Top 5's of the US in WW2

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Aggie1205
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11:48p, 4/9/25
AG
Recently listened to an episode of We Have Ways of Making you Talk, which is a WW2 focused podcast by a couple of guys in England. Heard about it on this board. They discussed the top 5 Victories and Top 5 Blunders of WW2 for the UK. So that leads to the question, what would they be for the US? As examples, here are what they had for the UK. No particular order after the first one under each. As you can see, it can range from a single battle to a war long campaign.

Victories:

Battle of the Atlantic
D-Day
Strategic Bombing Campaign
Battle of Britian
Imphal/Kohima

Blunders:

Singapore
Crete
Fall of Tobruk
1st Arakan Offensive
Malta (not sending Hurricanes earlier)

My list for the US:

Victories

Midway
Invention of Nuclear Bomb (led to not invading mainland Japan)
Development of the Proximity fuze (Might seem small but this was big in the pacific
Tunisian Campaign - Not perfect but it allowed the US to figure things out and ended in the capture of a large number of Axis soldiers plus really heavy losses for the Luftwaffe
Battle of the Philippine Sea - Could argue the 2nd biggest knockout of Japan's navy after Midway.

Blunders:

Pearl Harbor (bit hard to put on here since it was a surprise, but its hard not to call it a blunder due to the losses)
Battle of the Bulge (getting caught off guard)
Fall of the Philippines
Early losses to Uboats - Slow reaction and lack of use of British knowledge for anti-submarine techniques early in war for the US leading to the 2nd Happy Time for Uboats.
Battle of Peleliu - I thought about the Hurtgen Forest here as well for similar reasons, huge losses for little gain even if we did "win"
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BQ_90
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8:30a, 4/10/25
AG
I'd add to blunders the campaign in Italy. Seemed like it was just a meat grinder, kept these frontal assaults trying to take occupied high ground.

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Aggie1205
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8:41a, 4/10/25
AG
I've thought about it more and decided to change my blunders:

Blunders:


Battle of the Bulge (getting caught off guard)
Fall of the Philippines
Early losses to Uboats - Slow reaction and lack of use of British knowledge for anti-submarine techniques early in war for the US leading to the 2nd Happy Time for Uboats.
US Torpedo Failures - Specifically the Mark 14 model. Hard to know for sure how many more ships the US would have sunk in 42 and 43.
Air Raid on Bari - Led to the release of Mustard gas that was stored on a ship. 29 ships lost and thousands of people plus the cover up.
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ABATTBQ87
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12:24p, 4/10/25
AG
Blunders:

1) 1941 inter-military communications - the Army and Navy are both to blame for the disaster at Pearl Harbor.

2) Normandy Campaign: June 10 to July 25, 1944. The Allies effectively prepared for the beach landings; however, the fighting in the hedgerows and urban areas presented challenges that required on-the-go adaptation. Additionally, the British command displayed a passive approach towards the capture of Caen.

3) Operation Market Garden: Variations had been planned for 4 weeks, so it wasn't a one-week thrown-together attack. The British XXX Corps lack of urgency was the most glaring blunder, followed by the 82nds inability to take the Nijmegan bridge on day 1; and the British planners dropping their airborne forces 7+ miles from the Arnhem bridge.

4) The Battle of Hrtgen Forest was a waste of manpower that could have been used elsewhere on the front.

5) The Battle of the Bulge was characterized by poor intelligence, ill-prepared soldiers, and thousands of troops who surrendered. Additionally, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) faced potential fragmentation due to the reactions of the French and British and their tendency to assign blame. During this period, General Montgomery nearly faced dismissal by Eisenhower because of his disparaging comments about US command.
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Kaa98
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10:56p, 4/10/25
The battle of Guadalcanal (land, sea and air) has to be included in victories.
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Smeghead4761
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12:33a, 4/11/25
Blunders:

1) Lack of fighter drop tanks/Unescorted daylight bombing. This was almost entirely preventable. Hap Arnold had banned development/purchase of drop tanks for fighters before the war, because they threatened the Bomber Mafia's theories. This meant it took that much longer to get drop tanks once it was realized that daylight bombing required fighter escorts - which they should have figured out from the US entry into the war, because they had watched both the Germans and British get chewed up trying it. Related: running Chennault out of town when he showed that bombers could be intercepted by fighters, even before radar.

2) MacArthur's initial defense of the Philippines. The Philippines could not be held indefinitely with the assets on hand, and War Plan Orange reflected that. Orange called for holding out on Bataan/Correigidor and other islands further south as long as possible. MacArthur greatly weakened this plan by attempting a forward defense near the Japanese landing beaches. MacArthur or his naval commander also failed to use their submarines effectively to inflict losses on the Japanese invasion fleet. (And the old S-boats used an older model torpedo that didn't have detonator issues.)

3) Peleliu. Unnecessary and costly. Could have been neutralized by bombing alone. Forces could have been used to take Iwo Jima, which was almost undefended at the time

4) Mark Clark driving on Rome instead of trapping German forces in Italy. When the Allies broke through the Gustav Line and out of Anzio, Clark's forces could have cut off the retreat of the main German forces in Italy. Instead, Clark glory-hogged it and went for Rome instead, allowing the Germans to establish a new defense line north of the city.

5) Huertgen Forrest. Costly effort to take largely useless territory (especially without securing the dams upriver.) Significant weakened several US divisions just before the Battle of the Bulge

Victories

1) Pacific submarine campaign. Even with the torpedo issues, Charlie Lockwood's boys were getting close to strangling and starving Japan all by themselves.

2) Operation POINTBLANK. The destruction of the Luftwaffe. This allowed D-Day and the enormously effective strategic bombing campaign from 1944 on to happen. Edit to add: Just to be more specific, this is POINTBLANK after they fixed Blunder #1 above, and adopted more aggressive fighter tactics like the "Zemke fan" to let their fighters go after the German fighters versus flying a strictly defensive close escort.

3) D-Day. I put this below POINTBLANK because without POINTBLANK D-Day doesn't happen.

4) Midway. Checked Japanese momentum and severely mauled their carrier arm. Made the following item possible.

5) Guadalcanal/Solomons campaigns. This is where the US seized the strategic initiative from Japan and never let it go. Inflicted enormous attrition on both IJN and IJA aviation, which they couldn't adequately replace. Hurt the IJN badly enough that it pretty much went into hiding until Philippine Sea. But this was a close run thing for the USN as well - by the end of the Guadalcanal campaign, the USN had only one operational carrier in the South Pacific (Enterprise) and it was damaged; plus Halsey was almost out of cruisers (thus necessitating sending in Washington and South Dakota for what turned out to be the climactic naval battle of the campaign.

Honorable mention: Battle off Samar. The last stand of the Tin Can Sailors. This should have been an enormous L, ranking high on the Blunders list, but somehow it wasn't. This needs to be a movie.
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Aggie1205
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9:19a, 4/11/25
AG
The sub campaign in the Pacific is a solid choice.
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YZ250
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12:56p, 4/11/25
I'm only addressing the Pacific theater.

1. Dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
2. Submarine/unrestricted warfare. What is surprising was that unrestricted warfare was ordered on December 7. This was a complete change from existing policy.
3. Midway. Not only did the Japanese lose a lot but it allowed the Pacific theater to go from a defensive position to an offensive one.
4. Battle of the Philippine Sea.
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Cinco Ranch Aggie
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8:08p, 4/15/25
AG
I will add a couple of aviation-related victories:

Listening to the Brits about replacing the Alison engine with the Rolls Royce Merlin in the P-51 Mustang. That move took a so-so airplane to a war winner in giving it the performance to escort the heavies all the way to German targets

In the Pacific, introducing Grumman's F6F Hellcat in 1943. This ultimately led to the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, which virtually ended any semblance of Jap air power. The Hellcat shot down/destroyed more enemy aircraft than any other US fighter.
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Rabid Cougar
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10:55a, 4/16/25
AG
The advancement of the US Navy Amphibious Assault Fleet. Went from virtually zero to the largest fleet in the Navy in light speed. The war would not have been won without it.
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Ciboag96
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9:04p, 4/16/25
Although nuclear attack on Japan is what may have been the final straw that broke the camels back, the invention of Napalm and its use on Japanese cities by General LeMay may trump the nukes. Nukes got the headlines but napalm did most of the work softening up the Japanese to capitulate. Read Bomber Mafia.

L
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Smeghead4761
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4:42a, 4/17/25
One thing I would add as a Big W for both the US and UK has got to be code breaking. It played an important role against both Germany and Japan. Would the war have been won without it? Almost certainly - but it would have taken longer, and been much more costly.
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one safe place
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2:07p, 4/18/25
I've not done much reading other than where my father was (Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, Okinawa). But Tarawa had a ton of blunders. Among them:

Communications equipment was on the USS Maryland and was not battle tested after installation. In fact, the installation was still being done as they sailed to Tarawa. When they let loose with the 16" guns, that knocked out the radios. As I recall they would get them back to working and they would go out again when the big guns were fired.

Landing on a neap tide along with the final conclusion that there would be enough water over the reef due to rising tide and thus the Higgins boats would be able to cross the reef which turned out to be wrong. Being forced to wade in a distance of 400 to 800 yards resulted in great losses and also played hell with the radio equipment since it was not waterproof. I've made that wade and starting in chest deep water to the beach carrying nothing but a camera took forever. Can't imagine doing will full gear and under constant fire.

Not enough alligators for the assault and thus the use of Higgins boats to begin with. Some of the top brass wanted even fewer (only 75) alligators that had been used at Guadalcanal, so it was nearly even worse. After infighting, 100 LVT 2's were sent from San Diego but half of them were sent to the Army operation on Makin which was against much lighter defenses.

Armor plating on the alligators was not sufficient. They did upgrade, to some extent, but I think only on the original 75.

Overestimating what the bombing and shelling of the island would do to the Japanese.

The heavy seas made transferring men into landing craft more difficult and caused delays. Transports were staged in the wrong area.

As I recall, there was to be a 30 minute airstrike, followed by just over 2 hours of fire support from the ships, then another airstrike. None of that happened like planned. Changes were made without alerting the proper folks of the changes.

Admiral Hill called off the shelling while the troops were still around 4,000 yards from shore. That allowed the Japanese a lot of time to shift men and weaponry to the side of the island (lagoon side) where the landings were to take place.

I could go on and on. My conclusions from reading every book written about the battle (and some books conflict with one another) is that there appeared to be a great deal of urgency to initiate operation Galvanic (throwing a great deal of caution to the wind) and the battle plan required very precise timing which fell apart from the very beginning and grew worse by the minute.
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Smeghead4761
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10:12p, 4/18/25
I don't really know if you can call the things that didn't go well at Tarawa blunders so much as trial and error. They were doing something that hadn't really been done before, so there was just a lot that they had to learn by doing.

The problem with the concussion from battleship guns knocking out electronics wasn't really new - it also happened to the much newer South Dakota at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Nevermind with newly installed gear on a 20+ year old ship that wasn't built with that gear in mind. I also recall that the Texas used her midships turret much less frequently that the forward and aft guns, because the concussion was rough on the ship, even before it had much in the way of electronics at all.

But the Navy and Marines learned a whole lot from Tarawa - they didn't make the same mistakes when they landed in the Marshalls.

Actually, the biggest blunder related to Tarawa was probably the Makin Island raid in August, 1942. It was meant as a diversion from Guadalcanal, but it failed at that, achieved little actual damage, and woke the Japanese up to how poorly defended a lot of their island outposts were - which led to them beefing up Tarawa, among many.
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Aggie1205
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In reply to ABATTBQ87 • 9:19p, 4/22/25
AG
Got a top 5 victories?
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lb sand
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In reply to Aggie1205 • 9:23p, 4/22/25
AG
This is from grok, fwiw.

Here are five of the most significant U.S. Army tactical successes during World War II, based on their strategic impact and execution:

1. **D-Day Invasion (Operation Overlord, June 6, 1944)**: The U.S. Army, alongside Allied forces, executed the largest amphibious invasion in history at Normandy, France. The 1st, 4th, and 29th Infantry Divisions, among others, secured key beaches (Omaha and Utah) against fierce German resistance. This breakthrough established a Western Front, forcing Germany to fight on multiple fronts and setting the stage for the liberation of France.

2. **Battle of the Bulge (December 1944January 1945)**: The U.S. Army, particularly the 101st Airborne Division and elements of the 3rd and 7th Armies, repelled Germany's last major counteroffensive in the Ardennes. Despite being surrounded at Bastogne, American forces held critical positions, disrupted German supply lines, and counterattacked, weakening the Wehrmacht's ability to resist further Allied advances.

3. **Operation Torch (November 1942)**: The U.S. Army's first major offensive in the European Theater, this invasion of North Africa targeted Vichy French-controlled Morocco and Algeria. The 1st Infantry Division and 2nd Armored Division, under General Dwight D. Eisenhower, quickly neutralized resistance and secured key ports, paving the way for the eventual defeat of Axis forces in North Africa.

4. **Battle of Leyte Gulf (October 1944)**: While primarily a naval engagement, the U.S. Army's 6th Army, under General Douglas MacArthur, played a critical role in the land campaign to retake the Philippines. The successful amphibious landings on Leyte, supported by tactical coordination with air and naval forces, crippled Japanese defenses and marked a turning point in the Pacific Theater.

5. **Battle of Okinawa (AprilJune 1945)**: The U.S. Army's 10th Army, including the 1st and 6th Marine Divisions, executed a grueling campaign to capture this strategic island. Through methodical advances and combined arms tactics, U.S. forces overcame fanatical Japanese resistance, securing airfields that enabled the bombing of Japan and setting the stage for the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland.

These successes highlight the U.S. Army's ability to adapt, coordinate large-scale operations, and overcome diverse challenges across multiple theaters. If you'd like more details on any specific battle or additional context, let me know!
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Cinco Ranch Aggie
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In reply to lb sand • 6:22a, 4/23/25
AG
Grok will feel the wrath of the Brits, Canadians and others by merely suggesting June 6 was an American success.
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Aggie1205
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10:41p, 5/2/25
AG
On the subject of WW2, Trump has announced that May 8th will now be Victory in World War 2 day. What does this board think of giving it that title given that Japan was still fighting?
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Cinco Ranch Aggie
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In reply to Aggie1205 • 7:42a, 5/3/25
AG
Aggie1205 said:
On the subject of WW2, Trump has announced that May 8th will now be Victory in World War 2 day. What does this board think of giving it that title given that Japan was still fighting?
I'm generally pro-Trump, especially given the alternative, but put me in the camp of no. Sounds more like Victory in Europe if anything. If we need a proclaimed day for Victory in World War II, it should be September 2.
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Aggie1205
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9:39p, 5/13/25
AG
On the topic of WW2, here is an interesting site by a group in Canada. You can follow unit movements on the map while also reading their unit war diaries. Mostly Canadian units right now.

https://map.project44.ca/

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agracer
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In reply to ABATTBQ87 • 3:51p, 5/19/25
AG
ABATTBQ87 said:
Blunders:

1) 1941 inter-military communications - the Army and Navy are both to blame for the disaster at Pearl Harbor.

2) Normandy Campaign: June 10 to July 25, 1944. The Allies effectively prepared for the beach landings; however, the fighting in the hedgerows and urban areas presented challenges that required on-the-go adaptation. Additionally, the British command displayed a passive approach towards the capture of Caen.

3) Operation Market Garden: Variations had been planned for 4 weeks, so it wasn't a one-week thrown-together attack. The British XXX Corps lack of urgency was the most glaring blunder, followed by the 82nds inability to take the Nijmegan bridge on day 1; and the British planners dropping their airborne forces 7+ miles from the Arnhem bridge.

4) The Battle of Hrtgen Forest was a waste of manpower that could have been used elsewhere on the front.

5) The Battle of the Bulge was characterized by poor intelligence, ill-prepared soldiers, and thousands of troops who surrendered. Additionally, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) faced potential fragmentation due to the reactions of the French and British and their tendency to assign blame. During this period, General Montgomery nearly faced dismissal by Eisenhower because of his disparaging comments about US command.
Ignoring photo recon flights that showed a panzer group/division (?) was in the area on R&R and when the paratroops dropped, they were not expecting those tanks to be there.
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ABATTBQ87
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In reply to agracer • 11:59a, 5/20/25
AG
agracer said:
ABATTBQ87 said:
Blunders:

3) Operation Market Garden: Variations had been planned for 4 weeks, so it wasn't a one-week thrown-together attack. The British XXX Corps lack of urgency was the most glaring blunder, followed by the 82nds inability to take the Nijmegan bridge on day 1; and the British planners dropping their airborne forces 7+ miles from the Arnhem bridge.

Ignoring photo recon flights that showed a panzer group/division (?) was in the area on R&R and when the paratroops dropped, they were not expecting those tanks to be there.
Ignoring the rail line connecting Arnhem to Germany was another issue, as German forces, weapons, and ammunition were transported to Arnhem much quicker than anticipated.

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HillCountry15
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5:43p, 5/26/25
Not a "major" victory, but one that helped a ton

The "Ghost Army". Allied troops used inflatable tanks, trucks, fake radio traffic, etc. to fool the Axis powers in where the D-Day landings would be. Even named Gen. Patton in charge of it to further deceive the enemy.

Had the D-Day invasion failed, the outcome may have been vastly different
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ABATTBQ87
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In reply to HillCountry15 • 6:14p, 5/26/25
AG
HillCountry15 said:
Not a "major" victory, but one that helped a ton

The "Ghost Army". Allied troops used inflatable tanks, trucks, fake radio traffic, etc. to fool the Axis powers in where the D-Day landings would be. Even named Gen. Patton in charge of it to further deceive the enemy.

Had the D-Day invasion failed, the outcome may have been vastly different
Operation Fortitude: The Great Deception

Among other things, Operation Fortitude involved the creation of a sham army to fool any German reconnaissance planes that happened to fly over the Channel. In Folkestone harbor, the Allies built 255 dummy landing craft. They were made by lashing steel tubes to buoyant steel drums and covering them with canvas. They also built fake army encampments throughout southwest England. These camps included tanks, trucks, and jeeps that were realistic when seen from above but were made out of rubber. Soldiers were even given rolling equipment to make tire marks behind the tanks. Fake airfields were also built across southeast England, complete with aircraft made from sheets of plywood. In case any German spies were watching, soldiers were instructed to walk into nearby towns and villages wearing different uniforms with various nonexistent unit insignia to make it look like there were many different units in the area.

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Cinco Ranch Aggie
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In reply to ABATTBQ87 • 7:36p, 5/26/25
AG
I first learned of that by reading the novel, Eye of the Needle.
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Smeghead4761
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In reply to ABATTBQ87 • 11:02p, 5/27/25
I would argue that Market-Garden was a Brit op, and thus a Brit blunder, not a US. It gets attention in the US because of the involvement of the 82nd and 101st, but those were pretty much the only US troops.

It was Monty's idea, Monty's Army group and operational area, and XXX Corps, the main effort, was a Brit corps.

82nd, 101st, and the British 1st Para were Ike's theater reserve, and he Okay'd the operation and let Monty use the airborne troops, but that about it.

British (Montgomery) blunder, in my book. Especially doing it before clearing the Schelde estuary (which was a blunder in itself. Also British.)
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Cinco Ranch Aggie
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In reply to Smeghead4761 • 6:17a, 5/28/25
AG
Yep, definitely Monty's blunder.
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ABATTBQ87
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In reply to Smeghead4761 • 10:04a, 5/28/25
AG
Smeghead4761 said:
I would argue that Market-Garden was a Brit op, and thus a Brit blunder, not a US. It gets attention in the US because of the involvement of the 82nd and 101st, but those were pretty much the only US troops.

It was Monty's idea, Monty's Army group and operational area, and XXX Corps, the main effort, was a Brit corps.

82nd, 101st, and the British 1st Para were Ike's theater reserve, and he Okay'd the operation and let Monty use the airborne troops, but that about it.

British (Montgomery) blunder, in my book. Especially doing it before clearing the Schelde estuary (which was a blunder in itself. Also British.)
You can argue that, but it was a joint operation including American, Polish, and British paratroopers, American Army Air Corps and RAF planes, British Armor, and members of the Dutch underground.

The goal was to win the war, and Eisenhower deemed this an operation that would achieve that goal.

After visiting Hells Highway last year I can see that if XXX Corps could have stayed on schedule then they could have reached Arnhem, because once they cleared Nijmegen they had 8 miles of uncontested road
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Smeghead4761
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In reply to ABATTBQ87 • 1:40a, 5/29/25
The real blunder - and this was Ike's, so I'll call it an Allied blunder - was in not insisting the Monty clear the Schelde estuary first, because as long as the Germans held the Schelde, Antwerp was useless for bringing in supplies.

And the Allies had already pretty much reached the limit of how far they could go while relying on supplies coming from Normandy (especially since they'd bombed the French RR system into oblivion prior to D-Day).

So, even if Market-Garden had succeeded in seizing the Rhein crossing at Arnhem, Monty still would have been stuck for lack of supplies, and the Arnhem would have been at the tip of a very long, and very, very narrow salient.

What Ike should have told Monty was the equivalent of a parent saying to their teenager: "You can go out with your friends, but only after you clean your room and do your homework."

IOTW: "Sure, you can borrow the theater reserve paratroops and try to take the Rhein crossing at Arnhem, but you have to clear the Schelde first, so we can get the supply situation squared away."

(Ironically, it might have actually been better to give the resources to Patton and let him make a lunge for the Rhein, since 3rd Army was closer to where the supplies were being unloaded from the ships.)
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ABATTBQ87
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In reply to Smeghead4761 • 2:37p, 5/29/25
AG
Smeghead4761 said:
What Ike should have told Monty was the equivalent of a parent saying to their teenager: "You can go out with your friends, but only after you clean your room and do your homework."

IOTW: "Sure, you can borrow the theater reserve paratroops and try to take the Rhein crossing at Arnhem, but you have to clear the Schelde first, so we can get the supply situation squared away."
It would have taken too much time, as there was nothing but old men and kids defending Arnhem, so a quick victory was assured
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Smeghead4761
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In reply to ABATTBQ87 • 5:43a, 5/30/25
ABATTBQ87 said:
Smeghead4761 said:
What Ike should have told Monty was the equivalent of a parent saying to their teenager: "You can go out with your friends, but only after you clean your room and do your homework."

IOTW: "Sure, you can borrow the theater reserve paratroops and try to take the Rhein crossing at Arnhem, but you have to clear the Schelde first, so we can get the supply situation squared away."
It would have taken too much time, as there was nothing but old men and kids defending Arnhem, so a quick victory was assured
The problem is - as I noted above - even if 1st Para had actually succeeded in capturing the bridge, and even if XXX Corps had got to them in time - without the ability to use Antwerp, the Allies lacked the logistical capability to take advantage of the bridgehead.

So they'd have a bridgehead - at the end of a very long, very narrow salient, just begging for a counter-attack - with little ability to expand it, and even less ability to use it to break out into the north German plain. Oh, and you've gotten your theater reserve chewed up, and stuck holding a big chunk of that salient.

Unless and until they sent forces back to clear the Schelde.

Whether Ike let Monty talk him into the operation in the spirit of inter-Allied comity, or he actually thought it would work well enough to justify the risk, I have no idea.

Oh, and clearing the Schelde would have been much easier if Monty had ordered it done immediately after capturing Antwerp, before the Germans had a chance to get themselves re-organized.
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ABATTBQ87
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In reply to Smeghead4761 • 9:23a, 5/30/25
AG

Quote:
So they'd have a bridgehead - at the end of a very long, very narrow salient, just begging for a counter-attack - with little ability to expand it, and even less ability to use it to break out into the north German plain. Oh, and you've gotten your theater reserve chewed up, and stuck holding a big chunk of that salient.
And 3 months later, that counterattack happened in the Ardennes, and you had to use those chewed-up paratroop forces to hold and defend the northern shoulder and Bastogne (It was almost the 82nd AB that stopped in Bastogne, FYI).
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LMCane
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In reply to Aggie1205 • 1:09p, 6/4/25
largest Allied blunders:

surrender of British at Tobruk

Surrender of British at Hong Kong

Surrender of British at Singapore

Pearl Harbor

French defeat at Sedan

Battle of the Bulge

Kasserine Pass

Operation Barbarossa 1941

Dieppe

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ABATTBQ87
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In reply to LMCane • 3:07p, 6/4/25
AG
Operation Barbarossa 1941???

That was a German blunder/disaster
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Cinco Ranch Aggie
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In reply to ABATTBQ87 • 4:16p, 6/4/25
AG
ABATTBQ87 said:
Operation Barbarossa 1941???

That was a German blunder/disaster
Might have been looking at it from the perspective of the pact between Hitler and Stalin and therefore being unprepared for when Hitler stuck a knife in their back. But yeah, was totally yet another blunder by Hitler.
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