Operation Torch

Landing in November 1942, the Western Allies opened a second front, fighting Vichy forces in North Africa

The invasion of North Africa saw Vichy French soldiers desperately defending against Allied forces

The largest amphibious operation in the history of warfare up to that time, the Allied invasion of North Africa, Operation Torch, was in fact a high-risk gamble. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had clamoured for a second front to ease the pressure on his Red Army in the East, but the under-strength Western Allies weren’t capable of launching an invasion of France in 1942. Instead, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin D Roosevelt settled on French North Africa for their first ambitious military undertaking.

Tactical wild card

While contemplating the invasion, Allied military commanders were painfully aware that there were divided loyalties among French soldiers and sailors who served throughout the nation’s colonial empire, particularly in North Africa. Would Vichy forces fight the Allied troops landing at Casablanca in Morocco and Algiers and Oran in Algeria, or would they capitulate? Previously, in Syria and at Dakar, they had chosen to fight.

A wave of intrigue swept through the days prior to the Torch landings as secret negotiations took place between Allied and

Vichy leaders. Robert Murphy, President Roosevelt’s trusted diplomatic liaison in North Africa, quietly solicited cooperation from Vichy officers. General Mark Clark, deputy commander of Allied forces in the Mediterranean, risked his life on a mission to obtain assurances from French officers that they would not oppose the landings. Clark boarded the British submarine Seraph, coming ashore west of Algiers and informing General Charles Mast, commander of local Vichy forces, that the invasion was imminent. Mast agreed to cooperate.

Still, on the eve of Operation Torch, the situation remained unclear.

The invasion begins

Just after 1am on 8 November 1942,

Allied forces began landing in North Africa. Loudspeakers squawked in French: “Don’t shoot! We are your friends! We are Americans!”

General George S Patton led the Western Task Force, including the 2nd Armored and

3rd Infantry Divisions and elements of the

9th Infantry Division, ashore at Casablanca; General Lloyd Fredendall landed the Central Task Force, comprised of the US 1st Infantry Division and 1st Armored Divisions, at Oran; and General Charles Ryder brought the Eastern Task Force, including the US 34th Infantry Division, elements of the US 9th Infantry and 1st Armored Divisions, and the British 78th Division, ashore at Algiers.

At Casablanca, Vichy defenders put up a spirited defence but were overcome with the assistance of naval gunfire. A naval battle developed in the morning as shore batteries and the unfinished battleship Jean Bart opened fire on supporting Allied warships. These French guns were silenced, and a flotilla of French destroyers and other craft later lost seven ships, three submarines and 1,000 casualties.

Although the initial landings at Oran met little resistance, with the Americans suffering only 400 killed and wounded, French resolve began to stiffen and three days of fighting took place before the defenders surrendered on 10 November. One serious setback occurred when the sloops HMS Walney and Hartland, which were to land 400 American troops to seize the docks at Oran prior to the landings, were sunk. More than 300 soldiers and sailors were killed.

At Algiers, American and British troops landed against scant resistance, and most of the Vichy soldiers they encountered said they’d been ordered to stand down. General Mast had made good on his promise. West of Algiers, Mast intervened personally, ordering Vichy troops to hold their fire as the invaders came ashore in heavy surf.

Yet another unfortunate incident occurred in Algiers harbour as an operation to seize the docks there ended with the capture of many of

“DON’T SHOOT! WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS! WE ARE AMERICANS!”

the 250 American soldiers delivered from a pair of British destroyers. Both ships were heavily damaged and withdrew.

Sometimes facing significant Vichy resistance, Allied forces doggedly advanced inland from the invasion beaches.

Darlan intervenes

As casualties on both sides mounted, a stroke of good fortune helped end the brief conflict between the Allies and Vichy. Admiral Jean Francois Darlan, commander of all Vichy armed forces, was in North Africa. Taken into protective custody, he was persuaded to order his forces to cease hostilities. An armistice signed on 11 November made the end of the four-day conflict official. Allied forces had suffered nearly 1,800 casualties, while the Vichy French lost 2,500 killed, wounded or missing.

Following the initial phase of Torch, the Allies moved sluggishly toward the Tunisian capital of Tunis, hoping to take the city before significant German reinforcements could land. However, bad weather and stiffening enemy resistance left the Allies only a few miles short, resulting in months of bitter fighting before Axis forces were ejected from the African continent in the spring of 1943.