3 January 1943 - Canadian Army troops arrive in North Africa for Operation Torch. The battles were still months away. Operation Torch was the name given to the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1942. Operation Torch was the first time the British and Americans had jointly worked on an invasion plan together. From North Africa, the plan was to invade Sicily and then on to mainland Italy and move up the so-called “soft underbelly” of Europe. Victory in the region would also do a great deal to clear the Mediterranean Sea of Axis shipping and leave it more free for the Allies to use. The Allies planned to invade Morocco and Algeria. Both these countries were under the nominal rule of Vichy France. As the Vichy government in France was seen by the Allies to be in collaboration with Nazi Germany, both North African states were considered to be legitimate targets. There were about 60,000 French troops in Morocco with a small naval fleet based at Casablanca. Rather than fight the French, plans were made to gain the cooperation of the French army. General Eisenhower was given command of Operation Torch and in the planning phase he set up his headquarters in Gibraltar. An American consul based in Algiers – Robert Daniel Murphy – was tasked with sounding out how cooperative the French army would be. On October 21st 1942, a senior American general, Mark Clark, was sent by submarine to Cherchell to meet with senior French army officers based in French North Africa. The key to Torch was a successful amphibious landing. Three landing sites were chosen – Casablanca, Oran and Algiers. The Western Task Force was to land near Casablanca at Safi, Rabat and Mehdia and Major-General George Patton commanded it. 35,000 troops were in this task force. The Central Task Force was to land at Oran. It was commanded by Major-General Lloyd Fredendall. 18,500 troops were in this task force. The Eastern Task Force was to land at Algiers and General Ryder commanded it. 20,000 troops were in this task force. Operation Torch also saw the first large scale American airborne drop when the US 509th Parachute Regiment captured two airfields near Oran. The landings at all three beaches were highly successful. French resistance had been minimal as were Allied casualties. After consolidating their forces, the Allies moved out into Tunisia. After Montgomery’s success at El Alamein, the Afrika Korps was in retreat. However, the further it moved west from El Alamein, the nearer it got to the recently landed Allied troops. Though damaged, the Afrika Korps was still a potent fighting force as the Allies found out at Faid Pass and at the Kasserine Pass. However, the might of two advancing Allied armies meant that it was trapped and on May 7th, 1943, the Afrika Korps surrendered. Whether the surrender would have come about so quickly without the success of Operation Torch is open to question. Two years to the day, May 7th 1945 Germany in its entirety would surrender. The war in Europe would be over.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 20:33:01 +0000
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