How would you rate current American attitudes both in the military and in government compared to OTL given they have suffered more defeats than OTL and the British stronger postion?
I know we are mainly looking at armour in this timeline bit given everything things are going to get a bit tangles.
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One of the major problems ITTL as in OTL, is that there isn’t a single American attitude towards the war, even after the shock of Pearl Harbour, which in some ways made an already complicated situation worse.
It all depends on whose opinions you are talking about, Roosevelt entered the war determined to destroy Prussian militarism, Japanese imperialism and militarism, and end the European colonial empires especially the British Empire. His inability to dominate the conversation and decisions at the moment, will be incredibly frustrating, and he will work to make his the loudest voice in the future. Whereas IOTL, Britain was in a very difficult position, having suffered a number of defeats and losses of personal and equipment since the outbreak of the war. And was after the loss of Singapore, imminent loss of Burma, and with the Germans/Italians dominate in the Mediterranean and standing at the gates of Egypt. Britain was very much on the back foot and in need of help and sustenance, while her military looked to be incapable of fighting a modern war. This gave Roosevelt and the American establishment, political, military, financial and industrial the opportunity to dominate the conversation going forward going forward. It was only some very clever committee work along with what little remained of British strength, that enabled Britain to have any say in the conduct of the war.
ITTL however Britain is in a much stronger position, politically, militarily, financially and industrially, and to an extent it is the Americans who are in the weaker position. While the British have suffered a number of setbacks in Norway, Denmark, Belgium, France and Greece, their better performance especially in armoured warfare in France and North Africa. Added to the retention of Crete, Singapore and Burma, plus their success in North Africa, where they have completely destroyed the Italians/Germans. And it is they who stand at the gates to FNA and the French Levent, which are both shortly to switch sides from Vichy to Free France either voluntarily or forcefully. Thus giving the British effective control over the Mediterranean region, and a major boost to its economic situation, by enabling them to reduce their shipping demands and materials availability. Ships will be able to transit the Mediterranean and then trough the Suez Canal on the way to the East, a major reduction in shipping needs/costs, and the British will be able to access French mineral resources in Africa. Thus reducing their dependence on America, and with British control over access to some vital resources, from their colonial possessions and those of France, Belgium and Holland, offset the financial cost of Lend Lease through reverse Lend Lease. Plus the Free French, Belgium and Dutch governments are going to be recipients of their own Lend Lease or able to pay for their own goods via sales to America. In all the situation ITTL is substantially different to that IOTL, and it’s going to take until mid 43, before America can to a lesser extent dominate the conduct of the war.
This doesn’t take into account the internal differences in the American military establishment, who have totally different views on the future conduct of the war. The Army wants a German first doctrine, as it’s only against the Germans that there is a need for large, Corps, Army and Army Group formations with a high degree of mechanisation and armoured formations. The Navy wants a total commitment to the Pacific, as it is only there that there is a need for larger fleets of capital and heavy ships, commanded by Admirals and their extensive staff. The Atlantic conflict is a small ship war, with little to no use for either Captains or Admirals and their staff having at sea appointments. The United States Army Air Corps, being filled with devotees of the Bomber theory, are also proponents of Germany first, as there is no bomber in their current inventory that is capable of bombing Japan, unless airfields can be established in China. Marshal who is probably the sanest of the American top commanders, has after his recent visit to the UK, realised that the American Army is in no fit state to conduct major operations yet, and is effectively smaller than the Army’s of Canada and Australia, who are far better equipped, trained and experienced. His ambition to become the Supreme Allied Commander, or get one of his prodigies a pointed to the position, is virtually nil, and he needs to bide his time and wait until he has an Army that will give him the leverage to gain the position. The Airforce’s leadership want to get into the war as quickly as they can, and that means access to bases in Britain, and cooperation with the Army in pushing the German first agenda.
The USN, is in a very poor position at this moment in time, it has suffered a humiliating and embarrassing defeat at Pearl Harbour, and its limited forces in the Philippines, South China Sea, and around the DEI. Are well short of what is needed to expect any thing other than taking the junior position for the immediate future, and will remain so until it can assemble sufficient forces for the invasion of the Philippines. In the Mediterranean the four star position is going to go to a British Admiral, and provided Winston can be sat upon the British might get a uniformed commander in the Atlantic. As the British have a this time no interest in the Pacific, they will be happy to leave this to the Americans, and given that they will be preoccupied with events in the SCS, I doubt that until the invasion of Japan is imminent they will have any interest in close cooperation with the USN. Marshal has realised that his only option is to work with the British in the Mediterranean, and once the invasion of Sicily and Italy is proposed, it will have a British four star in command. He is going to hold out for the plum position, command of the eventual invasion of France, with either him or his prodigies as the four star and a British deputy, with other command positions divided between the Americans and British. Additionally I personally can not see anywhere that the British/Australians will tolerate a certain American General being given a command position in the South West Pacific.
As for armour the British will have far less need for American tanks, other than in the Far East, about the only American armour that will be in high demand is the M3 Half Track. Even the flail tank is going to be based on a British hull, as will all the other specialists armoured vehicles, developed by Hobart. The world both for the remainder of the war and in the post war era is going to be very different to that of OTL, with far less American influence in the Mediterranean, Africa and Australia, and virtually none in the Far East. As the British, Dutch and eventually French retain much of their pre war power in the region.
RR.
