Recaps

Germany began its invasion of Cape Breton Island with a massive naval bombardment, then sent three Marine divisions ashore at New Waterford, Morien Harbour, and Louisbourg. The British prepared to resist and called for reinforcements as the landings began.

• German warships bombarded the British defenses at New Waterford, Morien Harbour, and Louisbourg while German carriers prepared to counter enemy aircraft.
• General Wavell ordered British troops to resist the landings, put the 3rd Armored Division on alert, and requested support from Toronto.
• David Margesson ordered British forces to prepare for battle and sent troops on the Nova Scotia peninsula to reinforce Cape Breton Island.
• After an hour of bombardment, General Ernst von Busch ordered the 5th, 6th, and 7th Marine Divisions to land at the three beaches, while the 3rd and 4th Divisions remained in reserve.
• British troops on Cape Breton Island resisted the German landings as the German Army’s 1st and 4th Army Corps waited aboard ships to join the battle.

The German Marine Corps launched a coordinated helicopter and landing-craft assault on Cape Breton Island, overwhelming British defenses at Port Morien, New Waterford, and Louisbourg. As General Wavell ordered the troops to hold their positions, the Royal Air Force sent more than four hundred fighters toward the island to challenge German air superiority.

• German aircraft and warships bombarded the British defenses at Port Morien, destroying nearly all of the 14th Infantry Division’s artillery.
• German air attacks shattered a British brigade sent as reinforcements before it reached the beach.
• German airborne troops and landing-craft Marines attacked the British positions from multiple directions, forcing defenders at Port Morien, New Waterford, and Louisbourg toward defeat.
• General Wavell ordered the 14th, 15th, and 16th Infantry Divisions to hold their positions and warned Toronto that Britain needed to seize air superiority.
• The Royal Air Force launched more than four hundred P-51 and P-47 fighters toward Cape Breton Island to engage German carrier aircraft.

The Royal Air Force sent hundreds of fighters to challenge German air superiority over Cape Breton Island, but German carrier-based FW-190s and Newfoundland-based TA-152s overwhelmed them. As British losses mounted, Baron Cyril Neville ordered more air corps into battle and requested US Army Air Corps reinforcements.

• The battleship Bavaria detected a large formation of British aircraft approaching Cape Breton Island and alerted the German flagship.
• German Navy carriers and Newfoundland airfields launched fighters, including TA-152s from the 11th Fighter Wing and 12th Fighter Wing.
• At 7:50 a.m., German fighters engaged roughly four hundred RAF P-51 and P-47 fighters over Cape Breton Island.
• German FW-190s and TA-152s inflicted heavy losses, and British airmen struggled against the faster, more heavily armed German aircraft.
• Baron Cyril Neville ordered the 8th Air Corps and 9th Air Corps into battle and asked the US Army Air Corps for reinforcements.

The German Navy and Air Force escalated their fight with the Royal Air Force over Cape Breton Island while German Marines advanced toward Morien Harbor. The Royal Air Force suffered mounting losses, and Marshal Baron Cyril Neville had no more aircraft to send as American reinforcements had yet to arrive.

• General Ernst von Busch ordered the German Marines to capture Morien Harbor's port facilities as intact as possible.
• Marshal Lütjens ordered the Aircraft Carrier Formations to launch another squadron of carrier-based aircraft after radar detected more than two hundred British fighters approaching.
• The German Navy's Carrier-based Aircraft Unit and Air Force's 1st Air Group sent reinforcements, and German fighters shot down several British P-51s.
• Air Force Minister Marshal Baron Cyril Neville learned that the Royal Air Force was losing the air battle and had no further units to send.
• Cyril Neville asked about American help and learned that the United States had agreed to send aircraft, but none had joined the battle yet.

General Arnold ordered the US Army Air Corps to join the Royal Air Force’s desperate battle over Cape Breton Island, despite the likely heavy losses. The American reinforcements increased pressure on German forces, and Arnold redirected troops north as the war in North America escalated.

• Lieutenant General Delos Emmons reported that German aircraft were overwhelming the Royal Air Force over Cape Breton Island and warned that inexperienced American pilots faced poor odds.
• General Arnold ordered the 1st Air Force and 2nd Air Force into the battle to support the British and prevent Germany from gaining a base in Nova Scotia.
• General Arnold ordered forces stationed in the south and Caribbean to move north and prepare for further fighting.
• The 1st Air Force and 2nd Air Force sent more than two hundred P-47 and P-51 fighters each into the battle.
• The American reinforcements forced the German Air Force and the German Navy's Carrier-based Aircraft Unit to commit more aircraft, and German losses began to rise.

After a devastating air battle over Cape Breton Island, German forces prepared to reinforce their invasion while both sides planned to commit more aircraft the next day. General Henry Arnold ordered a massive Allied offensive to try to destroy the German air forces and decide who controlled the skies.

• The Royal Air Force and US Army Air Corps suffered catastrophic fighter losses, while German forces also lost more than two hundred fighters but helped the German Marine Corps capture New Waterford, Port Morien, and Louisbourg.
• The German Army's 1st Army Corps began landing on Cape Breton Island through Port Morien, with its armored and mechanized divisions preparing to join the offensive against Sydney.
• Marshal Blomberg ordered the German Air Force and Navy's Carrier-based Aircraft Unit to keep the British and Americans from attacking German ground forces, and their commanders requested reinforcements from Germany.
• Lieutenant General Delos Emmons urged General Henry Arnold to overwhelm the Germans with superior numbers rather than continue a war of attrition.
• General Henry Arnold ordered the US Army Air Corps, the Navy's land-based forces, the Royal Air Force, and the Royal Navy to commit their forces and seek a decisive victory the next day.

German forces pressed their offensive across Cape Breton Island while American and British aircraft entered the battle in overwhelming numbers. Marshal Blomberg ordered the Army to advance faster as German reinforcements were expected later that day.

• On December 1, German armored, mechanized, and Marine divisions attacked Cape Breton Island as British and American forces rushed to reinforce it.
• German tanks and air support overwhelmed British defenses, and General Wavell urgently requested reinforcements and protection from German bombing.
• At eight in the morning, five hundred American fighters and more than two hundred British fighters entered the battle, prompting German Air Force and Navy aircraft to launch against them.
• As American and British fighters continued arriving, their numerical advantage grew and German aircraft began to fall behind despite their superior performance and pilots.
• General Ulrich Grauert told Marshal Blomberg that German reinforcements would arrive that afternoon, and Blomberg ordered the Army to accelerate its offensive.

The German Air Force and Navy's Carrier-based Aircraft Unit endured heavy losses while fighting off repeated American and British attempts to seize air superiority near Cape Breton Island. By December 4, the British had withdrawn and the US Army Air Corps had lost more than two thousand aircraft, leaving it unable to continue.

• On December 1, German pilots shot down more than six hundred American and British fighters but lost two hundred aircraft, then received three hundred replacement fighters.
• Lieutenant General Delos Emmons urged General Henry Arnold to keep fighting, while Arnold warned that the Americans could sustain the losses for only three more days.
• On December 2, more than a thousand Allied fighters fought over Cape Breton Island, losing over five hundred aircraft against more than two hundred German losses.
• On December 3, the British could no longer participate, and American forces lost over five hundred aircraft while inflicting just over two hundred German losses.
• On December 4, the Americans sent more than fifteen hundred aircraft into battle and lost over five hundred, while German reinforcements from the homeland helped the German forces hold on.
• After losing more than two thousand aircraft, the US Army Air Corps could no longer continue the campaign.

General Henry Arnold rejected Lieutenant General Delos Emmons’s request to continue large-scale air attacks, citing heavy Allied losses, German reinforcements, and exhausted pilots. The British forces abandoned Cape Breton Island as the German military captured it.

• Lieutenant General Delos Emmons asked General Henry Arnold for another chance to keep fighting for air superiority, but Arnold said the Army Air Corps could not afford further large-scale losses.
• General Henry Arnold told Lieutenant General Delos Emmons that Germany had sent more than five hundred fighters to Newfoundland and expanded its airfields, while Allied pilots were losing the will to fight.
• Lieutenant General Delos Emmons proposed sending some aircraft to contain German air power, and General Henry Arnold agreed.
• The German 1st Army Corps and Marine Corps destroyed the British forces in Sydney, including the British Army’s 4th Armored Division, and advanced into southern Cape Breton Island.
• The US Army refused British requests to land on Cape Breton Island, while the British forces continued to retreat before the German offensive.
• On December 7, the remaining British forces withdrew to the Nova Scotia peninsula, leaving Cape Breton Island in German hands.

After Germany captured Cape Breton Island, Churchill met with senior American and British commanders in Toronto to plan the defense of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. They agreed to concentrate their forces there and try to hold the German offensive until spring reinforcements could arrive.

• Churchill warned that the Allies had to prevent German troops from landing on the Nova Scotia peninsula.
• Marshall told Churchill that Germany’s military strength made victory difficult, but the United States and Britain had no alternative but to fight.
• Eisenhower reported that four American army corps were moving into Canada, while worsening winter weather limited further deployments.
• Churchill said Britain had lost 300,000 troops in Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island and could not rely on its untrained recruits.
• Eisenhower proposed concentrating more than 500,000 British troops and 600,000 American troops in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to hold out until spring.
• Marshall said the US Army Air Corps had lost more than 2,000 aircraft and would reduce its air commitments, so the Allies needed to deploy more ground troops; Churchill agreed to concentrate forces in the region.

After capturing Cape Breton Island, Marshal Blomberg decided to prioritize an assault on the Nova Scotia peninsula and New Brunswick over taking Prince Edward Island. He and General Ernst von Busch agreed to seize the region as a bridgehead before spring, once German reinforcements arrived.

• The German military debated whether to attack Prince Edward Island or cross the Canso Strait and invade the Nova Scotia peninsula.
• Marshal Blomberg told General Ernst von Busch that Prince Edward Island could be taken later, while delaying the mainland assault would let the British and Americans reinforce their defenses.
• General Ernst von Busch questioned whether Germany had enough forces to face more than a million American-British Allied Forces.
• Marshal Blomberg said the 10th Army Corps would arrive in two days and the 25th and 26th Army Corps were on their way from Germany.
• General Ernst von Busch warned that the weather would hinder operations, and Marshal Blomberg said their pre-spring goal was to capture the Nova Scotia peninsula and New Brunswick as a bridgehead.

Lieutenant General Omar Bradley and Harold Alexander prepared the American-British forces on the Nova Scotia peninsula for a German offensive, as the Americans took the front line and trusted their defenses. The chapter ended with Bradley eager to test the Germans as the Allied troops completed their preparations.

• Major General Thomas reported that the Germans had reinforced Cape Breton Island with the 4th Army Corps, while Harold Alexander warned that five German Marine Corps formations brought the enemy force to as many as 500,000 troops.
• Harold Alexander described the German Marines' use of naval guns, aircraft, and helicopters, but Bradley said the Americans had prepared anti-aircraft defenses and would hold the Germans back.
• Bradley placed the 200,000 troops of the US 1st Army Corps along the Canso Strait, while more than 200,000 British troops defended the rear and supported the front.
• Thomas reported that the American units had reached their combat zones, with Olders Bay and Magreve identified as likely landing sites and three divisions assigned as mobile reserves.
• Bradley expressed eager anticipation about facing the Germans.

Marshal Blomberg ordered the German forces to launch an offensive to seize Nova Scotia and destroy the Allied forces there. The chapter ended with German artillery opening fire across the Canso Strait, beginning the invasion of the North American continent.

• Marshal Blomberg gathered German Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force commanders in Sydney and announced an attack on Nova Scotia.
• Marshal Blomberg outlined a plan for the Marine Corps and 1st Army Corps to draw Allied troops into the peninsula while the 4th Army Corps landed at Elgin Port and advanced on Sackville.
• Marshal Blomberg ordered the offensive to begin the next morning, and German forces prepared their artillery, aircraft, and troops.
• At seven o’clock on December 11, Marshal Blomberg ordered German artillery to bombard American positions south of the Canso Strait.

US forces prepared to use the 5th and 8th Infantry Divisions as bait for a German landing at the Canso Strait. The German Marine Corps seized Olders and Mulgrave, opening the way for more German forces to cross.

• Lieutenant General Omar Bradley ordered the 5th and 8th Infantry Divisions to hold their positions while US armored and mechanized divisions concentrated nearby.
• German artillery and aircraft devastated US defenses south of the Canso Strait, while Major General Laming told his officers to retreat if they could not hold.
• At eight in the morning, the German 6th Marine Division and 7th Division began crossing the strait by helicopter and landing craft.
• US troops shot down several German helicopters, but the German aircraft counterattacked as the landing force overwhelmed the defenses.
• The 5th and 8th Infantry Divisions retreated after less than an hour, and the German forces captured Olders and Mulgrave.
• German engineers began building pontoon bridges to bring follow-up forces across the strait.

The German 1st Army Corps crossed the Canso Strait after capturing Olders and Mulgrave, while Marshal Blomberg prepared to bring more troops and heavy equipment over. Lieutenant General Omar Bradley launched a fierce American counterattack against the exposed Germans, and the chapter ended as US armored and mechanized forces joined the assault.

• The German 6th and 7th Marine Divisions captured Olders and Mulgrave, and engineers built pontoon bridges across the Canso Strait.
• German infantry crossed the strait while heavy weapons and armored vehicles remained on the northern bank, and Omar Bradley waited for the right moment to attack.
• After two German Infantry Divisions crossed, Omar Bradley ordered American artillery to bombard the German troops and pontoon bridges.
• German and American aircraft fought overhead, preventing German dive bombers and ground-attack aircraft from supporting the troops under attack.
• The German forces returned artillery fire as US armored and mechanized divisions advanced with hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles.

Major General Smith’s US 1st Armored Division attacked German positions on the southern bank of the Canso Strait, where German artillery, anti-tank guns, and rocket launchers inflicted losses but struggled to stop the American advance. The German defensive line neared collapse as the battle continued.

• Major General Smith ordered the 1st Armored Division to charge the German positions, while Major General Cavan ordered German anti-tank defenses into action and requested reinforcements from the 4th Infantry Division.
• German artillery struck the advancing American tanks, destroying several and overturning two M5 light tanks.
• German anti-tank guns and 88mm anti-aircraft guns destroyed American tanks, while American M26 crews returned fire and eliminated German gun positions.
• German soldiers used a rocket launcher to disable an American tank, then escaped as machine-gun fire riddled their foxhole.
• An American M5 tank destroyed a German heavy machine-gun position, and the German defensive line neared collapse.

The US Army’s armored counterattack across the Canso Strait was halted by German helicopters and aircraft, while German forces launched a surprise assault on Port Busche. The port fell, allowing German armored forces to disembark and setting up a major threat to the US Army.

• Lieutenant General Kurt reported that the Americans had committed more than five hundred tanks, and Marshal Blomberg ordered the air force and navy to attack them while German divisions prepared to move.
• Lieutenant General Smith’s 1st Armored Division broke through the German first defensive line, but German armed helicopters began destroying American tanks and stopping the advance.
• German Dive Bombers and ground-attack aircraft arrived and inflicted devastating losses on the US Army’s armored forces.
• At two in the afternoon, the German Marine Corps’ 4th Division and 5th Division launched a helicopter assault on Port Busche, then landed troops by helicopter and landing craft.
• German forces captured Port Busche within an hour, and German tank landing ships began unloading the German Armored Forces there.

German forces captured Port Busche and repelled the US 1st Army Corps’ renewed attack, leaving the American armored and mechanized divisions in retreat. German troops continued landing, while Omar Bradley faced the loss of Port Busche and the collapse of his air support.

• German Marine Corps troops drove the US defenders back and seized Port Busche as reinforcements and equipment continued landing.
• Major General Thomas told Lieutenant General Omar Bradley that the US divisions had suffered heavy losses, but Bradley ordered General Smith to regroup and attack again.
• After learning Port Busche had fallen, Bradley ordered an immediate attempt to retake it, but German forces kept advancing through the port.
• German TA-152s battered the US Army Air Corps fighters, allowing German aircraft and helicopters to strike the US ground forces with little opposition.
• At four o’clock on December 11, the US 1st Armored Division, 1st Mechanized Infantry Division, and 2nd Mechanized Infantry Division abandoned their attack and fled into the forest.

After heavy losses and a failed advance on Port Busche, Lieutenant General Omar Bradley asked for reinforcements to prevent the Germans from taking the Nova Scotia peninsula. General Marshall approved sending the US 2nd Army Corps and additional British troops there while the 3rd and 4th Army Corps prepared to take over in New Brunswick.

• Major General Thomas reported that General Smith had retreated into the forests after the US 1st Armored Division and two Mechanized Infantry Divisions suffered severe losses.
• Major General Thomas told Lieutenant General Omar Bradley that German resistance and naval support had made retaking Port Busche costly, while the main German force was expected to land there.
• Lieutenant General Omar Bradley asked the British for troops, then sent a Telegram to request US reinforcements when Major General Thomas said the British were under pressure.
• General Marshall convened an emergency meeting, where Major General Eisenhower and other generals discussed the US Army's disadvantages against the Germans.
• General Marshall ordered the US 2nd Army Corps to reinforce the Nova Scotia peninsula and directed the 3rd and 4th Army Corps to take over New Brunswick's defense.
• The US Army requested additional British troops, and the British Army agreed to transfer troops from New Brunswick to the Nova Scotia peninsula.

As American and British reinforcements advanced into Nova Scotia, Marshal Blomberg prepared a German counterattack intended to encircle and destroy them. German armored forces crushed two US infantry divisions, forcing Lieutenant General Omar Bradley to order a retreat while more Allied troops hurried toward the peninsula.

• US 2nd Army Corps and ten British infantry divisions and one armored division advanced toward Nova Scotia, while Omar Bradley assembled forces to attack the Germans at the Canso Strait.
• Marshal Blomberg learned that the Allied reinforcements were entering the peninsula and ordered the German 4th Army Corps to attack on December 17.
• German armored and mechanized divisions landed at Port Busche and routed the US 9th and 10th Infantry Divisions, capturing more than ten thousand men.
• Major General Thomas warned Bradley that the German armored forces were advancing and that US armor could not stop them.
• Bradley ordered the US armored and mechanized divisions to retreat and urged the US 2nd Army Corps to hurry forward as Allied troops continued toward the peninsula.

German forces captured Elgin Port and Sackville, cutting off the Nova Scotia peninsula and trapping the American-British Allied Forces there. German troops landed in force and began building defenses to complete the encirclement.

• German naval and air forces escorted a large landing fleet into the Northumberland Strait, catching the defenders of Elgin Port by surprise.
• German helicopters and Marines routed the British infantry brigade and captured Elgin Port within half an hour.
• German reinforcements, including armored and mechanized divisions, began landing at the port while the 3rd Marine Division advanced south.
• German troops attacked Sackville, where British soldiers surrendered or fled after facing tanks without anti-tank weapons.
• German forces captured Sackville and began constructing defensive lines to surround the Allied forces on the Nova Scotia peninsula.

After German forces captured Elgin Port and Sackville, Allied commanders in Nova Scotia scrambled to organize a counterattack while German reinforcements strengthened their beachhead. The Allied advance was delayed by German air and naval attacks as the American and British governments sought ways to rescue the troops trapped on the peninsula.

• Omar Bradley urged the Allied commanders to attack before German reinforcements overwhelmed their forces, while Harold Alexander and Gerald Temple warned that German coastal firepower made an offensive dangerous.
• Major General Thomas reported that German forces had captured Elgin Port, and the commanders assigned Lloyd Fredendall's US 2nd Army Corps to counterattack.
• The Germans captured Sackville and began landing more troops and building defensive lines between the two ports.
• Lloyd Fredendall ordered the counterattack, but German aircraft and naval forces bombed the advancing troops while the German 4th Army Corps accelerated its landings.
• American and British leaders learned that the German landing had cut off the Allied forces on Nova Scotia and began seeking ways to rescue them.

The German Army encircled the American-British Allied Forces on the Nova Scotia peninsula and repelled attempts to break through the blockade. By the end of December, German forces had annihilated the trapped Allied troops and taken Prince Edward Island and southern Nova Scotia.

• Churchill ordered British troops from New Brunswick province to join the US-led offensive against the German blockade.
• General Marshall sent the US 3rd Army Corps and 4th Army Corps toward New Brunswick province and urged Britain to commit all available forces.
• The German 1st Army Corps and 10th Army Corps attacked south from the Canso Strait, while the US 2nd Armored Division was nearly wiped out fighting the German 4th Armored Division.
• The German 25th Army Corps landed at Dartmouth and took southern Nova Scotia, while the German 26th Army Corps and the Marine Corps captured Prince Edward Island.
• By the end of December, the German military had annihilated the several hundred thousand American-British Allied Forces on the Nova Scotia peninsula.

After capturing Nova Scotia, the German forces advanced into New Brunswick and routed the American-British Allied Forces, which split as it retreated. The German 1st Army Group secured its strategic objectives and halted further advances while awaiting reinforcements and better conditions.

• Lieutenant General Omar Bradley surrendered the remnants of the US 1st and 2nd Army Corps to Marshal Blomberg after two days of resistance in New Glasgow.
• Marshal Blomberg told German generals that Army Group B was on its way and urged them to capture New Brunswick before it arrived.
• On December 26, the German 4th and 1st Army Corps attacked the American-British defensive line in eastern New Brunswick with armored and mechanized forces, while German aircraft and naval planes fought off US air cover.
• On December 27, German armor broke through the US defenses, and the 10th Army Corps and 26th Army Corps joined the offensive with a landing on the province’s northern coast.
• The American-British forces collapsed across the front: US troops retreated south to Maine while British troops withdrew north to Quebec, separating their forces.
• The German 1st Army Group stopped its advance after completing its strategic objectives, citing limited strength and the dangers of extending the front through the frozen wilderness.

Churchill and his ministers concluded that Britain could not withstand Germany after repeated defeats and agreed to seek peace. Churchill left the next step to secret contact with Germany, while planning to persuade the King to accept surrender.

• David Margesson reported that Germany had halted its offensive and amassed more than four hundred thousand troops beyond the Appalachian Mountains, and Churchill ordered Britain to strengthen its defenses.
• Anthony Eden, David Margesson, and Sir Dudley warned Churchill that Britain’s forces were depleted and that the United States was likely to lose the war.
• Anthony Eden urged Churchill to make peace with Germany to preserve Britain, and the other ministers supported him.
• Churchill agreed to secretly contact Germany and surrender if it allowed Britain to continue to exist.
• Anthony Eden warned that the King might object, and Churchill said he would explain the decision to him.