WI: Operation Roundup and/or Sledgehammer attempted

[Snowstalker]

Instead of the IOTL landings in Morocco and Algeria, the United States and the Soviet Union wanted landings in Normandy as early as possible, though this was eventually dropped when it was decided that Fortress Europa was too powerful for the moment.

If an amphibious landing were attempted in November 1942 in place of Torch, it almost certainly would have been a bloody failure for the Western Allies, but how costly would it have been for the Germans, and how would it have affected the rest of the war?

 

[ryackov]

It's not certain it would be a failure (though Sledgehammer certainly would have been a failure). Roundup promised to invade France with 250,000 troops (based on Operation Bolero), but the allies wouldn't have the aerial superiority they would have in '44.

As a tidbit: part of Operation Bolero, involve flying aircraft through bases in Greenland, and through Iceland, to arrive at the United Kingdom, to avoid losses in the Battle of the Atlantic.

It would be very costly in terms of men and material. There'd probably be a stalemate similar to the original Normandy campaign, and months later, there might be a breakout.