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Combined Chiefs of Staff

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Combined Chiefs of Staff in Quebec – August 23, 1943. Seated around the table from left foreground: Vice Adm. LordLouis Mountbatten,SirDudley Pound,SirAlan Brooke,SirCharles Portal,SirJohn Dill,Lt. Gen. SirHastings L. Ismay,BrigadierHarold Redman,Comdr.R.D. Coleridge,Brig. Gen.John R. Deane,GeneralHenry Arnold,GeneralGeorge Marshall,AdmiralWilliam D. Leahy,AdmiralErnest King,and Capt.F.B. Royal.

TheCombined Chiefs of Staff(CCS) was the suprememilitary stafffor theUnited StatesandBritainduringWorld War II.It set all the major policy decisions for the two nations, subject to the approvals of British Prime MinisterWinston Churchilland U.S. PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt.

History[edit]

It emerged from the meetings of theArcadia Conferencein Washington, from December 22, 1941, to January 14, 1942.[1]Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Prime Minister Churchill and his senior military staff used Arcadia as an opportunity to lay out the general strategy for the war. The American Army Chief of StaffGeorge Marshallcame up with the idea of a combined board, and sold it to Roosevelt and together the two sold the idea to Churchill. Churchill's military aides were much less favorable, and GeneralAlan Brooke,the chief of theBritish Armed Forces,was strongly opposed. Brooke believed that if the Western Allies were placed under international unified commands the United States would become dominant, and also feared that the situation of the CCS inWashington D.C.would leave Britain unable to initiate military policy. However, Brooke was left behind in London to handle the daily details of running the British war effort, and was not consulted.Charles de GaullerequestedFree Frenchrepresentation on the committee but was declined along with the other Western Allies.[2]

As part of Marshall's plan, Roosevelt also set up aJoint Chiefs of Staffon the American side. The combined board was permanently stationed at theUnited States Public Health Service Buildingin Washington, where Field MarshalJohn Dillrepresented the British half.[2][3]The CCS was constituted from the British Chiefs of Staff Committee and the AmericanJoint Chiefs of Staff,The American unit was created in part to present a common front to theBritish Chiefs of Staff.It held its first formal meeting on 9 February 1942 to coordinate U.S. military operations between War and Navy Departments.[4][5]

The CCS charter was approved by President Roosevelt 21 April 1942.[4]The American members of the CCS wereGeneralGeorge C. Marshall,theUnited States Armychief of staff, the Chief of Naval Operations, AdmiralHarold R. Stark(replaced early in 1942 by AdmiralErnest J. King); and the Chief (later Commanding General) of the Army Air Forces, Lt. Gen.Henry H. Arnold.In July 1942 a fourth member was added, the President's personal Chief of Staff, AdmiralWilliam D. Leahy,who chaired the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.[6]

On the British side the Chiefs of Staff only normally attended during the heads of states' conferences. Instead the British Joint Staff Mission was permanently situated in Washington, D.C. to represent British interests.[7]The British members were a representative of theprime minister,in his capacity asMinister of Defence,and the Chiefs of Staff Committee, which consisted of theFirst Sea Lord,theChief of the Imperial General Staff,and theChief of the Air Staff,or the Washington representative of each. The representative of the Prime Minister wasField MarshalSirJohn Dilland after his death Field Marshal SirHenry Maitland Wilson.The Washington representatives of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, who normally met with the United States members in place of their principals, were the senior officers from their respective services on the British Joint Staff Mission in Washington. In the course of the war, the First Sea Lord was represented by Admiral SirCharles Little,Admiral SirAndrew Cunningham,Admiral SirPercy Noble,andAdmiralSirJames Somerville;the Chief of the Imperial General Staff was represented by Lt. Gen. SirColville Wemyssand Lt. Gen.G. N. Macready;and the Chief of the Air Staff was represented by Air MarshalD. C. S. Evill,Air Marshal SirWilliam L. Welsh,and Air MarshalDouglas Colyer.Dill, a close friend of Marshall, often took the American position and prevented polarizations that would undermine effectiveness.[8]

The Combined Chiefs of Staff organization included the Combined Secretariat and a number of committees.

In the spring of 1942, Britain and the United States agreed on a worldwide division of strategic responsibility. On 24 March 1942, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff were designated as primarily responsible for the war in the Pacific, and the British Chiefs for the Middle East-Indian Ocean region, while the European-Mediterranean-Atlantic area would be a combined responsibility of both staffs.[6]China was designated a separate theater commanded by its chief of state,Chiang Kai-shek,though within the United States' sphere of responsibility. Six days later theJoint Chiefs of Staffdivided the Pacific theater into three areas: thePacific Ocean Areas(POA), theSouth West Pacific Area(SWPA), and theSoutheast Pacific Area.[9]The Pacific Ocean Area command formally became operational on 8 May.

The CCS usually held its meetings in Washington. The full CCS usually met only during the great wartime conferences on grand strategy, such as atCasablanca(seeList of World War II conferences). The meetings of heads of government at those conferences were designed to reach formal agreement on issues thoroughly staffed by the CCS.[4]At the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, GeneralFrank Maxwell Andrewswas appointed commander of all United States forces in theEuropean Theater of Operations.

Although it was responsible to both the British and American governments, the CCS controlled forces from many different countries in all theaters, including the Pacific, India and North Africa. Representatives of allied nations were not members of the CCS but accepted procedure included consultation with "Military Representatives of Associated Powers" on strategic issues; seePacific War Council.[4]

The end of the war left the status of the CCS uncertain. Although Marshall and some American military leaders favored retaining it or a similar organization, the majority of the American public and government favored abandoning the bilateral Anglo-American command structure in favor of eithermultilateralpacts such as theUnited Nationsor a return toUnited States non-interventionism.Many Americans also disapproved ofBritish imperialism.However, support for closer bilateral military integration rose due to the beginning of theCold War,including the exposure ofSoviet espionage in the United States.[3]

Much cooperation continued between the British and American militaries after the war including the Combined Chiefs of Staff structure, and it was used again during theBerlin Blockadeof 1948. At the same time other major Western European countries increased their demands for representation in the CCS, as they all would all require American assistance in the event of aSoviet Armed Forcesoffensive into Western Europe. The formation of theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization,which had amultilateral unified commandbetweenAnglo-AmericaandWestern Europe,eliminated the need for the CCS. The British government agreed to the dissolution of the CCS in exchange for closer cooperation with theUnited States Department of Defensein 1949.[3][10]

Present day[edit]

Both the USJoint Chiefs of Staffand the UK'sChiefs of Staff Committeemet as a "Combined Chiefs of Staff Committee" around March 2013,[11]the first time since their World War II meetings. This was held in Washington DC. Subsequent meetings were held in London 2014[12]and in the National Defense University, May 2015.[13]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Leighton, Richard M.; Robert W Coakley (1995).United States Army in World War II - The War Department - Global Logistics and Strategy 1940-1943.Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D. C. p. 143. Archived fromthe originalon 11 October 2017.Retrieved5 January2012.
  2. ^abRoberts, Andrew (2009).Masters and Commanders: The Military Geniuses Who Led the West to Victory in World War II(1 ed.). London:Penguin Books.pp. 66–101.ISBN978-0-141-02926-9– via Archive Foundation.
  3. ^abc"Folding Up the Combined Chiefs of Staff".The National WWII Museum | New Orleans.26 September 2020.Retrieved2022-07-21.
  4. ^abcdCline, Ray S. (1990).United States Army in World War II - The War Department - Washington Command Post: The Operations Division; Chapter VI. Organizing The High Command For World War II "Development of the Joint and Combined Chiefs of Staff System".Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D. C. pp. 98–104. Archived fromthe originalon 11 December 2018.Retrieved5 January2012.
  5. ^Leighton, Richard M.; Robert W Coakley (1995).United States Army in World War II - The War Department - Global Logistics and Strategy 1940-1943.Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D. C. p. 144. Archived fromthe originalon 11 October 2017.Retrieved5 January2012.
  6. ^ab"HyperWar: American Military History [Chapter 20]".www.ibiblio.org.
  7. ^Federal Records of World War II Volume II: Military Agencies, General Services Administration,National Archives and Records Service,The National Archives,Part One: Interallied and Interservice Military Agencies,Washington, D.C.: 1951, accessed December 2011
  8. ^Rigby (2012), "Introduction"
  9. ^Cressman (2000)p.84 and Potter & Nimitz, Sea Power, 1960, p.653
  10. ^Dawson, R.; Rosecrance, R. (1966). "Theory and Reality in the Anglo-American Alliance".World Politics.19(1): 21–51.doi:10.2307/2009841.JSTOR2009841.S2CID155057300.
  11. ^"UK and US service chiefs discuss future strategic challenges - GOV.UK".www.gov.uk.
  12. ^"US, UK Combined Chiefs Meet in London".10 June 2014.Retrieved23 June2015.[dead link]
  13. ^"British Chiefs Present Churchill Bust to Pentagon".U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.

Further reading[edit]

  • Adams, Henry H.Witness to Power: The Life of Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy(1985)
  • Bercuson, David, and Holger Herwig.One Christmas in Washington: Roosevelt and Churchill Forge the Grand Alliance(2005)
  • Butler, J.R.M. et al.Grand Strategy. Volume II. September 1939 - June 1941(London: HMSO, 1976), official British history
  • Cline, Ray S.Washington Command Post: The Operations DivisionVol. 4. Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, 1951.
  • Danchev, Alex.Being Friends: The Combined Chiefs of Staff and the Making of Allied Strategy in the Second World War(1992)
  • Davis, Vernon E.The History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in World War II: Organizational Development(Historical Section, Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1953)
  • Freuding, Christian. "Organising for War: Strategic Culture and the Organisation of High Command in Britain and Germany, 1850–1945: A Comparative Perspective."Defence Studies(2010) 10#3 pp: 431–460.
  • Jackson, William Godfrey Fothergill.The chiefs: the story of the United Kingdom chiefs of staff(Potomac Books Inc, 1992), 504pp; includes postwar
  • Jordan, Jonathan W.,American Warlords: How Roosevelt's High Command Led America to Victory in World War II(NAL/Caliber 2015).
  • Leahy, William D.I Was There: the Personal Story of the Chief of Staff to Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, based on his notes and diaries made at the time(Whittlesey House, 1950)
  • Matloff, Maurice and Edwin M. Snell.Strategic planning for coalition warfare, 1941-1942(United States Army in World War II: The War Department; "Green Books" "series)) (1953)Kindle edition
  • Matloff, Maurice.Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare 1943-1945(US Army Green Book) (1951)Kindle edition
  • Rice, Anthony J. "Command and control: the essence of coalition warfare."Parameters(1997) v 27 pp: 152–167.
  • Rigby, David.Allied Master Strategists: The Combined Chiefs of Staff in World War II(2012)excerpt and text search;online review
  • Roberts, Andrew.Masters and Commanders: How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941-1945(2009), covers the interactions of Roosevelt, Churchill, Marshall, and Brooke.
  • Rosen, S. McKee.The combined boards of the Second World War: An experiment in international administration(Columbia University Press, 1951)

External links[edit]

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