Read Online Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings by Craig L. Symonds - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Craig L. Symonds
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repelled by the food, which consisted almost exclusively of boiled mutton. 21
O PERATION TORCH, N OVEMBER 8–11, 1942
Altogether, the Allies committed more than six hundred ships to Operation Torch. Keeping this massive movement secret was a major concern, not only to achieve surprise on the beach but to avoid German U-boats en route. Consequently, the convoys from both Norfolk and Britain took deceptive routes to give the impression that they might be bound elsewhere, such as the Azores or South Africa. Even after the convoys from England passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean, they continued eastward, as if headed for the besieged island of Malta, before they abruptly turned south for the African coast. The mission was kept secret from the French as well, and as a result, no one knew how the French would react when the Allied troops came ashore. Would the British and Americans be greeted as liberators or invaders? There had been some discussion about sharing plans with the French in the hope of working out an arrangement in advance, though to do so risked compromising the whole operation. In the end, the decision was made to keep everything secret until the last moment.
The Allies did make one effort to obtain French cooperation. On the night of October 23, the same day the American invasion convoy left Norfolk, Eisenhower’s deputy commander, Mark Clark, arrived by prearrangement off the African coast near Algiers as a passenger on a British submarine. After some clandestine blinking of lights with a contact onshore, Clark climbed gingerly into a canvas kayak called a folbot and paddled to the beach with a handful of British commandos to meet a French major general named Charles Mast, who had indicated his readiness to use his influence to encourage French cooperation with an Allied invasion. It was a risky, perhaps even foolhardy undertaking since Clark was privy not only to allthe plans for Torch but also to what was called the Ultra secret: that the Allies had broken the German signal codes. Were Clark to be captured and tortured, all that would be in jeopardy. Moreover, the mission was of questionable value since Clark was not authorized to tell Mast anything specific about the pending invasion, including the date, which made it impossible for Mast to arrange for any meaningful cooperation.
The episode meeting was dramatic enough. At one point, news that the police were en route forced Clark and the others to hide in the cellar while policemen searched the house where they were meeting. Later, Clark and the commandos raced down to the beach, where Clark removed his trousers in order to swim out to a swamped folbot. He came back ashore unsuccessful and spent the rest of the night trouserless, hiding among the trees. * In the end, Clark made it safely back to the waiting sub, though his clandestine mission resolved nothing, and when the Allied convoys approached the target beaches on the night of November 7, no one knew how the French would react. The Americans agreed beforehand that if they received hostile fire, they were to report, “Batter up!” and the order to return fire would be “Play ball!” 22
In hindsight, it might have been worth risking the secrecy of the operation to bring the French more fully into Allied confidence, for instead of being greeted as friends, the Americans met fierce resistance. Some of this was because the French navy, frustrated by the fact that it had not had the opportunity to fire a shot during the 1940 campaign against the Germans, was eager to defend not only French territory but honor. In addition, when the shellfire erupted out of the predawn darkness on November 8, it was only natural for the French to respond in kind. At a few minutes past 6:00 a.m., Hewitt ordered, “Play ball!” 23
Though there were no Germans in either Morocco or Algeria, the landings there constituted the first Anglo-American counterattack against Hitler’s empire.
O PERATION TORCH, N OVEMBER 8–11, 1942
Altogether, the Allies committed more than six hundred ships to Operation Torch. Keeping this massive movement secret was a major concern, not only to achieve surprise on the beach but to avoid German U-boats en route. Consequently, the convoys from both Norfolk and Britain took deceptive routes to give the impression that they might be bound elsewhere, such as the Azores or South Africa. Even after the convoys from England passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean, they continued eastward, as if headed for the besieged island of Malta, before they abruptly turned south for the African coast. The mission was kept secret from the French as well, and as a result, no one knew how the French would react when the Allied troops came ashore. Would the British and Americans be greeted as liberators or invaders? There had been some discussion about sharing plans with the French in the hope of working out an arrangement in advance, though to do so risked compromising the whole operation. In the end, the decision was made to keep everything secret until the last moment.
The Allies did make one effort to obtain French cooperation. On the night of October 23, the same day the American invasion convoy left Norfolk, Eisenhower’s deputy commander, Mark Clark, arrived by prearrangement off the African coast near Algiers as a passenger on a British submarine. After some clandestine blinking of lights with a contact onshore, Clark climbed gingerly into a canvas kayak called a folbot and paddled to the beach with a handful of British commandos to meet a French major general named Charles Mast, who had indicated his readiness to use his influence to encourage French cooperation with an Allied invasion. It was a risky, perhaps even foolhardy undertaking since Clark was privy not only to allthe plans for Torch but also to what was called the Ultra secret: that the Allies had broken the German signal codes. Were Clark to be captured and tortured, all that would be in jeopardy. Moreover, the mission was of questionable value since Clark was not authorized to tell Mast anything specific about the pending invasion, including the date, which made it impossible for Mast to arrange for any meaningful cooperation.
The episode meeting was dramatic enough. At one point, news that the police were en route forced Clark and the others to hide in the cellar while policemen searched the house where they were meeting. Later, Clark and the commandos raced down to the beach, where Clark removed his trousers in order to swim out to a swamped folbot. He came back ashore unsuccessful and spent the rest of the night trouserless, hiding among the trees. * In the end, Clark made it safely back to the waiting sub, though his clandestine mission resolved nothing, and when the Allied convoys approached the target beaches on the night of November 7, no one knew how the French would react. The Americans agreed beforehand that if they received hostile fire, they were to report, “Batter up!” and the order to return fire would be “Play ball!” 22
In hindsight, it might have been worth risking the secrecy of the operation to bring the French more fully into Allied confidence, for instead of being greeted as friends, the Americans met fierce resistance. Some of this was because the French navy, frustrated by the fact that it had not had the opportunity to fire a shot during the 1940 campaign against the Germans, was eager to defend not only French territory but honor. In addition, when the shellfire erupted out of the predawn darkness on November 8, it was only natural for the French to respond in kind. At a few minutes past 6:00 a.m., Hewitt ordered, “Play ball!” 23
Though there were no Germans in either Morocco or Algeria, the landings there constituted the first Anglo-American counterattack against Hitler’s empire.
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