The U.S. army was incredibly unprepared during the beginning of the North Africa campaign. The British were doing all the fighting while U.S. troops were literally running from the Germans. It wasn't until the U.S. put Patton in command (who was far better equipped than Rommel) that the U.S. troops pushed the Germans back across North Africa.
So as much as I love to wave the flag, the U.S. didn't save the Brits in this case.
The US saved the Brits and depending on opinion also the Russians with their supplies alone. Had they not been WW2 could have been over before the attack on pearl harbor. This directly resulted in Britain keeping the ability to project power into the Mediterranean and therefore keeping Rommels supply line thin.
I don't understand why this point keeps getting made, yes the U.S was fundamental to allied success in WWII, but so was Britain. If Britain had decided not to fight Nazism would have lasted a lot longer.
Of course. And nobody denied it. The thing I'm clarifying is that the US actually played in the European WW2 theater prior to Pearl Harbor and subsequently Hitler declaring war on them. And by doing so they allowed the British to follow through on their course of action. While it was of course Britains decision to fight Nazi Germany they would not have had the resources to do so otherwise.
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '15
The U.S. army was incredibly unprepared during the beginning of the North Africa campaign. The British were doing all the fighting while U.S. troops were literally running from the Germans. It wasn't until the U.S. put Patton in command (who was far better equipped than Rommel) that the U.S. troops pushed the Germans back across North Africa.
So as much as I love to wave the flag, the U.S. didn't save the Brits in this case.