Operation Husky: The Cause Of War

Cooperation between the British and American armies was not as effective as it could have been. One of the problems was that on several occasions the generals from the two countries were more focused on outdoing each other than defeating the Germans. A good example of this is Operation Husky which involved the invasion of Sicily. Even before the operation took place there was tension over it. The Americans were growing increasingly impatient to launch an invasion of Northern France and felt that “they had been ‘led up the Mediterranean garden path’ by the British.” On at least one occasion the Americans stated that US troops stationed in the Mediterranean should be sent to Britain for an invasion of Northern France or they would just send …show more content…
An article by the Union Jack Evening Paper stated that the Americans had captured Marsala and Trapani and “had taken 50,000 prisoners.” While it isn’t certain what the Americans thought of this article, it is safe to assume that their reaction was more positive than it had been to the article by the Daily Mirror in March. Afterwards the operation turned into a race to see which army would capture Messana first. The Americans were more aggressive than the British solely “to win this race” and “also to prove that the American Seventh Army could match and indeed beat Montgomery’s Eighth Army.” It was a race that was won by the Americans. Unfortunately, the American armies “relentless offensive had cost many casualties and had been mounted at an exhausting pace.” However, it should be pointed out that although the American army was more aggressive for most of Operation Husky they suffered “2,237 killed and 6,544 wounded and captured” compared to the British “12,843 casualties, including 2,721 dead.” This shows that while the breakdown in cooperation might have caused more casualties it didn’t cause a bloodbath. It could also be argued that the competition between the two armies resulted in the island being captured sooner and costing fewer casualties than if they had advanced more …show more content…
Churchill believed that if certain islands in the Aegean held by the Italians could be captured, in particular Rhodes, Leros, and Cos, that “command of the Aegean by air and by sea [would be] within [their] reach.” The key was Rhodes “because it had good airfields from which [allied] air forces could operate in defense of any islands [they] might occupy and complete [their] naval control of these waters.” After the plan to occupy the islands was approved the British were able to quickly occupy the islands of Cos, Leros, and Samos. Unfortunately the Germans reacted too quickly, they sent troops and the “Italians surrendered [Rhodes] after light bombing.” It quickly became clear that the British operation would fail if they did not receive assistance from the Americans. They only needed “landing-craft for a single division, a few day’s assistance from the main Allied Air Force, and Rhodes would be [theirs].” The Americans however saw no value in diverting troops and resources to the Aegean. They pointed out that even if the Allies captured Rhodes that unless “we intend to go further. Otherwise Rhodes [would] be under the guns of both Kos and Crete.” In summary they felt that capturing Rhodes would accomplish nothing unless it was followed upon by further military operations and that this could only be done at the expense of other theaters of