The strategist behind America's victory in the Second World War * An
intimate look at a visionary thinker who helped guide the Allies to victory in
their greatest challenge, but whose vision of the post-war world was
unfortunately not heeded.
Like many heroes of the Second World War, General Albert C.
Wedemeyer's career has been largely overshadowed by such well-known figures as
Marshall, Patton, Montgomery and Bradley. Wedemeyer's legacy as the main planner
of the D-Day invasion is almost completely forgotten today, eclipsed by politics
and the capriciousness of human nature.
In the late 1930s Wedemeyer had the unique experience of being an
exchange student at the German Kriegsakademia, the Nazis’ equivalent of
Fort Leavenworth’s Command and General Staff School. As the only American to attend, he
was thus the only ranking officer in the US who
recognised the revolutionary tactics of Blitzkrieg once they were unleashed, and
he knew how to respond.
As US involvement in the European conflagration approached, Wedemeyer
was taken under the wing of George C. Marshall in Washington, but although he
conceived the plans for US mobilisation, to his great disappointment he was not
appointed to field command once the invasion commenced; further, he had run
afoul of Winston Churchill due to the latter’s insistence on emphasising the
Mediterranean theatre in 1943.
Perhaps because of Churchill’s animosity, Wedemeyer was transferred
to the Burma-China theatre, where a year later he would replace General
Stilwell. Ultimately, Wedemeyer's service in the Asian theatre became far more
significant, though less known. Had the US political establishment listened to Wedemeyer
on China during the years
1943-1948, it is possible China would not have been lost to the Communists
and would have been a functioning US ally from the start, thus
eliminating the likelihood of both the Korean and Vietnam
Wars.
