Allied Planning
The US Joint Staff planners find themselves outmaneuvered and outclassed in every way by their British staff counterparts, who have a clear political-military strategy. The Americans, plagued by a lack of consensus both within the military services and among the political leadership, find themselves following the British proposals for an overall strategic concept of the Allies in the prosecution of the war and specific tasks for the Allied forces against Axis forces in Europe and Asia. The Americans, angered and embarrased by the lack of basic political-military coordination that is essential to any successful wartime activity, vow not to be caught short again.
The conference produces the following guidance:
The overall goal for the Allies is to force an unconditional surrender of the Axis powers in Europe while simultaneously maintaining pressure against Japan to reduce its military power and attain positions to force Japan's unconditional surrender at some time in the future.
In the Atlantic, the Allies - are to secure the lines of communication by defeating the U-boat threat and other threats to sea communications; are to conduct a full-scale assault from the United Kingdom against the European continent in the spring of 1944; will conduct a vigorous air offensive to reduce Germany's war potential and to make the cross-Channel attack feasible; to destroy submarine construction yards, aircraft production facilities, transportation centers, and oil production facilities.
In the Mediterranean, the Allies will accomplish HUSKY, the invasion of Sicily, the intent of which is to support the diversion of Axis forces and materials away from the Soviet Union.
In the Pacific and Far East, the Allies will protect the lines of communications to Australia, maintain pressure on Japan, retain the initiative in preparation for a future full-scale offensive against Japan, and keep China in the war. The immediate objectives are as follows: conduct air operations in and from China; gain control in Burma; drive the Japanese from the Aleutian Islands; seize the Marshall and Caroline Islands; seize the Solomons, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Japanse-held area of New Guinea.
The Allies will also to the greatest extend possible, continue to sustain Soviet and Chinese forces, while also supporting the French forces in Northwest Africa.
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