"....it was Eisenhower who put a temporary halt to ANVIL. In view of the strengthened German defenses in Normandy, he judged that OVERLORD would need all of the amphibious lift available in the European area to ensure its success. His concerns, together with the general shortage of amphibious vessels, especially LSTs (landing ship, tanks), and the demands of the Pacific theater for such shipping, finally led Allied leaders in April 1944 to cancel ANVIL.

ANVIL, however, proved difficult to bury. General Devers, as commander of the U.S. Services of Supply in the Mediterranean, refused to reallocate the supplies and equipment that had already been gathered for the landing. At the same time he instructed Lt. Gen. Alexander M. Patch, a recently arrived veteran of the Guadalcanal Campaign in the Pacific, to continue planning for the southern France assault as the new Seventh Army chief. Thus, in the summer of 1944, after General Wilson's latest Italian offensive had run its course and more critical, after Eisenhower's OVERLORD forces had bogged down in the hedgerows of Normandy, the possibility and even the need for ANVIL again became evident. With additional shipping from the Pacific and northern European theaters available, the Allied command officially resurrected it on 24 June. But it was not until 11 August, four days before the landing was scheduled that the Allied high command gave Wilson final approval for the assault, and even this was only over the strenuous objections of Winston Churchill. "

Southern France

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