The True Size of the American Land Army in

 

it is the 8th of December 1941 yesterday

Japan launched their surprise attack on

support the Allied powers the opinion of

the American president Eleanor Roosevelt

was generally shifted in favor of the

Allies he pushed Congress to make

several changes in the years leading up

to America joining the war among these

was the conscription of all healthy men

between 21 and 35 years of age into

military service over a million men

joined the Army in 1940 another was the

land lease agreement signed in spring of

1941

it allowed Roosevelt to begin shipments

of military materials to Britain weapons

tanks clothes and food were sent across

the u-boat infested waters of the

Atlantic Ocean to the Allied powers it

may have seemed like harmless trade but

the lend-lease agreement gave Roosevelt

a reason to increase America's own

military production the resulting boost

to the US economy helped the u.s. out of

the Great Depression and improved morale

in the West in turn this caused an

increase in enlistment rates which would

skyrocket in the next few years

records from July of 1941 estimate that

the American army had a strength of a

hundred and seventy four thousand

soldiers if you include the 1.2 million

men forcefully drafted into the military

then we can see that the u.s. had about

the 17th largest army in the world the

American army was at its largest in

March of 1945 and most recruits went on

to serve in the ground forces

reorganization of America's army began

in 1942 previously the army had been

divided into the classical combat arms

of infantry cavalry and artillery

of which there were two types field

artillery and Coast artillery instead

these combat arms were combined to form

the army ground forces of the US

Lieutenant General Leslie J McNair

formed four new combat arms airborne

armor anti-aircraft and tank destroyer

these were of more importance than ever

before since the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe

were using modern weapons and vehicles

in their blitzkrieg or lightning war

tactics 1942 was a year of aerial

desperation since the Luftwaffe had

gained almost unchallenged superiority

in the skies anti-aircraft weapons were

of unmatchable importance it would

remain this way until Allied forces

managed to gain more aerial control this

explains a lot about the developments in

the American military and the years

leading up to America joining the war up

until then many infantry divisions had

been dormant and were reactivated in

pre-war years in 1940 for example the

7th 8th and 9th infantry divisions had

to be reformed even so the US military

expanded drastically during the war

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out of 16 million personnel 70% of the

American military served in these units

they could act almost entirely

independently if needed meaning they

could be responsible for smaller

operations and maneuvers

since the m4 Sherman had just entered

production many tanks were ready for

deployment in Europe but America was

still supplying Britain with the flawed

m3 the m4 was the second most produced

armored vehicle during world war ii and

played a crucial role in the armored

divisions consisting mainly of the

infantry troops the u.s. army was

grouped together with the Air Force the

Navy remained a separate section during

the war the army ground forces the

infantry and armored divisions like we

spoke about numbered about four million

four hundred thousand soldiers and the

army services force supplied these men

with engineers specialists medics and

military police by spring of 1942

America was well prepared for war

certain changes had been made to the

equipment of the ground forces often to

make production cheaper and to cut down

on shipping costs since over 90 percent

of enlisted soldiers were engaged in

overseas operations whilst American

troops who were being shipped to the

European continent there were numerous

fights and Island battles in the Pacific

Theater from the 8th of December 1941 to

the 6th of May 1942 the Japanese carried

out their patan campaign attempting to

capture an important Peninsula in the

Philippines General Douglas MacArthur

commanding the United States Army forces

in the Far East held out for several

months the Japanese and 14th imperial

army starved an exhausted American and

Filipino troops at Bataan and dominated

the area with powerful artillery

barrages and naval landings eventually

MacArthur decided it wasn't worth it and

surrendered to Japan on the 9th of April

America's Marines and Filipino allies

had failed to hold on to Bataan but this

wasn't the only loss the United States

suffered in the early stages of the war

just two days after Pearl Harbor the

island of Guam had fallen to the

Japanese meanwhile Wake Island had to

endure the relentless bombing and

deployment of Japanese task forces and

American soldiers surrendered on the

23rd of December 1941 typically an

American soldier would remain in combat

until he was injured at which point he

would be replaced with a healthy fresh

soldier unlike the European allies there

was no routine placement for troops

meaning that survivors would remain in

service until they were wounded or died

most of the land combatants in these

island battles were Marines who were

trained to fight both on land and at sea

at the time Japan and America would

carry out naval attacks around the

islands so what was happening with the

American soldiers in the European

theater in November 1942 transports

carrying American and British soldiers

entered the Mediterranean Sea and

approached North Africa hailing the

start of Operation Torch on the 8th the

three pincer attack began and the Allies

began attacking North African territory

held by Vichy France there were numerous

setbacks due to weather and strong enemy

resistance but the operation ended with

the surrender of the region although

Germany imposed a tight naval blockade

in the seas around Europe USA was still

able to transport troops to the front

lines for the first couple of years the

ground forces remained mainly European

but as the American troops arrived and

began service the tide gradually turned

in September of 1943 the Allies launched

their invasion of Italy and the American

5th Army stepped onto dry land at

Salerno on the ninth furthermore the

Germans organized Panzer attacks making

it difficult for the American beachhead

to connect with the British perhaps the

most notable example of American

participation in world war ii was in the

1944 d-day landings codenamed Operation

Overlord the Normandy landings saw

Allied forces face horrendous mental and

physical conditions as they attempted to

force their way into the north of the

occupied France the 2nd 3rd 4th 5th and

6th armoured divisions began their

service in Normandy on the 6th of June

when they were deployed from amphibious

landing craft

what follows is the diary extract from

an American soldier who fought on the

beaches of Normandy

a long line of Flair's hangs over

shurberg where I suppose it is shurberg

and a few anti-aircraft tracer shots go

up in the air above the immediate

frontline funny to imagine that the

Germans run around their guns I would

like to know what they're thinking the

whole channel between us and shurberg is

filled with little ships which all

quietly and efficiently sailed towards

France the British Canadian and American

fighting forces on the warpath I heard

that our Co has also landed therefore

our infantry must be there by now god

bless them

and good luck to them I do not believe

that I can now write for very long we

can now see the French coast and very

soon we will have to play our part I

must go now and look for the landing

markings with my binoculars to ascertain

our landing points so my darling on we

go I know that you are with me come on

to Bannerman's I revoir god bless I love

you now that American infantry and

armoured divisions had made it into

France they pressed powerfully forwards

and gained ground

forcing the Germans back meanwhile

America was preparing their forces to

recapture the Pacific Islands they had

lost at the start of the war Guam was

recaptured in 1944 in Wake Island

surrendered in 1945 the Bataan Peninsula

was also attacked by American forces in

the battle for the recapture of Bataan

which lasted from the 31st of January to

the 21st of February America ultimately

forced Japan to surrender when they

dropped their revolutionary new weapon

the atomic bomb on the cities of

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

there were over 300,000 casualties from

the army alone in the Pacific just over

a hundred and eleven thousand combatants

from the United States were killed or

missing and another 250 3,000 were

wounded according to Pacific War

encyclopedia 21,000 580 men were taken

as prisoners of war the u.s. ground

forces were crucial to the Allied

victory in the Second World War

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