Quote:
Originally Posted by rcaf_777
Who ever made this assumption is wrong and needs to remember
1. The Permanent Joint Board on Defense (A Canada-US Board) was formed in 1940
2. The Lend-Lease policy, formally titled "An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States was enacted in March 1941
3. In April 1941 President Roosevelt extended the Pan-American Security Zone east almost as far as Iceland.
4. In August 1941 the USN begins to provide protection to Allied shipping as far as Iceland
5. In July 1941 USN TF 19 anchors off Reykjavík, Iceland and land a Brigade of Marines to secure the island from the British. The USN then deploys PBY Catalinas to patrol the area.
All these events prove that the US was active in the war in Europe prior to Jan 1942
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Also the US volunteers Eagle Squadrons; three fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force formed between September 1940 and July 1941with volunteer pilots from the United States were operational in Britain. The 1st American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was also operational in China prior to December 1941.
Also at the ABC-1 conference; secret discussions that took place between US and British military staff members on American, British and Canadian (ABC) military coordination in the event of U.S. entry into World War II. The conference took place in Washington, D.C. from January 29 to March 27, 1941; the U.S. and Britain agreed that their strategic objectives were:
(1) "The early defeat of Germany as the predominant member of the Axis with the principal military effort of the United States being exerted in the Atlantic and European area".
2) A strategic defensive in the Far East." Thus, the Americans concurred with the British in the grand strategy of "Europe first" in carrying out military operations in World War II. The UK feared that the United States might be diverted from its main focus in Europe to the Pacific if war broke out with Japan.