COMMAND DECISIONS

Edited with Introductory Essay by
Kent Roberts Greenfield

The Authors

Martin Blumenson
Robert W. Coakley
Stetson Conn
Byron Fairchild
Richard M. Leighton
Charles V. P. von Luttichau
Charles B. MacDonald
Sidney T. Mathews		 Maurice Matlof
Ralph s. Mavrogordato
Leo J. Meyer
John Miller, jr
Louis Morton
Forrest C. Pogue
Roland G. Ruppenthal
Robert Ross Smith
Earl F. Ziemke

 

CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WASHINGTON, D.C., 2000

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 59-60007

The material in Decisions 1, 2, 4-7, 9-14, and 16-23 appeared in the Harcourt, Brace edition of Command Decisions, © 1959 by Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc.

First Printed 1960- CMH Pub 70-7

For sale by the Superintendant of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, DC 20402

PREFACE

iii-iv

Contents

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY by Kent Roberts Greenfield 1
1. GERMANY FIRST: THE BASIC CONCEPT OF ALLIED STRATEGY IN WORLD WAR II by Louis Morton 11
The Color Plans, l919-1938 12
Strategic Adjustment, 1938-1940 20
The Critical Summer of 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  
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 of 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 of the Decision 165

v

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 IMPORT CRISIS by Richard M. Leighton 199
Anglo-American Shipping Collaboration in 1942 200
Casablanca and the Six-Million-Ton Misunderstanding 206
The Shipping Crisis of March 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

vi

14. GENERAL CLARK'S DECISION TO DRIVE ON ROME by Sidney T. Mathews 351
15. THE 90-DIVISION GAMBLE by Maurice Matloff 365
16. THE ANVIL DECISION: CROSSROADS OF STRATEGY by Maurice Matloff 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 ARDENNES by Charles V. P. von Luttichau 443
The Background 444
Strategic and Tactical Considerations Influencing the Decision 448
The Consequences of 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 of 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

vii

page updated 28 August 2001

Return to CMH Online