2
tinued need for some diversion to assist the Russians brought under
consideration the possibility of mounting an assault against the
French territory in North Africa in 1942, with consequent postponeï؟¾ment of a major cross-Channel operation until a later date.
Despite considerable American military opinion in favor of adï؟¾hering to the original plan, the final decision in favor of the invasion
of North Africa, as an alternative to an attack across the English
Channel, was made in July 1942, following Prime Minister Churchï؟¾ill’s second visit to Washington. The date for the landings was fixed
in September; they were to take place in November. Lieutenant
General Dwight D. Eisenhower* had been sent to London in June
1942 as Commanding General, European Theater of Operations,
United States Army (ETOUSA). On 14 August 1942 he received
a directive from the Combined Chiefs of Staff which appointed him
Commander in Chief, Allied Expeditionary Force. His mission
under this assignment was to direct combined military operations
against French North Africa—Operation Torch—as early as pracï؟¾ticable with a view to gaining, in conjunction with Allied forces in
the Middle East, complete control of North Africa from the Atlantic
to the Red Sea. At the same time he retained command of ETOUSA
(until 4 February 1943).
Meanwhile Rommel was making the drive that took him to El
Alamein and the gates of Alexandria, and other Axis forces were
driving across the Don River toward the Caucasus Mountains and
the rich oil fields near the Caspian Sea. The Middle East seemed
clearly within Hitler’s grasp, and the situation in the Mediterranean
was exceedingly dark. In the Pacific, Japanese forces had reached
what was to be the high-water mark of their advance. Attu and
Kiska in the Aleutian Islands had been occupied; Port Moresby in
New Guinea, the jumping-off point for Australia, was threatened;
Burma had been overruji; and India was under sea and air attack.
The tide of Axis aggression was at its height, and the Allies were
everywhere on the defensive, struggling to hold open their important
sea routes of communication.
But the Allied high command knew that large convoys were on
the way to Egypt and should arrive in time. These reinforcements
for General Montgomery were expected to provide him not only
with the means with which to stop Rommel but also to carry out
his part of a great Allied pincers operation, the western jaw of
which would be the British and American forces to be landed in
French North Africa. Thus the Battle of El Alamein was expected
* The ranks of officers as given throughout this narrative were those held at
the time.
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