TFSmith121
Banned
Depending on the decision date
1) Depending on the decision date, if it is at the 2nd Washington Conference in the summer of 1942, something like ~60 by D Day+180, with an initial assault force of ~8 and a follow on force of ~40; essentially, exactly what was available for OVERLORD et al 12 months later.
2) The Germans actually had significantly fewer mobile divisions in Western Europe in 1943 than they did in 1944, for obvious reasons; likewise, the Italians didn't actually have any uncommitted mobile forces left after TORCH; there's a reason the "mobile" forces in Sicily under 6th Army amounted to four straight-leg divisions of two RCTs each, plus a couple battalions worth of captured French tanks that dated from 1940.
Given the topography of northwestern France and Belgium, German armies built around leg infantry and horse-drawn logistics are not going to be able to hold any defensive line before winter.
France could have been liberated in one campaign season (1943), with the drive on the Ruhr and across the Rhine occurring in the second campaign season (1944).
Best,
1) How many Divisions did the Allies have available for deployment into France in mid 1943
2) How many Divisions did the Germans and Italians have available?
I suspect it bogs down somewhere in North west France for a year of positional warfare.
Cheers Hipper
1) Depending on the decision date, if it is at the 2nd Washington Conference in the summer of 1942, something like ~60 by D Day+180, with an initial assault force of ~8 and a follow on force of ~40; essentially, exactly what was available for OVERLORD et al 12 months later.
2) The Germans actually had significantly fewer mobile divisions in Western Europe in 1943 than they did in 1944, for obvious reasons; likewise, the Italians didn't actually have any uncommitted mobile forces left after TORCH; there's a reason the "mobile" forces in Sicily under 6th Army amounted to four straight-leg divisions of two RCTs each, plus a couple battalions worth of captured French tanks that dated from 1940.
Given the topography of northwestern France and Belgium, German armies built around leg infantry and horse-drawn logistics are not going to be able to hold any defensive line before winter.
France could have been liberated in one campaign season (1943), with the drive on the Ruhr and across the Rhine occurring in the second campaign season (1944).
Best,