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OPERATION TORCH 147

“The only tough nut left is in your hands.

Crack it open quickly.”

EISENHOWER TO PATTON, CASABLANCA, 1943

The planned landing areas on the North African coast were under

the rule of Vichy France, which controlled tens of thousands of

troops. The Allies were uncertain of what the Vichy leaders’ response

would be to an invasion and sent US Major General Mark Clark on

a secret mission to Algiers to gauge their possible reaction. Despite

the support of some individual generals, the Vichy governments in

Morocco and Algeria opposed the landings, which consequently met

with stiff resistance. A further drawback of landing in Morocco was

that it was a considerable distance to Tunisia—the ultimate Allied

target. As a result, German reinforcements were able to pour into

Tunisia from Italy to protect Rommel’s rear as he retreated following

defeat at El Alamein (see pp.144–145).

THE END OF VICHY FRANCE

The failure of Vichy France to resist

the Allied landings in North Africa

convinced the Germans that it

could no longer be trusted. On

November 11, German and Italian

troops occupied Vichy France and

ended its independence. The

Germans also launched Operation

Lila to capture the units of the

French fleet at Toulon and prevent

them from sailing to join the Allies.

However, the French navy scuttled

almost their entire fleet at Toulon on

November 27, before the Germans

arrived in the port.

Nov 8 The invasion convoy pretends

it is heading to Malta before making a

sharp diversion south to Algiers.

Nov 12 British

paratroopers seize

Bône minutes before

a German landing.

Nov 10 Axis troops

occupy Tunis and Bizerta.

Dec 24 Darlan is

assassinated by a

resistance fighter

in Algiers.

Nov 11

The Allies

land at Bougie.

5

EASTERN TASK FORCE

NOVEMBER 8, 1942

Early on November 8, French Resistance fighters

staged a coup d’état in Algiers. The 400 (mainly

Jewish) fighters seized key targets in the Algerian

capital. The British Eastern Task Force landed around

Algiers later that morning and did not meet with much

resistance from the French forces. The only fighting in

the city took place by the harbor, when heavy French

artillery prevented one British destroyer from landing

its troops. The city surrendered to the Allies at 6 pm.

3

Allied airborne

landing sites

Allied landing

site

Allied advance

Front line by

Dec 31, 1942

Major battle

German air

routes

German sea

routes

THE AFTERMATH

NOVEMBER 10–DECEMBER 24, 1942

Admiral François Darlan, commander in chief of all

Vichy French forces, happened to be in Algiers on

a personal visit, attending to his sick son, when the

Allied invasion of Morocco and Algeria took place.

He convinced the French forces to give up their

opposition to the invasion and signed an armistice

with the Allies, folding his forces in with those of

the Free French. However, many of the Free French

criticized Darlan for his previous collaboration with

the Axis powers, and he was assassinated by a

resistance fighter on December 24.

4

THE DASH TO TUNIS NOVEMBER 9–DECEMBER 31, 1942

One day after Operation Torch, German forces began to land in Tunisia

to protect Rommel’s rear as he retreated west from El Alamein. British

forces advancing from Bône encountered German patrols on November 18,

and heavy fighting broke out as the Allies tried to seize Medjez el Bab. By

the end of the year, the Germans had established a series of strongpoints

and a front line was formed across northern Tunisia.

The French fleet is scuttled

▽ US forces deployed

US Sherman M4 tanks are landed during

Operation Torch. This operation was the

first mass involvement of US troops in

the European and African theater.

Allied assault Allied landing sites

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Oum el Bouaghi
Ksar el-Kebir
Constantine
Casablanca
Fedala
Cartagena
Ouezzane
Enfidaville
Kasserine
Gibraltar
Granada
Palermo
El Jadida
Alicante
Tébessa
Youks-les-Bains
Souk el Arba
Almería
Larache
Bône
Trapani
Tangier
Port Lyautey
Bizerta
Cagliari
Sousse
Málaga
Algiers
Médéa
Murcia
Philippeville
Melilla
Siliana
Ceuta
Rabat
Settat
Bougie
Le Kef
M'sila
Oran
Tunis
Medjez el Bab
Safi
ATLANTIC
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Strait of
Gibraltar
Fro
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Western Task Force
Centre Task Force
Eastern
Task Force
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Fro
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Fro
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German
90th Corps
US_146-147_Operation_Torch.indd 147 24/05/19 1:16 PM