Eisenhower by Steven J. Zaloga

Author:Steven J. Zaloga
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Dwight Eisenhower
ISBN: 9781849088237
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2011-07-08T16:00:00+00:00

The senior American commanders visited Normandy in June and seen here on June 12, 1944, are AAF chief of staff Henry “Hap” Arnold, Navy chief of staff Adm. Ernie King, Ike, and Army chief of staff George C. Marshall. (NARA)

Eisenhower’s next strategic decision was the fate of Paris. Allied planning prior to the Normandy landings presumed that Paris would be avoided as a major objective. The US attitude was bluntly described by Bradley after the war: “Tactically, the city had become meaningless. For all its past glories, Paris represented nothing more than an inkspot on our maps to be bypassed as we headed toward the Rhine. Logistically it could cause untold trouble, for behind its handsome facades there lived 4,000,000 hungry Frenchmen.” Bradley’s staff had estimated that Paris would require 4,000 tons of supplies per day, which was equivalent to the amount needed to push Patton’s Third US Army three days closer towards the German border. Eisenhower saw otherwise. The French resistance began an uprising in the city on August 19, and there was pressure on Eisenhower to liberate the French capital before the Germans could demolish it. Regardless of Bradley’s views, the city was the communication hub towards Germany, and it seemed a ripe fruit ready for the picking because of totally inadequate German defensive preparations. Eisenhower could have dawdled and asked Washington’s permission to liberate Paris; instead he made a snap decision to intervene in order to prevent needless destruction. The political consequences of allowing Paris to be martyred (as was occurring at the same time to Warsaw) were unthinkable, and Eisenhower authorized the French 2e Division Blindée to race for the city with the support of the US 4th Division. For the US Army, the liberation of Paris was a magnificent conclusion to the bruising summer campaign in Normandy. The ecstatic French crowds in Paris strongly reinforced the popular perception that this was a “good war” worth the bloody sacrifice of Omaha Beach and the grim hedgerow battles in Normandy.

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