US World War II Amphibious Tactics

While over 40 amphibious assaults of regimental or larger size were conducted in the Pacific Theater, the European and Mediterranean Theaters of Operation (EMTO) saw far fewer. The Pacific war was essentially a naval campaign supported by the Marine Corps, Army, and the land- and carrier-based air arms of all three services. The EMTO was a two-continent land campaign supported by the combined naval forces of the United States and the British Commonwealth.

Most of the landings were multi-division, even multi-corps in size. Rather than landing the forces necessary to secure comparatively small islands, EMTO landings had the aim of establishing large invasion forces ashore to seize lodgments and seaports from which to commence land campaigns to liberate whole continents, supported by massive land-based air forces.

Most of the landings occurred in the Mediterranean Sea, on the coasts of North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Southern France. “The Med” extends some 2,400 miles east to west, covering three time zones, with a maximum north-south width of 1,000 miles. In the 1940s it was bordered by Spain, France, Italy, Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and French and Spanish Morocco – a total of 28,600 miles of varied coastline. Passages at both ends – the Strait of Gibraltar connecting with the Atlantic Ocean in the west, and the Suez Canal connecting with the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea in the east – were controlled by the British throughout the war.

The Mediterranean is divided into two distinct areas. The eastern Mediterranean is characterized by countless small coastal islands, while the western sea possesses several large islands including Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia. From the “toe of the boot” of Italy a shallow submarine ridge stretches under Sicily and Malta towards Tunisia; this serves as the dividing line between the eastern and western Mediterranean. With the exception of two British landings on the “toe and sole” of Italy’s boot, all of the major amphibious operations occurred in the western Mediterranean. The region’s climate features wet but relatively mild winters and hot, dry summers. Major destructive storms are infrequent, and tidal changes insignificant. Unlike the Pacific, the Mediterranean was well charted after millennia of nautical trade. By the end of 1942 Axis naval forces posed only a minor threat, with air attack being of more concern.

The other locale for amphibious operations in the EMTO was the English Channel, the narrow seaway separating Britain from France. Here natural obstacles were few, as were significant islands, and the waters were minutely charted. Its width varies from just 20 miles at the Strait of Dover in the east, where the Channel joins the North Sea, to 110 miles separating Land’s End, the westernmost tip of southern England, from Brest in Normandy, the westernmost point of France, where the Channel opens into the Atlantic. The major natural threat is brutal Atlantic windstorms blasting in from the northwest, to churn the narrow waters confined by the rockbound coasts of England and France. The coastal defenses of Germany’s Atlantikwall posed a significant obstacle to any landing.

Most areas in the Mediterranean and European theaters where landings were executed offered good beaches with few natural obstacles, the most common being shallow sandbars running parallel to shore. A major factor affecting landings in the Pacific was absent in the EMTO – coral reefs. With the notable exceptions of Normandy and Southern France, few if any manmade obstacles were encountered. Concrete seawalls existed in some areas, but in most cases these were low and relatively easy to overcome. Beach gradients were usually gradual and shallow; since they extended well offshore this presented an obstacle to all but very shallow draft beaching vessels. This was so important that the Landing Ship, Tank and other beaching craft were even designed with the Channel’s typical 1-to-60 beach gradient in mind.

The beaches are generally broad, not overly deep, and sufficiently solid to support vehicle traffic. Those in the Med are typically of hard-packed sand. Channel beaches are often covered with shingle (smooth pebbles or small rocks); this surface provides poor traction for wheeled and tracked vehicles. Frequently the natural obstacles that caused the most difficulties were the belts of sand dunes edging beaches. Heaped by wind and wave action, these low dunes of fine, soft sand made vehicle passage difficult and required bulldozed paths and some form of surfacing to support traffic. Bluffs behind beaches also posed obstacles: they usually presented shallow slopes, but gave the defenders unrestricted fields of fire, and exit routes from the beaches often ran up easily defended gullies. In most instances well-developed road networks allowed the assault force to move inland to its initial objectives.

Throughout this text, readers should bear in mind that no two amphibious operations were planned, organized or executed in exactly the same way. Available units and resources, mission, terrain, enemy forces, and evolving doctrine all dictated this variety. Lessons learned from previous operations were studied and implemented. Every operation saw the introduction of new types of units, equipment, tactics, techniques and procedures, resulting in a constantly evolving form of warfare.