They were kids really. These men getting ready to invade North Africa, were kids. On November 8th, 1942, the invasion of North Africa began. Dad had turned 19 just two weeks before. Under the Command of Major General George S. Patton, Sergeant Willie I. Hall and his squad were among the first troops on the beach. It was the first US offensive ground engagement against the enemy during World War II.
Dad joined the army in September of 1940 at the age of 16. Pearl Harbor happened a little over a year later, and the training became serious. Along the way, he was promoted, and then promoted again to Sergeant and made a Squad Leader in B Company, 1st Battalion, 60th Regimental Combat Team.
He said a final goodbye to family and friends in Ottawa, Illinois during a leave in August of ‘42. In early October, his unit received their last weekend passes from Fort Bragg, and tore up the town of Charlotte, North Carolina. Some of the troops were late returning, but no one paid any attention. Things were about to get real.
A few days after that weekend, on October 14th, their unit loaded in trucks and moved to the coast and their embarkation point, Norfolk, Virginia. There, they boarded the ship, the USS George Clymer, and departed US waters on October 22d, Dad’s 19th birthday.
Operation Torch had three distinct landing areas in French Morocco and Algeria and they would be fighting against troops of Vichy France. The 60th was a part of the “Western Task Force” under Patton. With combined units from the 9th and the 2nd Armored Division, the Western Task Force was at about Division strength, and unlike the other two Task Forces, consisted solely of American Troops.
On November 8th, during the early morning hours, Operation Torch, and the invasion of North Africa, began. At about 4:30AM, the men of the 60th started climbing over the side of the ship, working their way down the landing nets and into the waiting Landing Craft (LCVs). At about 5:40AM, Dad and the 60th came ashore at Port Lyautey, Morocco, 80 miles northeast of Casablanca. Their objective was the Airfield beyond the city, and the Casbah (a fortress on higher ground). Even as they were landing, French shore batteries opened fire on the warships and French aircraft strafed the beach. The 60th suffered it’s first casualties.
What followed was almost three days of intense fighting. It was the first combat for the vast majority of those involved on the American side. Reading the after-action reports and historical perspectives of the battle, the word “chaos” is used frequently to describe those days – the ships were 90 minutes late arriving at the drop off points for the 60th; a radio broadcast was made at the time the attack was suppose to take place, asking the French to lay down their arms. Because of the delay in deploying the troops, all the broadcast did was warn the French of the impending attack; the 60th was dropped off in the wrong spot and landed 1 1/2 miles south of their assigned landing zone; the seas turned rough and landing craft foundered or capsized; and, tanks weren’t on the ground until the very end of the first day, so the US Infantry had little to counter the French tanks on the initial day of combat.
Brigadier General Lucian Truscott, the Commander of the Northern part of the Task Force under Patton (including the 60th) that landed at Port Lyautey had this to say: “As far as I could see along the beach there was chaos. Landing craft were beaching in the pounding surf, broaching to the waves, and spilling men and equipment into the water. Men wandered about aimlessly, hopelessly lost, calling to each other and for their units, swearing at each other and at nothing.” Truscott later commanded the 3ID, and after that, VI Corps, and then the 5th Army. He retired as a four star general.
Years ago, I talked to Dad about the invasion. He didn’t talk about any of the “chaos”, although I’d guess if you are a grunt in the middle of an invasion, it all looks either chaotic, or crystal clear; maybe both at the same time. What he remembered was his Company knew they had a job to do. It didn’t occur to him they could or would fail. It simply wasn’t an option. He did talk about how fiercely the French fought the first day, but on the second day, they started taking prisoners, lots of prisoners, and that’s when he knew the battle had flipped. Of course this being dad, he also talked about liberating some wine in a cafe where they captured a number of prisoners…. ;-). I’d always laughed when I heard dad tell this last part, but in fact, it’s documented in historical accounts of the battle. B Company DID capture a cafe with a number of French soldiers inside.
On the third day, they took the Casbah (the fortress on the high ground overlooking the city), then Port Lyautey itself, and the nearby airfield. The fighting was over for now. I never had the sense from dad he experienced any of the butchery that would be a part of the fighting a couple of months later against the Germans in Tunisia and Algieria.
The remains of 84 U.S. soldiers who lost their lives from the 60th during this operation were laid to rest in a newly established military cemetery near the Casbah. 275 Americans were listed as wounded or missing.
Years after the war, in the 70s and 80s, whenever in Ottawa on leave from my own time in the Army, Cathy and I went out to dinner with mom and dad. If dad was in a good mood (and he was ALWAYS in a good mood), he’d be talking to one of the women in our group, or another woman we happened to meet at The Steak House or some other local restaurant. Bringing out his very best sexy French Charles Boyer voice (hell, dad sounded more like Charles Boyer than Charles Boyer sounded like Charles Boyer) he’d quote Boyer talking with Hedy Lamarr in the great 1938 movie “Algiers”** and say “Come with me to zee Casbahhh…”, inevitably getting laughs and giggles. The thing was, dad had already been to the Casbah in 1942 with the 60th. There was no Heddy Lamarr, but there were a helluva lot of Frenchmen trying to kill him. Maybe he was just quoting from the movie for laughs, but later in life, I wondered if it was his own private joke with himself, remembering 19 year old Willie I Hall kicking ass in French Morocco in the Fall of ‘42.
Addendum:
• ** The movie “Algiers” came out in 1938 and featured Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr. It was an instant hit and many considered it a forerunner to the movie “Casablanca” which came out in 1942. Boyer actually received an Oscar nomination in his role as Pepe Le Moko, a French jewel thief hiding in the Casbah. He falls in love with the mysterious Heddy Lamarr, and is torn between returning to Paris with her, or staying in the Casbah. I recently learned the famous line “Come with me to the Casbah…” was in the trailer for the film, but actually cut from the movie itself. Boyer’s role as Pepe Le Moko in Algiers was already famous, when animator Chuck Jones based the character of Pepe’ Le Pew the romantic skunk, on Boyer.
• You can read a fascinating blow-by-blow description of the battle for Port Lyautey at: https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2019/01/12/a-hit-or-miss-affair/ – many of the facts I’ve presented in this blog come from that article, and from “Eight Stars to Victory”, a history of the Ninth US Infantry Division published in 1948. Photos of the map, the cemetery and the beach landing come from both sources as well.
Here are two blogs I previously wrote about dad’s last visit home in ‘42 and dad’s last weekend pass before the invasion.
• In Aug 1942, Dad had A last visit home before the invasion. This tells some of that story. https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/10/veterans-day-a-blue-star-a-flag-and-a-letter/
• In late September or early Oct 1942, dad had his last Weekend Pass before shipping out. This blog recounts some of that last wild weekend. https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2017/12/04/the-%EF%BB%BFlast-big-weekend-before-the-invasion/
Live Life Exuberantly 
One thought on “November, 1942 – Dad and the Invasion of North Africa”