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Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army

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This article is about theUnited States Army's Mediterranean Theater of Operations. For details of campaigns in the theater, seeMediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II.

TheMediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army(MTOUSA), originally called theNorth African Theater of Operations, United States Army(NATOUSA), was amilitary formationof theUnited States Armythat supervised all U.S. Army forces which fought inNorth AfricaandItalyduringWorld War II.

North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (1942–1944)
Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army (1944–1947)
Active4 February 1943–17 September 1947
CountryUnited States
Engagements
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Insignia
Shoulder sleeve insignia

United States Army operations in the theater began withOperation Torch,whenAlliedforces landed on the beaches of northwest Africa on 8 November 1942, and concluded in the Italian Alps some 31 months later, with theGerman surrender in Italyon 2 May 1945. For administrative purposes, U.S. components were responsible to Headquarters North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (NATOUSA), which was created 14 February 1943. NATOUSA was redesignated Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army (MTOUSA), on 26 October 1944.

Origins

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ETO Boundary changes 1942-1943

Allied Force Headquarters(AFHQ) was created on 12 September 1942 to launchOperation Torch,the Allied invasion ofFrench North Africa.At the time, this was within the boundaries of theEuropean Theater of Operations, United States Army(ETOUSA). The initialCommander-in-Chief(C-in-C) of the Allied (Expeditionary) Force, wasLieutenant GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower.Lieutenant GeneralMark W. Clarkwas deputy commander-in-chief. AsSupreme Allied Commander,Eisenhower controlled the ground forces throughMajor GeneralGeorge S. Patton Jr,Major GeneralLloyd R. Fredendall,and BritishLieutenant-GeneralSirKenneth Anderson.The naval forces were commanded by BritishAdmiralSirAndrew Browne Cunningham,and the air forces byAir MarshalSirWilliam WelshandBrigadier GeneralJames H. Doolittle.[1]

North African Theater of Operations

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The North African Theater of Operations (NATO) included French Africa, Spain, Portugal and Italy.[2]For administrative purposes, US forces were controlled by Headquarters North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (NATOUSA), which was activated inAlgierson 4 February 1943.[3]Eisenhower commanded both the Allied Force and NATOUSA.[4]The boundaries of NATOUSA were not the same as those of the Allied theater, and included all of French North Africa, Spain, Portugal, Austria and Switzerland.[5]

Brigadier GeneralEverett S. Hughes,who had been responsible for the logistical planning of Operation Torch at ETOUSA, arrived in North Africa on 12 February 1943 to become the deputy theater commander and commanding general of theCommunications Zone.The three base sections, the Atlantic Base Section atCasablanca,the Mediterranean Base Section atOran[6]and the Eastern Base Section atConstantine,became part of theServices of Supply,North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (SOS NATOUSA), commanded by Major GeneralThomas B. Larkin,which was responsible for the logistical support of U.S. Army forces in the Mediterranean.[3]

BritishGeneralSirHarold Alexanderbecame commander of the British18th Army Group,which was activated on 19 February 1943, and was responsible for the detailed planning and preparation, and the actual conduct, of combat operations. In effect, Alexander was the ground commander. Air forces were grouped under the Mediterranean Air Command underAir Chief MarshalSirArthur Tedder,which became active the day before. This included the USNinthandTwelfth Air Forces.[7]

BritishGeneralSirHenry Maitland Wilson(right), the Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theatre, with his American deputy,Lieutenant GeneralJacob L. Devers,who also commanded the American NATOUSA.

For theAllied invasion of Sicily,Alexander was appointed Eisenhower's deputy commander in chief and responsible for ground warfare, while Cunningham and Tedder remained the naval and air commanders respectively.[8]Having overseen the early stages of theItalian Campaign,Eisenhower left AFHQ on 8 January 1944 and returned to England to assume command of the forces assembling forOperation Overlord,codename for the Alliedlandings in Northwest Europe.He was succeeded asSupreme Allied Commanderin the Mediterranean by British General SirHenry Maitland Wilson.Lieutenant GeneralJacob L. Deversbecame Wilson's Deputy Supreme Commander and also the commanding general of NATOUSA.[9]

Operation Dragoon,the Allied landings in Southern France, was conducted by the Mediterranean Theater. An advance echelon of SOS NATOUSA was organized in Italy and arrived atDijonon 12 September to control the Delta Base Section and Continental Advance Section (CONAD).[10]SOS NATOUSA became Communications Zone (COMZONE) NATOUSA on 1 October,[11]Lieutenant GeneralJoseph T. McNarneysucceeded Devers as the Deputy Commander of NATOUSA on 22 October, allowing Devers to devote all his time and energy to running the6th Army Groupin France.[12]The 6th Army Group was activated on 1 August,[13]and it became operational in France on 15 September.[14]

NATOUSA was redesignated Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army (MTOUSA), on 1 November 1944, and no longer had any responsibilities in Southern France. MTOUSA boundaries were considerably diminished (on the north) from those of NATOUSA, and U.S. Army forces in southern France passed to the administrative control of ETOUSA.[5]The forces in Southern France had their own line of communications from MTOUSA, but by February 1945 the integration of the Southern Line of Communications (SOLOC) with ETO Communications Zone had progressed to the point where the SOLOC headquarters was superfluous, and SOLOC was abolished on 6 February 1945.[15]

Wilson remained Supreme Allied Commander for just under a year, until 21 November 1944, when he was sent to Washington to head of theBritish Joint Staff Mission,[16]a position rendered vacant by the death ofField MarshalSirJohn Dillon 4 November 1944.[17]Wilson was succeeded by Field Marshal SirHarold Alexander,[18]who remained until the end of the war.[19]

Headquarters MTOUSA and General Headquarters CMF formally separated from AFHQ on 1 October 1945,[20]leaving AFHQ to consist of a small interallied staff responsible for combined command liquidation activities and commanded by British Lieutenant General SirWilliam Duthie Morganas Supreme Allied Commander Mediterranean.[21]AFHQ was abolished, effective 17 September 1947, by General Order 24, AFHQ, 16 September 1947.[20]McNarney was succeeded as Deputy Theater Commander and Ccommanding general MTOUSA by Lieutenant GeneralMatthew B. Ridgway,who in turned was succeeded in December 1945 by Lieutenant GeneralJohn C. H. Lee,who commanded through 1946 and 1947.[22]

The Africa-Middle East Theater of Operations was "established on March 1, 1945, was mainly concerned with the liquidation of the Army's property holdings and other interests in Africa, Palestine, and the Persian Gulf area. The North African installations of the Mediterranean Theater and its base commands at Casablanca were transferred to the new Theater in March 1945; theUnited States Army Forces in Liberiawere transferred to it in April 1945. "[23]"The United States Army Forces in Liberia were subsequently under the North African Service Command, which was the former Mediterranean Base Section, at Casablanca. By 1946 all [the Town Commands] except the agency at Casablanca were discontinued."[23]

Campaigns

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See also:U.S. campaigns in WWII

A theater of operations

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Chart 12.- Typical organization of a theater of operations as envisaged by War Department Doctrine, 1940

The term "theater of operations" was defined in the [American] field manuals as the land and sea areas to be invaded or defended, including areas necessary for administrative activities incident to the military operations (chart 12). In accordance with the experience of World War I, it was usually conceived of as a large land mass over which continuous operations would take place and was divided into two chief areas-the combat zone, or the area of active fighting, and the communications zone, or area required for administration of the theater. As the armies advanced, both these zones and the areas into which they were divided would shift forward to new geographic areas of control.[25]

Notes

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  1. ^Howe 1977,pp. 3, 32–37.
  2. ^Ruppenthal 1953,p. 112.
  3. ^abHowe 1977,pp. 495–496.
  4. ^Blumenson 1969,p. 9.
  5. ^abClarke & Smith 1993,p. 24.
  6. ^United States Army."Mediterranean Base Section Part_02".cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org.Retrieved4 June2024.
  7. ^Howe 1977,pp. 492–493.
  8. ^Garland & Smyth 1965,pp. 10–11.
  9. ^Blumenson 1969,pp. 294–295.
  10. ^Bykofsky & Larson 1957,p. 299.
  11. ^Dworak 2011,p. 356.
  12. ^Clarke & Smith 1993,p. 323.
  13. ^Clarke & Smith 1993,p. 30.
  14. ^Clarke & Smith 1993,p. 224.
  15. ^Ruppenthal 1959,p. 45.
  16. ^Mead 2007,p. 495.
  17. ^Mead 2007,p. 124.
  18. ^Fisher 1977,p. 399.
  19. ^Mead 2007,pp. 45–46.
  20. ^ab"Records of Allied Operational and Occupation Headquarters, World War II".National Archives. 15 August 2016.Retrieved14 January2022.
  21. ^Mead 2007,p. 520.
  22. ^Cox 2018,pp. 213–215.
  23. ^ab"HyperWar: Federal Records of WWII--Military Agencies [Part IV--Theaters]".ibiblio.org.Retrieved31 December2021.
  24. ^abcdefghi"Listing of the Campaigns of the U.S. Army Displayed on the Army Flag".U.S. Army Center of Military History.Retrieved13 January2022.
  25. ^Armfield, M.A., Blanche B. "VII: The Mediterranean Theater of Operations". In John Boyd Coates, Jr. (ed.).Medical Department, United States Army in World War II.Administrative Series. Vol. Organization and Administration in World War II. Office of Medical History, US Army Medical Department.

References

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