombs away in the months that followed the germans began to shoot down a higher percentage of our bombers which still operated without long-range fighter support the prime minister urged us to give up the whole idea of daylight bombing and start training our crews for night work their experience had driven them to bomb only at night otherwise they suffered unsupportable losses we believe that this was due to the fact that british bombers were designed for range and weightlifting at the expense of speed and defensive firepower the arguments on this point were long with neither side convinced on the nazi's other front our rational eyes were giving ground but stubbornly resisting germany's powerful eastern offensive with no enemy ground forces to contend with on the western front hitler concentrated a large percentage of his cracked troops in the titanic struggle with the russians russia was insistently demanding an offensive move by great britain and the united states during 1942 and there was a lively fear that unless such a move was undertaken the gravest consequences might ensue on the russian front in london on july 24 1942 at a top secret meeting of the combined chiefs of staff the decision on the location of the first allied ground offensive against hitler was made it was determined to proceed with the planning for the invasion of northwest africa with an allied force of all arms to be carried out under an american commander the operation received the name torch to most americans [Music] [Music] to the bulk of its population the war was of very little interest and business went on as usual nazi ships tied up regularly in north african ports such as algiers which were controlled by the bc french government to take aboard food and supplies for delivery to german troops in europe theoretically the vici french government was neutral and thus its french north african territory was free of access to any nation's ships but actually vici was unofficially under hitler's domination and the french north africans cooperating with vichy furnish the germans quantities of supplies the allies were aware of the alarming possibility the german troops might march unopposed through bc france and spain then cross over to spanish morocco thus sealing off the mediterranean completely and complicating any allied plans for a north african invasion spain's dictator francisco paulino franco though neutral had always been well disposed toward his fellow fascist in berlin the possibility of spain joining the axis was not considered far-fetched in the summer of 1942 under franco's control was spanish morocco across the street of gibraltar a most strategically situated north african territory which boasted some hundred and forty thousand native troops [Music] [Applause] key to the whole problem of possible resistance to an allied invasion of north africa was the vici french government which ruled the territory where the landings were to be made if premier since the fall of france in 1940 had been aging marshal henry philippe petan hero of the battle of verdun in world war one assuming peyton's powers in april 1942 was crafty pierre lavalle who followed a policy of complete collaboration with the nazis marshall peter was a name that at that moment was more profound in its influence on north african thinking and acting than any other factor each french commander had sworn an oath of personal field he to pay time none of these men felt that he could be absolved from that oath or could give any order unless given by admiral darla as their legal commander the prized french fleet was under the complete control of darla though he had constant dealings with the germans admiral dollar kept his promise to churchill never to turn the french fleet over to the nazis we had to be prepared to fight against forces which were estimated to number two hundred thousand but our governments were clear in their instructions that we were to strive to create an ally in north africa to try to unsnarl some of the unfortunate political complications president roosevelt sent to algiers as his personal representative mr robert murphy who became ranking state department officer in north africa affable friendly exceedingly shrewd he was admirably suited for his task unquestionably his missionary work had much to do with eventual success general eisenhower's headquarters for operation torch was established within sight of the african continent at gibraltar the only allied spot of ground in all western europe allied government leaders were convinced that general henry zero just escaped from a nazi prison could lead the french in north africa into the allied camp but at first giro expected to be overall commander as the date for the invasion approached the atmosphere in gibraltar became suddenly tense true there was tenseness one could feel it in every little cave makeshifting for an office yet in spite of the certain consequences of any enemy air attack there was a definite buoyancy soldiers sailors and airmen congregated there were stimulated by that feeling of exhilaration that ensues when one leaves months of grinding preparation behind and turns expectantly to a bold venture [Music] [Music] oh [Music] in the waning days of autumn 1942 a million tons of shipping was proceeding silently on the atlantic toward gibraltar bearing 107 000 british and american fighting men some well-trained others not for the invasion of north africa this was the greatest armada to sail into battle in the history of the world yet the enemy did not realize what was about to happen until it became an accomplished fact the invasion was split into three groups the western task force sailed from the us bound for casablanca the center and eastern forces left from the british isles and headed for auran and algiers virtually all the american troops aboard the transports were going into action for the first time just a few months earlier these men have been clerks garage mechanics business executives salesmen lawyers and factory workers now only a few days away they must be prepared to face the overwhelming demands of battle for the first time most of the men were making the adjustments successfully when the ships were several days out at sea the troops were briefed on where they would land and taught basic phrases of the languages spoken there instruction in french was supplemented by lessons in elementary arabic during the long hours of waiting infantrymen worked endlessly on preparing their weapons on which their lives might depend for the day of invasion on route they learned more about their assignment soldiers and sailors do not know whether the french african army will contest our landing but all resistance by whomever offers must be destroyed however when any of the french soldiers seek to surrender you will accept it and treat them with the respect you are brave opponent and future ally remember the french are not nazis or death our troops have been only hastily trained for this complicated type of landing operation available shipping did not permit us to carry along all the forces and equipment necessary to assure success of course we were tense it was natural behind our first military offensive against the nazis stood american industrial production now geared to full wartime output under the leadership of lieutenant general brahan somerville chief of the army's services of supply the nation had succeeded during the year since pearl harbor in converting from a peace time to a wartime economy general somerville's branch of the army was to play just as vital a part in the winning of the war as any combat unit among the millions who helped to do the job general somerville directed was dick millett a railroad engineer for the past 20 years that's the way we used to have all through during the war nothing held up priority freight in those days when the army said rush we rushed [Music] we spent a lot of time in the cab in those days but we knew that if we slowed up on the job it meant that the men at the front wouldn't have all the equipment and supplies they needed as fast as the struggle of transportation by handling unprecedented quantities of supplies with maximum efficiency a sizable percentage of american industrial corporations quickly converted to the production of equipment vital to the winning of the war from the standpoint of production 1942 was a year of miracles most war industries showed great increases in volume output united in the common cause the american people in every part of the country forgot political and economic differences and worked as they never had before to make our victory on the battlefields possible during 1942 the war workers of the united states produced 48 000 military planes of all types more than the total production of planes by germany italy and japan combined for that year already we had learned the lesson that while air power alone might not win a victory no great victory is possible without air superiority consequently the need for airplanes in vast numbers competed with all needs everything from beeswax to battleships that goes to make up the nation's fighting power during that year too the u.s produced some 56 000 combat vehicles such as tanks and self-propelled artillery key weapons in modern mechanized war the american army has always featured mobility in the organization and equipment of its forces our advantage in this direction was vastly increased by the mass production methods of american industry large-scale invasions like the north african campaign had their birth many months before contact with the enemy was made the success of operation torch depended directly on the round-the-clock job of millions of conscientious american war workers who produced the vast quantities of the machinery of war needed before the campaign could even be planned the road beds of every railroad line in the country were in constant use freight and flat cars which in peace time would have been scrapped and replaced were pressed into service to help transport the vital materiel from war plants in all parts of the country thousands of miles eastward to the great port cities on the atlantic seaboard [Music] at the ports of embarkation cargo ships were loaded with every item necessary to keeping an enormous army in good health in good spirits and well equipped for battle on any terrain suppliers arrived on the east coast faster than they could be transshipped overseas and vast stockpiles soon filled warehouses in eastern port cities to overflowing as the u.s approached the end of its first year at war american industry was successfully meeting the tremendous challenge of the battle of supply the most critical problem in keeping the flow of supplies moving to our troops overseas was the serious shortage of ships in november of 1942 the tonnage of allied shipping sunk by enemy action exceeded the tonnage in the construction of new ships for the invasion of north africa scores of cargo ships were loaded day and night at american ports with the machines of war to be used shortly against the enemy slowly our first offensive against the nazis was gathering momentum all three task forces involved in the north african invasion two from the british isles and one from the united states proceeded to the points of attack in complete secrecy allied commanders considered it remarkable that the enemy with all its u-boats did not detect the presence of three massive forces all converging near gibraltar right up to the day of the landings our tactics were never clearly interpreted by the enemy something was in the wind the nazis realized but they had no idea what until our ships were in position for the assault the orders called for all three task forces to arrive off the points of attack simultaneously for the troops each hour was to be approximately the same in all three landings in the early morning of november 8th in spite of the inaction imposed on us at gibraltar there was work we could do already we were planning steps to follow a successful landing including the early transfer of headquarters to algiers before the attack the weather reports from the casablanca region were gloomy and i tentatively decided unless conditions should improve to divert the expedition into gibraltar all our plans would thus be badly upset this seemed better than to steam aimlessly around the ocean dodging submarines meanwhile the center and eastern forces had headed for the strait of gibraltar finally the leading ships steamed in at night through the narrow strait and we stood on the dark headlands to watch them pass still no news of air or submarine attack we became more hopeful the eastern force scheduled to land algiers was composed of both british and american ships and carried 33 000 invasion troops 10 000 american and the other 23 000 british both governments were convinced that the expedition should be as exclusively american in complexion as it was possible to make it obviously the french african forces and the population would learn soon after the initial landings of british participation but it was believed that if entry could be gained and our friendly attitude promptly and clearly proved possible complications would be minimized all the warships and the two mediterranean forces were british the center task force with american transports carried 000 american troops who were to land in the iran area in the early morning of november 8th allied naval units engaged the french [Music] off algiers the eastern task force arrived on schedule and the troops prepared to go ashore no one was sure of exactly what the french garrison ashore would do by way of opposing the landing for 16 hours during the first day allied troops poured ashore by the thousands after feeble resistance by the confused french defenders who did not understand at first which countries troops were landing firing ceased on the evening of the first day the area was quickly occupied by our forces [Music] the iran assault involved the us first infantry division and parts of the u.s first armored division in addition 500 american paratroopers were flown from the british isles and dropped near the airfield south of iran by a miscalculation some were dropped over the wrong area unfortunately the mission was unsuccessful at iran the landings were a different [Music] story for the invasion of iran american troops had been decided upon for the allied high command felt with the french stationed in and near iran would bitterly resist the british after the royal navy's attack on the french fleet there the plan called for one combat group to land to the east of the city and another force to the west of iran then both the atlantic coast the assault that casablanca was getting [Music] [Music] started [Music] although some of the assault waves were delayed in starting ashore the landings on both flanks of iran went off smoothly some units landed unopposed others encountered step resistance during the course of the night and in the early morning hours of november eight operational reports began to come in that were encouraging in tone at iran the us first division which was later to travel such a long battle road in this war got its first taste of conflict in spite of incomplete training the first division supported by elements of the first armored division made progress and on november 9th we knew we would soon be able to report victory in that area on the 10th all fighting ceased at iran the final assault aimed at taking all of iran had been scheduled for noon on november 10th but the surrender of the french at that time ended the fighting and the city itself was occupied by american forces the allies now controlled two of the chief mediterranean ports in french north africa with the surrender thousands of french troops who had fought conscientiously under the orders of their vc control commanders lay down their arms the second part of the three-pronged invasion of north africa was successfully accomplished the third and most difficult landing was scheduled on the atlantic coast of french morocco north and south of casablanca the all-american western task force stood off shore late on the evening of november 7th and was fired on early the next morning by elements of the french fleet [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] the naval battle raged off the coast all that day with four of the french ships finally sunk and the remainder put to route [Music] [Music] meanwhile the troops were encountering heavy opposition ashore notably at fort leota north of casablanca after four days of fierce fighting the french received orders to cease firing the minimum objective of the north african invasion was to seize the main ports between casablanca and algiers and from them to operate eastward toward the british desert forces the successful action of the first few days assured its attainment american and british units which had participated in the three landings now battle tested moved forward at once toward the british eighth army more than 1200 miles away in between were the nazis the battle for north africa had begun

Channel: War Stories

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Keywords: military history, war, war documentary, military tactics, war stories, history of war, battles, roosevelt ww2 speech, roosevelt ww2, eisenhower ww2, eisenhower ww2 documentary, WW2, WWII, Second World War, Hitler, Churchill, world war 2, pearl harbor, history documentary, world war 2 oversimplified, full length documentaries, world war two documentaries youtube

Id: v-IhOkwX9FY

Length: 50min 31sec (3031 seconds)

Published: Wed May 05 2021