Keith Willshaw wrote:

"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...

Throwing the inexperienced US Army on some West-European
beach,

In 1944, the army might be more experienced, but the troops were not.
The Americans put new troops onto the beach at Omaha, rather than
moving combat-experienced men from Italy or some such place.


The US divisions that landed at Omaha were from the 1st Infantry
Division which HAD taken part in the Torch invasions and
fought in North Africa and Sicily

It was two RLTs from the 1st ID along with an RLT from the 29th ID (plus
the Rangers) who landed in the first wave. Here's General Bradley's
comments on his choice of the 1st ID, from his book "A Soldier's Story":

"When Overlord was expanded to include Utah Beach, we paired the 4th
Infantry with the 29th as the second assault division. But although both
divisions had undergone extensive amphibious training, neither had as yet
come under fire. Rather than chance a landing with two inexperienced
divisions, I looked around for a veteran division to include in the lineup.

"In all of England there was only one experienced assault division. Once
more the Big Red One was to carry the heavy end of our stick . . . .

"Although I disliked subjecting the 1st to still another landing [Guy:
their third], I felt that as a commander I had no other choice. My job was
to get ashore, establish a lodgement, and destroy the German. In the
accomplishment of that mission there was little room for the niceties of
justice. I felt compelled to employ the best troops I had, to minimize the
risks and hoist the odds in our favor in any way that I could. As a
result, the division that deserved compassion as a reward for its previous
ordeal now became the inevitable choice for our most difficult job.
Whatever the injustice, it is better that war heap its burdens unfairly
than that victory be jeopardized in an effort to equalize the ordeal."
[pp. 236-237]

and then

"In planning the assault, originally we had counted upon a thin crust of
two static divisions between Caen and Cherbourg. Rommel was known to have
concentrated his better reserves behind the beach. Among them was the
352nd Division which had been assembled at St. Lo.

"Just before boarding the Augusta in Plymouth harbor, Dickson [Guy:
Bradley's G-2] learned that the 352nd had been moved from St. Lo. to the
assault beaches for a defense exercise. He promptly forwarded this
information to V Corps and the 1st Division but was unable to give it to
the troops already 'sealed' aboard their craft.

"Had a less experienced division than the 1st Infantry stumbled into this
crack resistance, it might easily have been thrown back into the Channel.
Unjust though it was, my choice of the 1st to spearhead the invasion
probably saved us Omaha Beach and a catastrophe on the landing." [ibid,
pg. 272]

As to there being more than enough landing craft in 1943, the problem would
have been the distribution by type. The invasion beaches in Normandy had
unusually shallow slopes, IIRR in the region of 1:150 or more. Without
large numbers of LSTs (which IIRR only entered service at the end of 1942
or in mid-1943, I forget which), LCTs, LSUs and similar shallow draft
beaching craft, the rate of unloading would have been much slowed by the
need to unload deep draft ships offshore and lighter their loads in. The
buildup would have been even more prolonged than it was, especially given
that air superiority would not have been achieved yet. We probably could
have gotten ashore, but we wouldn't have had the huge advantage in
logistics over the Germans that we had in the Med from late '42 on, or in
the ETO in 1944.

Considering the early American experiences in North Africa, where the
Germans treated the inexperienced U.S. troops and their commanders several
very painful lessons, I'd say the odds of success would be rather poor in
1943, given how difficult it still was in 1944 despite a considerable
improvement in the allies favor, in both the balance of forces and the
strategic situation. Attempting a landing in 1942 would have just been
Dieppe on a larger scale.

OTOH, the Atlantic Wall would have been almost non-existent in 1943, and
the Sherman wouldn't have been so badly outclassed by as many of the German
tanks as it was in 1944. Even so, C2 and training were a long way from the
1944 standard.

Guy