Commander in Chief

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Commander in Chief Page 51

by Nigel Hamilton


  5. On the island of Cephalonia, for example, more than five thousand Italian troops were massacred by invading German forces, who were told to take no prisoners: Alexander Mikaberidze, ed., Atrocities, Massacres, and War Crimes: An Encyclopedia (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2013), 326 and 750.

  6. See Hamilton, Monty: Master of the Battlefield, 404; and Atkinson, The Day of Battle, 190.

  7. General Mark Clark to author, interview of October 26, 1981, in Hamilton, Monty: Master of the Battlefield, 414.

  8. Ibid.

  9. Atkinson, The Day of Battle, 199.

  10. Ibid., 203.

  11. Ibid., 205.

  12. “Fireside Chat Opening Third War Loan Drive, September 8, 1943,” The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 377–80.

  13. See Hamilton, Monty: Master of the Battlefield, 405–6 and footnote 403.

  14. Entry of Monday, September 13, 1943, Ward, Closest Companion, 237.

  15. Soames, A Daughter’s Tale, 278.

  16. Entry of September 7, Moran, Winston Churchill: The Struggle for Survival, 1940–1965 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966), 118.

  17. Ibid., entry of September 12, 1943, 119.

  18. Ibid.

  19. Entry of September 16, 1943, Diary of Harry C. Butcher, Eisenhower Library.

  20. Entry of September 13, 1943, Moran, Winston Churchill, 119–20.

  21. Ibid., 120.

  22. Entry of Friday, August 27, 1943, in Alan Lascelles, King’s Counsellor: Abdication and War: The Diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles, ed. Duff Hart-Davis (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006), 156.

  23. Cable of September 11, 1943, in Susan Butler, ed., My Dear Mr. Stalin: The Complete Correspondence of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005), 164.

  24. Entry of 11.9.1943, Goebbels, Die Tagebücher 9, 479.

  25. Rede des Führers über den Zusammenbruch Italiens am 10. September 1943, http://de.metapedia.org/wiki/Quelle/Rede_vom_10._September_1943_(Adolf_Hitler). Translated by the author.

  26. Ibid.

  27. Entry of 12.9.1943, Goebbels, Die Tagebücher 9, 492.

  28. Ibid., entry of 10.9.1943, 463.

  29. Ibid., 464.

  30. Ibid., 460.

  31. Ibid., 464.

  32. Ibid., entry of 7.9.1943, 438.

  33. Ibid., entry of 12.9.1943, 486–87.

  34. Ibid.

  53. A MESSAGE TO CONGRESS

  1. Atkinson, The Day of Battle, 212.

  2. Hamilton, Monty: Master of the Battlefield, 1942–1944, 413.

  3. Mark Clark to author, interview of October 10, 1981, in Hamilton, Monty: Master of the Battlefield, 405.

  4. Atkinson, The Day of Battle, 207.

  5. “Message to the Congress on the Progress of the War, September 17, 1943,” in The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, comp. Samuel I. Rosenman, vol. 12, 388–406.

  6. Ibid.

  7. Ibid.

  54. ACHIEVING WONDERS

  1. Entry of 19.9.43, in Goebbels, Die Tagebücher 9, 533.

  2. “Message to the Congress on the Progress of the War, September 17, 1943.”

  3. Entry of August 31, 1943, Mackenzie King Diary.

  4. Ibid.

  5. George Elsey, interview with the author, September 12, 2011.

  6. Ibid.

  7. Andrew Roberts, Masters and Commanders: How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941–1945 (New York: Harper, 2009), 412–13.

  8. Brooke was equally to blame, plotting with Churchill to postpone Overlord yet again beyond its planned spring 1944 target date, and to demand “another full-scale Combined Chiefs of Staff conference in early November,” 1943, “to try to sell” the alternative Mediterranean-exploitation strategy to Roosevelt and Marshall: Roberts, Masters and Commanders, 418. “We should have been in a position to force the Dardanelles by the capture of Crete and Rhodes, we should have the whole Balkans ablaze by now, and the war might have been finished in 1943!!” Brooke lamented in one of his wildest diary entries of the war: November 1, 1943, in War Diaries, 1939–1945: Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke, ed. Alex Danchev and Daniel Todman (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001), 465. Even Roberts, who admired Brooke, was moved to harsh judgment regarding Overlord. “It had probably been the correct decision not to appoint him as its supreme commander after all,” he considered—Roberts, Masters and Commanders, 419.

  Index

  A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

  A

  air power: in anti-U-boat campaign, 189–90, 197, 256

  FDR on, 42–43

  against Germany, 209, 216, 247, 272, 296, 304, 306, 320–21, 324–25, 355, 388

  against Italy, 84, 214, 269, 273, 320, 360, 372

  against Japan, 29, 42, 179

  Kenney on, 179–80

  Marshall on, 214

  in Mediterranean strategy, 196–97, 207, 214–15

  Portal and, 256

  Yamamoto’s use of, 182–83

  Aleutians: Allied landings in, 293

  Japan attacks, 337

  Alexander, Sir Harold (general), 148

  in Italian campaign, 375, 376, 377, 380, 384–85, 391

  Allied coalition: Badoglio promises assistance to, 376–77, 384

  balance of power shifts in, 343–44

  bombs Romanian oil fields, 214–15, 227–28, 330

  bombs Rome, 269, 320, 360, 366, 372

  Churchill threatens unity of, xiv, 222, 231

  distrusts new Italian government, 380, 384

  FDR controls war planning and prosecution for, xi, xv, 15, 25, 28–29, 37, 43–44, 100–102, 129, 131, 160, 164, 170, 207, 209, 236, 250, 276, 284, 308, 314–15, 325, 353, 392, 393–94, 398

  FDR promotes unity among, 93, 106–7, 115, 125–27, 129, 207, 258, 279, 292–93, 312, 334–35, 337, 344, 353, 358–59, 368, 385–86, 396–97

  gives Normandy invasion strategic priority, 326–27, 329, 331, 375, 386

  gives Second Front strategic priority, 234

  Hitler hopes to split, 356–57, 361

  lack of combat experience, 36–38, 40, 50, 51–52, 57–59, 82–83, 84, 86, 93, 98–99, 111, 139–41, 143, 145–46, 148, 169

  lack of command experience among, 89–90, 143–44, 210

  landings in Aleutians, 293

  losses in Italian campaign, 320, 328–29, 358, 384

  losses in North Africa, 52–53, 58, 140–42, 144–45, 169

  on offensive against Germany, 295–96

  and race against Soviet western advance, 154–56, 159, 237, 279, 327, 361

  Stalin threatens unity of, 343–44, 346–47, 348, 357, 386, 396

  tactical errors in North Africa, 375

  troop buildup in Great Britain, 59

  Turkey urged to join, 157, 159, 201, 208, 237, 327, 374

  Arnim, Hans-Jürgen von (general): in North Africa, 140–41, 197

  surrenders, 213, 236

  Arnold, Henry (general), 59, 146

  at Casablanca Conference, 78–79, 99

  heart attack, 206, 209

  at Quebec Conference, 331

  at Washington strategic conference (1943), 204

  Atlantic Charter (1941), 12, 26, 79, 109, 118, 151, 309, 339, 386

  Atlantic Wall. See Germany: Atlantic Wall defenses in France

  atomic bomb, development of, xiv, 29, 34

  Churchill and, 274, 313, 319

  as FDR’s political trump card, 313, 319

  and postwar security, 335

  Soviet Union and, 313

  Stimson and, 313

  Axis powers. See Germany; Italy; Japan; Romania

  B

  Badoglio, Pietro (marshal): defeatist attitude, 377–78, 382

  flees Rome, 379–80

  heads new Italian government, 269, 302, 305, 308, 319, 320, 324, 333, 358, 374, 375, 393

  promises assistance to Allies, 376–77, 384

  Balkans, proposed
invasion of, 210, 212, 232, 236, 256, 274, 296–97, 331

  Bullitt presses for, 155–56, 159, 222–23, 279

  Churchill and, 155, 156, 201, 208–9, 218, 219, 237, 239–40, 244, 246, 251, 253, 256, 272–73, 297, 301, 307, 310, 311, 327, 334, 344, 385

  Eden and, 273, 297, 307, 310

  FDR opposes, 221, 223, 295, 296, 298, 301, 344

  Giraud and, 155–56, 201

  Hitler hopes for, 305–6, 307

  Leahy on, 202

  Marshall opposes, 295–96

  supposed effect on Eastern Front, 239, 244

  as unrealistic fantasy, 301–2, 311–12, 344

  Beaverbrook, Lord: and Second Front strategy, 207, 218–19

  at Washington strategic conference (1943), 206–7

  Benes, Edvard, 217

  Berbers: FDR’s interest in, 65

  Beveridge Report (1943): Churchill dismisses, 26–27, 31

  U.S. reaction to, 31–32

  Big Three summit. See Tehran Conference (1943)

  Bismarck Sea, Battle of (1943), 160, 179–80

  Bolshevization. See Soviet Union: as threat to Europe

  bombing. See air power; atomic bomb

  Bradley, Omar (general): and invasion of Sicily, 263, 267

  British Eighth Army, 42, 140, 374, 385

  flees from Rommel, 36, 220, 365

  British Empire. See imperialism

  Brooke, Alan (field marshal), 158

  accepts necessity of Normandy invasion (1944), 232–33, 240

  calls for Big Three summit, 308

  at Casablanca Conference, 78–79, 86, 92

  on Churchill, 250–51, 253, 256

  confesses weakness of British manpower, 216

  considered as Normandy invasion supreme commander, 258, 299, 314, 326, 329, 330

  dissents from Churchill’s war strategy, 234, 235–36, 249, 250–51, 253, 333

  on Eisenhower, 89–90

  on FDR, 258

  and Italian campaign, 295–96, 328–30

  and limits of Mediterranean strategy, 100, 256, 308

  on Marshall, 98, 256, 328, 329

  military background, 212–13

  opposes Normandy invasion (1944), 213, 214–16, 232, 310, 330

  opposes proposed cross-Channel landing (1943), 98, 212

  predicts defeat of Normandy invasion (1944), 215–16, 218, 232

  at Quebec Conference, 308, 326, 328–30

  rejects Casablanca strategic agreement, 215

  strategic errors, 328

  view of Eisenhower, 213

  at Washington strategic conference (1943), 205, 208, 209, 210, 212–14, 232, 240–41, 246, 250–51, 253–54

  Brown, Wilson (admiral): as FDR’s naval aide, 176, 261, 280, 285

  Bullitt, William C., 167

  attacks Welles, 279

  on communism, 151–52, 223

  military naiveté, 155–57

  presses for invasion of Balkans, 155–56, 159, 222–23, 279

  report on postwar Soviet Union, 150–59

  on Stalin, 151–52, 222–23

  Stimson and, 49

  as U.S. ambassador to Soviet Union, 49, 364

  Burma: proposed reconquest of, 76, 100–101, 210, 221, 243, 245, 333

  Butcher, Harry (commander), 89

  briefs FDR, 169–71

  Byrnes, James, 262

  C

  Cadogan, Sir Alexander, 158

  Canada: and Dieppe raid (1942), 35, 37–38, 51, 57, 85, 212–13, 237, 242, 246–47, 263, 294, 365, 379

  in invasion of Sicily, 163, 261

  and Normandy invasion (1944), 252

  resentment against Churchill, 245

  war production, 29, 34, 313

  Casablanca Conference (1943), xiii–xiv, 3, 386

  Allied strategic agreement at, 98–101, 127–29, 200, 209, 211–12, 215, 217, 220–21, 229–31, 237–38, 240, 243, 250–53, 254, 272, 382, 392

  Arnold at, 78–79, 99

  British chiefs of staff at, 83–84

  Brooke at, 78–79, 86, 92

  Churchill at, 5–6, 9, 40, 69–70, 71–72, 83, 100–101, 117–18, 122, 124–26, 128–29, 155, 160, 198, 201

  Clark at, 74, 91, 102, 110, 385

  Combined Chiefs of Staff at, 75, 77–78, 82, 88, 125, 127

  De Gaulle at, 104, 112–17, 120, 121, 124

  De Gaulle refuses to attend, 105–6

  Elliott Roosevelt at, 66–68, 77, 78–81, 82, 91–93, 103–4, 108–10, 111, 117, 118–20, 124

  FDR at, 4, 11–12, 40, 60, 71–72, 77–81, 82–88, 90–93, 100–104, 105–10, 112–23, 124–31, 139–40, 145, 160, 164, 170, 198

  FDR’s journey to, xiv, 4–9, 11–14, 63–68, 165, 167

  FDR’s quarters at, 67–69

  German ignorance of, 65–66, 130–31

  Giraud at, 121–23, 124–25, 155, 201

  Goebbels reacts to, 130–34

  Hopkins at, 9, 10, 12, 13, 68, 77, 78, 92, 110, 117, 122, 124

  Jacob at, 67, 69, 73–75, 77, 84

  Joint Chiefs of Staff at, 48, 53–54, 59–60, 66, 68, 82–85, 97–98

  large British contingent at, 73–74, 83–84, 202

  Leahy misses, 10–11, 13–14, 205

  Macmillan at, 104, 117, 121

  Marshall at, 74, 78, 83, 91, 145

  McCrea at, 4–9, 68–69, 77, 87, 102, 105, 109–10, 114, 124–25, 128–29

  Murphy at, 109–10, 117, 121

  press conference at, 122–23, 124–29, 160

  Reilly at, 66

  security concerns at, 6–7, 66–68

  Stalin declines to attend, 11, 22, 40, 93, 113, 126, 227

  Stimson not invited to, 53, 202

  as strategic turning point of war, 87–88, 93, 209, 211–12

  Watson excluded from, 7–9

  Wedemeyer at, 83–84, 146, 202

  Casablanca (film), 66–67

  Chiang Kai-shek, 60, 200, 210, 219, 333, 364, 395, 398

  China: postwar weakness of, 154

  U.S. military aid to, 100, 127, 210, 333–34

  war with Japan, 19–20, 152, 239, 245, 399

  Churchill, Clementine, 308, 359, 368, 383

  on FDR’s Pacific war strategy, 211

  Churchill, Mary, 308–9, 315, 368, 382

  on FDR, 359–60, 367, 383

  Churchill, Winston: accepts Joint Four-Power Declaration (1943), 335

  addresses Congress, 233, 235, 239, 246

  and atomic bomb development, 274, 313, 319

  British chiefs of staff dissent from his proposed strategy, 231–35, 248–49, 250–51, 253, 333

  Brooke on, 250–51, 253, 256

  Canadian resentment against, 245

  and capture of Rome, 274, 276, 277, 311, 327, 373

  at Casablanca Conference, 5–6, 9, 40, 69–70, 71–72, 83, 100–101, 117–18, 122, 124–26, 128–29, 155, 160, 198, 201

  character and personality, xi–xii, 70–71, 111, 220, 236, 245, 250, 253, 256–57, 277–78, 283, 310, 333–34, 359, 369

  Charles Wilson as physician to, 219–21, 252–53, 383–85

  claims undue credit, xiii, 71, 256

  and communism, 356

  confers with FDR at Hyde Park, xiv, 299, 300, 302, 308–12, 313–14, 319, 335, 381–83

  confers with U.S. congressional leaders, 239–40, 244, 245

  and Dardanelles campaign (1915), 155, 157, 201, 211, 223, 237, 384

  and De Gaulle, 105, 111, 113, 122–23

  dismisses Beveridge Report, 26–27, 31

  drinking problem, 74, 79, 109, 238, 253, 257

  excluded from proposed Alaska summit, 60, 247–48, 267, 282

  expects rapid German collapse, 40, 59, 204, 208–9, 221, 239, 278, 283, 301, 353–54, 374

  FDR demands his cooperation, 252, 253–54

  FDR distrusts, 244

  FDR on, xii, 79–80, 110

  and Greece, 398

  Harvard speech, 368, 370–72

  health problems, 219–20, 253, 383

  “Iron Curtain” spe
ech, 370

  and Italian campaign, 208–9, 219, 237, 239, 246, 251–52, 274–75, 276, 277–78, 311, 314, 319–20, 346, 357, 358, 373–74, 384

  Lascelles on, xiii

  Mackenzie King confers with, 235–39, 248–49, 396–97

 

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