Eisenhower in 1943

General Eisenhower reading a letter from Mamie at his headquarters in North Africa in 1943

Eisenhower Presidential Library

If 1942 was a year of extraordinary development and growth for Dwight D. Eisenhower, then 1943 was Eisenhower’s year of maturation, flexibility, lessons learned, and toughness as the Supreme Allied Commander. In 1943, he was not just another senior officer. He became the boss with all its pros and cons. He was now responsible for bringing stability and control to the fluid and chaotic environment of 1942.

The year 1943 began the same way 1942 ended for Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Operation Torch was stalled because of torrential rains in much of North Africa which made the terrain of Tunisia a quagmire. Eisenhower also had concerns that his forces would not have enough supplies and logistical support if he attacked the Germans prematurely. The original timeline for defeating the Germans in Tunisia had to be reluctantly modified.

On January 15, 1943, President Franklin Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and the Combined Chiefs of Staff of the Allies had a major strategy meeting in Casablanca, Morocco. Lieutenant General Eisenhower was invited to attend a portion of the meeting. Although the senior civilian and military leadership was not pleased with the progress in North Africa and were critical of Eisenhower, the members decided to continue with Eisenhower as the Supreme Allied Commander.

At the time of the Casablanca meeting, it had been only six months since Eisenhower arrived in England as the American Commanding General in the European Theater of Operations. In that short period of time, Eisenhower had learned to accept and tolerate overt and covert criticism from American and British superiors and direct reports. His confidence and sea legs were developing rapidly.

In only three weeks after the Casablanca meeting, Eisenhower received his fourth star on February 11, 1943. He was now a full general. At that time in the United States Army, only General George Marshall and General Douglas MacArthur were four-star generals. Several of Eisenhower’s British direct reports were four-star generals and technically outranked their boss. This promotion at least temporarily rectified the issue of rank.

It is fascinating to examine Eisenhower’s rapid rise in rank. His quick promotions surpassed several hundred senior officers in the United States Army. On March 1, 1941, Eisenhower was still a Lieutenant Colonel. On March 11, 1941, he received a temporary promotion to Colonel. Essentially, General Eisenhower progressed from a Lieutenant Colonel to a four-star General in only twenty-three months. This feat even in war time was truly phenomenal.

By the middle of February 1943, the long-awaited conflict in Tunisia commenced. The Germans struck first. The inexperienced American officers and soldiers made numerous mistakes at the Battle of Kasserine Pass and were forced to retreat. General Lloyd Fredendall, the field commander, was spending more time in his safe and elaborate bunker than directing and encouraging his men at the front.

On February 22, 1943, the Germans had reached their high-water mark. By February 26, 1943, the tide of fighting had turned and Kasserine Pass was taken by the Allies. Over the coming months, the situation in North Africa became increasingly bleak for the Germans.

During this intense fighting with General Erwin Rommel’s troops, General Eisenhower was once again thinking big. He designed and implemented a reorganization of the top officers in the alliance. His goal was to better integrate and coordinate naval, air, and ground forces. He was especially concerned with the question of how to better coordinate and support ground forces with air power.

On May 13, 1943, the German and Italian forces in North Africa surrendered to the Allies. It had been six months since General Eisenhower had executed Operation Torch. The original plan did not calculate six months, but the enemy was now defeated. The Allies had initial failures, but ultimately the North African Campaign was a significant victory for them.

Prior to the German surrender, General Eisenhower and his subordinates had initiated a plan to prevent an Axis evacuation and escape from North Africa. The last thing that the Allies wanted was German and Italian troops being evacuating to Sicily or Italy to fight another day. This plan resulted in the captured of almost 250,000 Axis Prisoners of War (POWs).

Eisenhower not only had to deal with massive problems, issues, and decisions during Operation Torch, he was also very concerned about his wife of twenty-seven years. It had been almost a year since he had seen Mamie. They maintained regular correspondence, but the separation was painful. Eisenhower knew that Mamie was suffering from illness. For Mamie, the husband whom she had known for twenty-seven years was now one of the most famous men in the world. She knew that their previous life would never be the same.

One of the lessons that Eisenhower learned from Operation Torch was the imperative to be tough on personnel matters. General Eisenhower thought that just because some senior officer was a close friend, or a West Point classmate, did not mean that the officer was competent to lead men in combat. Eisenhower fired Lieutenant General Lloyd Fredendall for his failure during the Battle of Kasserine Pass. He replaced Fredendall with Lieutenant General George Patton.

Shortly after replacing Fredendall, Patton was assigned to develop and expand the planning for the invasion of Sicily, which was called Operation Husky. Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, who had shown great leadership during Operation Torch, was selected to replace Patton.

The invasion of Sicily started on July 10, 1943. There was little enemy opposition on the beaches. Many Italian soldiers surrendered to the Allies without fighting, though there was tenacious German resistance in the difficult terrain on the island.It took 38 days of combat to defeat the Germans on Sicily. Unfortunately, the Allies were unable to stop the German evacuation and escape of soldiers, equipment, and supplies to Italy. On a positive note, the American soldiers did display much courage and fighting skills during the invasion of Sicily. On a negative note, Eisenhower had to contend with George Patton’s disgraceful slapping of a hospitalized enlisted soldier.

After the capture of Sicily, the decision of where to strike next was Eisenhower’s choice. The Allies now determine the time and place of the next invasion, not the leadership of the Third Reich. The Allies were now efficiently working together, and the alliance was displaying more strengths than weakness.

General Eisenhower decided to invade Italy on September 9, 1943. The landing site was Salerno, in the southern area of Italy. Immediately upon the Allied landing, the Italian Army disintegrated. The Italian military leadership negotiated an armistice with the Allies, but the Allies received few benefits or support from the Italians.

The Germans fought tenaciously in Italy without the Italians. In addition to German resistance, the Allies had to contend with bad weather and difficult terrain. The weather limited air support and tank maneuvers for the ground forces. There was minimal progress in Italy. By October and November, the fighting in Italy was a stalemate. Fortunately, the morale of the common soldier was good. Eisenhower was well liked and made frequent visits to the front lines.

From November 28, to December 1, 1943, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin (The Big Three) met in Tehran for a strategy meeting to discuss and make decisions on the course of the war. Stalin was skeptical of American and British sincerity on a plan for a cross channel invasion of German occupied France. Stalin pressed Roosevelt on naming the leader for the invasion. Roosevelt told Stalin that he would decide in a few days.

After much deliberation, Roosevelt chose Eisenhower to command Operation Overlord. Roosevelt notified Stalin about his decision. Eisenhower had proven to his superiors that he had matured as the Supreme Allied Commander and that he could maintain the alliance. Fortunately, everybody liked Eisenhower. Roosevelt informed Eisenhower of his decision on December 7, 1943.

On the last day of 1943, Eisenhower boarded an airplane for a secret flight to Washington D.C. Eisenhower had objected to the trip home. He wanted to fly to England and begin the preparation for Operation Overload immediately. Eisenhower saw this as his duty to his country. General Marshall had to order him home for visit with Mamie and much needed relaxation.