'''Operation Roundup''' was the code name for a 1942 plan for an invasion of [[Western Front (World War II)|northern France]] by [[Western Allies|Allied]] forces during [[World War II]]. The plan, for an invasion in the Spring of 1943, and drawn up by then-Brigadier General [[Dwight Eisenhower]], reflected American enthusiasm for an early entry into Europe.<ref name = "este">Carlo d'Este, ''Decision in Normandy'', Penguin, 2004, pp. 24-35.</ref> The British werethought reluctantthe toinvasion commitplan themselveswas tonot thefeasible;<ref>{{cite invasionbook|last1=Husen|first1=editor, David T. Zabecki plan; assistant editors, Carl O. Schuster, Paul J. Rose, William H. Van|title=World War II in Europe : an encyclopedia|date=1999|publisher=Garland Pub.|isbn=9780824070298|page=1270|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gYDN-UfehEEC&pg=PA1270&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNp_GU4vXLAhUBWxQKHd9CDkQQ6AEIPTAG#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Mackenzie|first1=S.P.|title=The Second World War in Europe: Second Edition|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1317864719|page=54-55|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GsUFBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA55&&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwicw4jk4PXLAhVBlhQKHepMDJUQ6AEINzAF#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref> mindful of the painful losses during the [[Battle of the Somme]], they preferred to avoid a direct assault on a powerful enemy. [[Winston Churchill]] preferred a strategy of attacking German forces in the Mediterranean instead (which he referred to as the "soft underbelly"), while other British military leaders hoped to defer an invasion until the Germans had been worn down by fighting on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Russian front]].<ref name="morison">[[Samuel Eliot Morison]], ''The Invasion of France and Germany'', ISBN 0-316-58311-1, pp 7-17</ref>
In addition, given shortages of merchant shipping, landing craft, and other resources, the plan was unrealistic; it called for a force consisting of 48 divisions and 5,800 aircraft, with a landing on broad beachheads between [[Boulogne]] and [[Le Havre]].<ref name="morison"/> By comparison, the eventual [[Normandy landings]] well over a year later featured only 39 divisions.
