Big 1942 Anglo American Gamble, could it come off

Is there any way that Operation Toch could have been targetted at the South of France. I believe that the Atlantic Wall and German forces generall ywere much weaker than in 1944???
 
Is there any way that Operation Toch could have been targetted at the South of France. I believe that the Atlantic Wall and German forces generall ywere much weaker than in 1944???

the ports where fortified themselves

it would be logistically impossible to support (Gibraltar and Egypt as staging areas for a southern france assault would be insuffecient)

and Germany had 20 infantry divisions and 6 mobile divisions in France
 
It could have been, but the end result would probably have been a disaster for the Allies. The US Army of 1942 simply wasn't ready to fight the Germans on anything like equal terms, and the Commonwealth forces were stretched too thin.

Politically it would have been very difficult, and would have strained the still-forming alliance between the US and the rest of the WAllies to the limit.
 
The theoretical Operation Sledgehammer has more chance of succeeding, the logistics for such an Operation would be almost as bad as Sealion.
 
Over a much greater distance than Normandy with much less in training and preparation, supplies, logistical support, air support, the US army largely unfit for battle...:confused:
 
The US did contemplate a 1942 invasion of France, but it was aimed at the Brest and Cherbourg. It's codename was Sledgehammer as The Red indicated. It was considered as an option in case the Soviet Union collapsed, or was close to collapsing, in 1942. However, it was not a realistic plan and was not a real option.

Operation Torch was the alternate plan. FDR was insistent that the American Army fight the Germans in 1942 somewhere. It was hoped that by taking French North Africa that the Free French forces would gain new recruits and become a sizable contigent of the Western Allies. It would also eliminate the Axis from Africa, secure the Meditterranean, and threaten the Axis throughout southern Europe.

An invasion at the south of France (I assume you mean Vichy France and not German occupied Bordeaux) would accomplish some of those goals, but not all, and would have very different risks. It wouldn't insure that the Axis would leave North Africa. It would not be as effective at securing the Mediterranean Sea. It would also keep the US and UK forces separate and able to be defeated in detail (which would assuredly be done to the US in France). It would also risk that all of Vichy France would defect to the Germans in a way that an invasion only of French North Africa would not.
 
FDR was determined that the US fight somewhere but it was the British who gave the arguments in favor of Operation Torch, correct ones in my opinion.

OTL the US landed only a handful of divisions during Operation Torch and even this was only achieved by stripping many other nascent US divisions of key personnel and equipment.
 
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