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Originally Posted by Brett
My question is: Was there an explicit decision to reject a S. France invasion in ’43 or ’44 before D-Day? Or were the British and Americans so fixated on their respective strategies that a pre D-Day S. France invasion was not even considered?
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Pre-Normandy, the Americans were fixated on a cross-channel invasion while the British, fueled strongly by Churchill's "Europe's soft underbelly" (Italy and Balkans) philosophy, wanted to go through Italy. As the British-favored Italian campaign slowly grounded down to a near stand-still, the Americans won a political victory by getting the Normandy campaign they wanted. In order to compliment the northern France campaign, the Americans once again pushed for the need of a southern France operation. Upon hearing the arguments again, Churchill wrote Eisenhower:
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We no longer had any need of the port of Marseilles and the line of communication leading northward from it. Troops from America could come in via Brittany.
The attack through the south of France was far removed geographically from the troops in northern France that there was no tactical connection between them.
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So I think the reason why Operation Dragoon did not take place until 15 Aug 1944 is because political objection from the UK. Interestingly, by Aug 1944, the Normandy campaign was largely over; Aug 1944 was when the Falaise Pocket was closed.