Operation Torch: Allied Landings in French North Africa
Operation Torch (8-10 November 1942) was the Anglo-American amphibious invasion of French North Africa - Morocco and Algeria - the largest Allied landing operation to that point in the war. Commanded by General Dwight D. Eisenhower in his first major combat command, three task forces landed simultaneously at Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers. The operation was designed to close a vise on Rommel's Afrika Korps from the west while Montgomery's Eighth Army pursued it from the east after El Alamein. Vichy French resistance was brief; within days the French in North Africa switched sides. Torch proved the feasibility of large-scale Allied amphibious assaults, gave American forces their combat baptism, and set the template for the Sicily and Normandy landings to follow. Hitler responded by occupying Vichy France and rushing reinforcements to Tunisia, setting the stage for the final North Africa showdown.
- Year: 1942 CE
- Category: Military
