Unit Organization

For the most part, the following information covers the Sub-Operation: Brushwood landings at Fedala only, mostly following the 1-7 Battalion, as that's where my campaign is starting. Obviously stuff happened at the other landing sites, but other than really basic info I'm neglecting to type any of it up. This is also missing quite a bit of "background" information, so you'll want to read about Operation Torch somewhere else to get the full story.

The operation, planned for Nov. 8th, 1942, was set up into a Western, Central and Eastern Task Force. The Western Task Force, which covered the landings at Safi, Casablanca/Fedala and Mehdia, was commanded by Major General George S. Patton, Jr.; CTF by Major General Lloyd R. Fredendall at Oran; and British Lieutenant General Kenneth A. N. Anderson for the ETF landings at Algiers, although Major General Charles W. Ryder was to make the initial landing at Algiers for the sake of the French (who at the time were upset with the Brits for sinking a bunch of their ships and killing sailors following the German invasion of France). Naval support/transport for the operation was the job of the Royal Navy.

Western Task Force was to land at 3 locations: Safi, 140 miles south of Casablanca (sub-taskforce BLACKSTONE), in order to capture the port to offload tanks; Mehdia (GOALPOST), 80 miles north, to capture two of the primary airfields in the area; and finally Fedala (BRUSHWOOD), a small fishing village 12 miles north of Casablanca, where a majority of the infantry would land. The plan was to circle the infantry and armor around to the east of Casablanca, where they would meet up to attack the city from the west. An American naval task force including 1 carrier, several battleships and 3 dozen destroyers were to provide shore bombardment and air support for the operation.

The fleet left the US coast on October 23rd (the majority of it did, at least), and arrived off the coast of Morocco on November 6th. Weather had become worse than anticipated at this point in time, with heavy swells and choppy water along the coast, but the Nov. 8th H-Day was still chosen. The flagship, carrying Hewitt and Patton, was the USS Augusta, and the only fleet carrier present was the USS Ranger.

Overall, the landing forces were facing a potential 55,000 infantry, including around 160-200 tanks, 80 armored cars, and 160 aircraft. The armored vehicles were mostly outdated models, but the planes included Dewoitine 520 fighters, which were thought better than the Wildcats found on the US carriers.

Training for the amphibious landing portion of the operation began in June of '42 in Chesapeake Bay, as the North Carolinian coast (where it was originally planned to be held at) was potentially too dangerous due to submarine attacks in the Atlantic. The beginnings of this program were put together with the help of the marines, and so was based on their limited (but much better than the armies') experience in amphibious assaults.

The main drawbacks with the army amphibious program was that it lacked dedicated units to control the offloading of supplies and personnel, a problem which quickly made itself apparent once the operation was underway. They also lacked good tactics covering the use of naval and aircraft gunfire in conjunction with the landings, although both spotter planes and observers on the ground were deployed with the troops.

Since the Allies did not want to risk losing a potential ally (France) over the landings, and they really didn't even know if the Vichy would resist, standing orders were given that units were to only return fire if necessary, but otherwise attempt to make French resistance surrender on "good terms". As part of this, there was no pre-invasion bombardment or bombing. All American troops wore a large US Flag Badge and white armband on their sleeves, and were instructed to announce "batter up" over the radio net if they were preparing to return fire in self-defense. Only the task force or attack group commanders were able to initiate a general engagement order, which would be given by the phrase "play ball".

The following paragraphs cover the basics of all 3 landings of the Western Task Force, very briefly for the non-Fedala ones, and in slightly more detail for the central landing (Brushwood).

Blackstone involved the landing of the 47th Infantry, 9th Division; 2 reinforced battalions of the 67th Armored Regiment, 2d Armored Division; elements of the 70th Tank Battalion, and several artillery batteries.

The first troops to land in the operation, amidst cannon bombardment from the American ships - 0445. By that afternoon Safi was under control, and at 1530 the French forces in the area surrendered. Some more minor fighting occured after that, and on Nov. 10th 0900 most of the armor began moving North towards Casablanca.

The sub-taskforce was composed of the 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division; the 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment, 2d Armored Division; elements of the 70th Tank Battalion (Separate); and seven coast artillery batteries. Their goal were the airfields at Port-Lyautey and Sale, following the capture of the coastal village of Mehdia and the town of Port-Lyautey.

The operation started off badly with the French strafing the transports, then came coastal artillery, landing problems, and heavy machinegun fire. Fighting continued through Nov. 11, at which point (0400 hours) a cease-fire went into effect, ending the fighting in the area.

Major General Jonathan W. Anderson led this sub-task force, which consisted of 3 regimental landing groups (RLG), based on the 7th, 15th and 30th Infantry Regiments, 3d Infantry Division. Other combat elements included the 1st Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, and the 82d Reconnaissance Battalion, both of the 2d Armored Division, and the 756th Tank Battalions (Separate), 603rd, 609th, and 702nd Tank Destroyer Battalions, and the 36th Combat Engineer Regiment. Each regimental landing group consisted of three battalion landing teams, each with engineer (36th Combat Engineer Regiment, plus the 10th Battalion from the 3rd Infantry), artillery (including the 9th, 10th, 39th and 41st battalions), air liaison, and other support detachments (3rd Medical Battalion and others). The 1st and 2d Regimental Landing Groups were each reinforced by a platoon of light tanks. With support units, BRUSHWOOD totaled 19,364 officers and men.

The objectives of the landing were to silence all coastal batteries, seize the town and port of Fedala as well as all roads and rail lines serving them, and then turn south to envelop Casablanca from the landward side. To reach these objectives, individual battalion landing teams were to come ashore over four beaches along a four-mile arc of coastline bounded by two rivers, the Nefifikh on the east and the Mellah on the west. Known points of opposition included five coastal and antiaircraft batteries ranging from 75-mm. to 138.6-mm. in caliber. Garrison forces totaled 2,500 troops at Fedala and 4,325 at Casablanca, only twelve miles to the south. Fifty fighters and thirty bombers could enter the battle from airfields in the area. Casablanca was of particular concern to the U.S. Navy covering force off Fedala since it harbored French naval units including cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and the uncompleted battleship Jean Bart, whose operational 15-inch guns could easily reach both transports and landing beaches to the north.

November 8th
Midnight to dawn	Millions of leaflets, delivered by planes from Gibraltar, fluttered down over Casablanca and the other landing sites: "The immediate purpose of the invasion," explained the leaflet (coded T2), "is to protect French North Africa against the menace of an Italo-German invasion. The principal aim is the annihilation of the enemy and the complete liberation of invaded France. The sovereignty of France over French territories remains complete. All together, we will get them." These words were printed over the signature of Lt. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces. Additionally, another leaflet (T4) explaining the procedures to take when surrendering were dropped, had the following to say: BY DAY: Display the French tricolor and U.S. flag one above the other, or two French tricolors one above the other. BY NIGHT: Display searchlights at a 90^o angle. TO ALL SHIPS OF THE NAVY AND MERCHANT NAVY: (1) Stay where you are. (2) Do not scuttle any ships. TO ALL COASTAL DEFENCE UNITS: Do not man your batteries or other installations. TO ALL UNITS OF THE AIR FORCE: Do not take off. All aircraft must remain in their normal places. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: Generally speaking, you will obey any order which may be given to you by my officers. We come, I repeat, as friends and not as enemies, I have given strict instructions that no offensive shall be taken against you on condition that on your side you observe the same attitude. This notice was issued by the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, Lt-Gen, Eisenhower.
0001-0400	H-Hour for the 1st Battalion, 7th Infantry (1-7 Battalion Landing Team) was set for 0400, but strong currents and choppy seas forced the ships to attempt to re-align themselves, delaying H-hour. When they finally went out, half of the initial landing groups weren't even organized within the formation. The control destroyer Wilkes that was supposed to mark the departure line was also too far west, with the first 4 landing waves steering towards it in complete darkness. Half of the ships in the initial landings carried men, while the rest carried equipment. Men with 60 lbs. of equipment strugled down cargo nets to load into the transports. The marking boat sent to shore earlier to shine a light out to sea for the landing craft from 1-7 was approached by a unidentified vessel, and cut it's lines to avoid contact. They then drifted near some rocks, inadvertently guiding the first 4 waves of landing boats right onto them.
0500	The 1-7 BLT headed towards beach RED 2, but due to the location of the marking boat many ended up running into the rocks at full speed. Out of the initial boats in the landing, roughly 2/3rds were lost on the rocks (21 out of 32, according to 1 source, and 62 out of 116 from another), and additional ones were broached by the surf after they beached. Additionally, machinegun fire and bombardment from coastal guns fires as/when spotlights spot transports. The trip to shore was done through high, rough waves, and on to long, sloping, rocky beaches. Those ships fortunate enough to not hit the rocks still ended up discharging their troops in fairly deep water. As more transports arrived the situation became worse, with ships tangled up with each other, sporadic fire and searchlights from the French complicating things, and inexperienced troops making a mess of the unloading process of men and equipment - both the navy and army men thought it was the other's job to unload the cargo, amongst other issues. Finally the Coast Guard men took control of beachmaster duty. Throughout the day, the beaches were strafed by French aircraft, with several transports (and numerous men) being hit. By this time communications were all bogged down, as Radio One on the Augusta had too few men running too many machines, bringing communications to a standstill and forcing commanders on the beach to come up with their own missions as situations arise. It was not until some time later in the day that communications were restored.
0545-0600	As the sun rose above the horizon, the coastal batteries and machineguns began firing on the transports (both at sea and on the beach), and machinegun, sniper and artillery fire began raining down on the landing beaches. Troops began digging foxholes to hide in, which just made the entire landing process even more FUBARed. Ships and troops returned fired ("batter up"). By now troops from 1-7 had made their way into Fedala, led by Lt. Colonel Roy E. Moore, through sporadic machinegun fire. There they encountered a surprised contingent of the 6th Senegalese Infantry Regiment, capturing many groups. They surround the Hotel Miramer, the home base for the Casablanca branch of the German Armistice Commission. Moore has his men surround the three-story building while French troops sit on curbs watching, but they find that the Germans have fled. Shortly thereafter naval fire begins raining down in the city, and fearing that the hotel is a target Moore and his men dash out of the hotel, amusing the Senegalese. The Americans continue into town, and run into a convoy of three German staff cars racing out of Fedala. The Germans hit the brakes as they see the Americans, and one of the GIs yells, "Comm heraus, Schweinhund," finally getting a chance to use the German he learned on his troopship. Ten German officers of the Armistice Commission, in full uniform, sheepishly raise their hands and step out of the car. At first light the USS Ranger launched fighters, which engaged fighters over the beachhead and neighboring areas. In the fighting 5 American and 7 French fighters were shot down. By 0600 the town of Fedala is secured by troops and the coastal batteries were largely knocked out, although individual guns continued to fire sporadically.
0617	The command to "Play Ball" is finally given, and sea, air and land units begin engaging the French outright rather than just returning fire if threatened.
0700	Off the coast of Casablanca, a naval battle between the French ships in the harbor and the fleet escorts and capital ships began. Dogfights raged overhead, and ended quickly, but the naval battle continued for hours and prevented General Patton from making it to shore at 0800, as planned.
0730	2-7 BLT, which was strewn over the beaches on both sides of the Nefifikh river, made a combined assault on the French battery at the mouth of the river, overunning it by 0730.
0800	Moore has set up his HQ at the Miramer Hotel, and through the jumbled radio communications pleads with the navy to stop shelling the town - it finally works.
1130	The naval battle finally ended.
1140-1200	Colonel William H. Wilbur, who had come ashore with the leading waves to deliver a message to French command suggesting a cease-fire, returned to find the stalemate at the coastal battery at Cap de Fedala, and combined Company A of 1-7 with 4 M3 Stuart tanks from the 756th Tank Battalion and assaulted the cape at 1140. The tanks overran the barbed-wire entanglements while Hotchkiss machineguns rattled harmlessly off their side, with the American troops following behind. Wilbur is on the lead tank the whole time. After getting past the machineguns the infantry charged into the main battery, surprising the artillerymen. Around 1200 the battery surrendered, the complexes commander asking that the battery be officially transferred to American control, and following a full ceremony the coastal defense battery surrendered. At the same time C/1-7 was pinned down on the outskirts of Fedala at a racetrack by French AA guns. The troops crawl through paddocks, stables and shellfire, finally hitting the guns with bazookas. The French raise a white flag in surrender, but when a lieutenant and sergeant stand up to take it they are killed by gunfire, at which point the horrified Americans unload on the position. A few minutes later they raise another white flag, only this time are ordered out with their hands up.
1320	Patton stepped onto the shores at Fedala, and got things moving.
1430	Tanks from the 67th Armored Regiment began unloading in Fedala.
By that afternoon	The rest of the 7th and the 30th landing by late morning, and the 30th by afternoon.
By that night	The task force had made it's way south towards Casablanca, although not as far as was hoped due to the horrible lack of supplies and vehicles caused by the backups/mess at the landing beaches.

November 9th	General Anderson leads 4 battalions south towards the assembly area east of Casablanca. Troops get hit with occasional strafing and artillery fighters. Due to the supply/unloading problems, however, he stopped them 6 miles from the Casablanca defensive perimeter. Then American troops accidentally shot down an American artillery spotter plane.
1700	Coastal batteries were completely silenced, and half of the troops, a third of the vehicles, and and a measly 3.3 percent of supplies were ashore.
November 10th
night/early morning	Starting at midnight, the 7th and 15th resumed their advance, with the first against the shore and the latter inland. After 2 miles the 2 lead battalions of the 7th were hit by artillery near the village of Ain Sebaa. On the eastern side the 15th stopped their advance outside of Tit Mellil, as recon spotted a French position there and the commanders decided to wait until light to attack At daylight the 10th Field Artty Battalion found itself ahead of the infantry and pushed back 1000 yards by artillery and infantry. Then French warships found a way to bombard the 7th for awhile before the US ships pushed them back into the Casablanca port.
Midmorning	The 7th continued their advance over several machinegun positions and to the outskirts of Casablanca, where they were stopped by intense artillery and small arms fire. The 15th took all day taking out the French position in Tit Mellil and heading west towards the city. As the 7th and 15th took positions to the east and south of Casablanca by 1700, the tanks from Safi/the SW began arriving, surrounding the city. Just to show how pathetic resistance was, only 36 were killed and 113 wounded in the day's fighting.
1910	A cease-fire was finally sent out to the troops in Casablanca, and the French troops surrended an hour before sunrise the following day, right before Patton would have begun attacking the city. Despite the end to the fighting, some sniper fire continued for days.

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