An Army at Dawn (103 page)

Hewitt was too busy
:
Landings in North Africa,
37; Morison,
Operations in North African Waters,
100–101 (
“grasshopper with a rock”
), 104; “Reminiscences of Rear Adm. Joshua W. Cooper,” OH, John T. Mason, 1975, USNI OHD (
galley trash can
); AAR, Daniel F. Seacord, U.S.S.

Ludlow,
n.d., NHC; Harley Cope, “Play Ball, Navy!”
Proceedings,
Oct. 1943, 1131.

Four miles
: AAR, “Aircraft Operations During the Execution of TORCH,” CINCLANT, March 30, 1943, NARA RG 38, OCNO, WWII Action, box 3; Wordell and Seiler, 133 (
Scotch tape
).

Patched and vengeful
: C. T. Booth and M. T. Wordell, OH Dec. 4, 1942, NARA RG 334, E 315, NWC Lib, box 476 (
“The first pass”
); Wordell and Seiler, 93.

The air attacks and weight
: “Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet,” ts, 1946, vol. I, USNAd, 449; Wordell and Seiler, 93 (
“heeled over”
); Auphan and Moral, 233;
Landings in North Africa,
35–36; Morison,
Operations in North African Waters,
107.

The most operatic death
: AAR, translated from French Naval Historical Service, n.d., in
Ludlow
file, NHC; Auphan and Moral, 233;
Landings in North Africa,
36; Collier, 146 (
Terrified pigs
).

Of the French ships
: AAR, “Aircraft Operations During the Execution of TORCH,” CINCLANT, March 30, 1943, NARA RG 38, OCNO, WWII Action, box 3; Wordell and Seiler, 93 (
sweeping, ceremonial turn
); letter, C. V. August,
Chicago News,
Jan. 28, 1943, MCC, YU (
bathed in champagne
).

Diehard French officers
: Ellsberg, 271 (
“We Come”
); Tompkins, 165.

Patton finally reached
: letters, Edward S. Johnston to S. E. Morison, April–May 1947, SEM, NHC, box 16 (
“I cannot stomach”
); D’Este,
Patton,
435.

That would be
: Blumenson,
Patton: The Man Behind the Legend,
128 (
“orgy of disorder”
); Observer Report #37, Feb. 10, 1943, NARA RG 337, box 52 (
“Had the landings”
); “Western Task Force: The Attack on Fedala,” n.d., War Department, CMH, 2–3.7 WE; “Signal Communication in the North African Campaign,” ts, 1945,
Tactical Communication in World War II,
Part I, Historical Section, Office of the Chief Signal Officer, MHI, 59; Kenneth G. Crawford,
Report on North Africa,
45; letter, Arthur R. Wilson to GCM, Dec. 12, 1942, NARA RG 165, E 13, OCS, box 106; Joseph A. Watters, “The Invasion of North Africa at Fedala and Casablanca,” ts, n.d., ASEQ, 3rd ID, MHI;
Three Years,
148.

While trapped
: Hatch,
George Patton: General in Spurs,
138 (
“I wish”
); Charles R. Codman,
Drive,
22; Harry H. Semmes, “George S. Patton, Jr.’s Psychology of Leadership,”
Army
, Jan.–Feb. 1955, 1 (
“words of fire”
); Harmon, 94 (
useful rumor
).

Five French infantry battalions
: Wilhm et al., 71; “History of Regimental Landing Group 30,” March 30, 1943, NARA RG 407, E 427, box 245 (
“Rendezvous!”
); “Western Task Force: The Attack on Fedala” decoration affidavits, Mackenzie E. Porter, Robert D. Henriques, NARA RG 338, 7th Army Awards, box 2; William Ellsworth, OH, n.d., SM, MHI (
“For God’s sake stop”
); Coffin, “Operation TORCH: A Perilous Preview,” 42; Donald G. Taggart, ed.,
History of the Third Infantry Division,
23.

A white handkerchief
: “History of Regimental Landing Group 30” (
offered water
).

Patrols pushing
: Morison,
Operations in North African Waters,
65 (
“the greatest setback”
).

Rommel was still
: William Ellsworth, OH, n.d., SM, MHI; Franklin M. Reck,
Beyond the Call of Duty,
27 (
“Good day, my friends!”
); Taggart, ed., 20; Morison,
Operations in North African Waters,
86, 110;
NWAf,
128; Farago, 39 (
“determined to slug it out”
).

The fight would be
: “Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet,” ts, 1946, vol. I, USNAd, 443; letter, Arthur R. Wilson to GCM, Dec. 12, 1942, NARA RG 165, E 13, OCS, box 106; Farago, 200 (
“My theory”
); Codman, 35 (
Patton strolled
); Blumenson,
The Patton Papers, 1940–1945,
106 (
“God was”
).

God withdrew
: Wilson to GCM, Dec. 12, 1942 (
“calmest day”
); Beck et al., 77;
Landings in North Africa,
76; Garrison H. Davidson, OH, John T. Greenwood, 1980, CEOH, 172 (
“Let’s do it”
).

Shore parties lacked
: Bykofsky and Larson, 160; “Amphibious Training Command,” ts, n.d., USNAd, VII-36, 58; “Signal Communication in the North African Campaigns,” in
Tactical Communications in World War II
, part 1, 1945, MHI, 24; Leo J. Meyer, “Strategy and Logistical History: Mediterranean Theater of Operations,” ts, n.d., CMH, 2.37 CC1, III-15; Earl Burton, “The Invasion of North Africa,” in Armed Forces Series, vol. 2, 1992.

A company of 113
: “Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet,” 1946, ts, vol. I, USNAd, 431 (
“bring order”
);
History of 67th Armored Regiment,
67; Taggart, ed., 23; “CSI Battlebook 3-A: Operation TORCH,” CSI, ADA 151 625 (
“full of metal”
); decoration citation, Walter J. Burns, 204th MP Co., NARA RG 338, Fifth Army, A 47-A-3948, box 56.

Two hours later
: H. Essame,
Patton: A Study in Command,
55 (
“flay the idle”
); Blumenson,
The Patton Papers, 1940–1945,
108 (
“nasty blue”
and
“beach was a mess”
).

One officer quoted Patton
: Codman, 21.

Scourging would not
: Taggart, ed., 29; Watters, ASEQ, MHI; Forrest K. Kleinman, “The Bizarre Battle for Casablanca,”
Army,
Aug. 1997, 38; GSP to DDE, Nov. 14, 1942; “Western Task Force: The Attack on Fedala,” 60.

“Today has been bad”
: Blumenson,
The Patton Papers, 1940–1945,
109; DDE to GSP, Nov. 10, 1942, Chandler, 684.

Battle for the Kasbah

Of the nine major
: LKT Jr. to MWC, Sept. 12, 1942, LKT Jr. Papers, GCM Lib, box 9 (
“should not be”
); Farago, 29; GCM to DDE, Oct. 5, 1942, NARA RG 492, MTOUSA, box 1386 (
“noon Dog Day”
).

“Beloved Wife”
: LKT Jr. to Sarah, Oct. 22, 1942, LKT Jr. Papers, GCM Lib; Lucian K. Truscott, Jr.,
Twilight of the Cavalry,
xiii–xv; John K. Waters, SOOHP, William C. Parnell III, 1980, MHI; Boatner, 574; Truscott,
Command Missions,
71; Theodore J. Conway, SOOHP, Robert F. Ensslin, 1977, I-22; diary, Oct. 15, 1942, GSP, LOC, box 2, folder 13 (
“I am just”
).

Truscott’s opening gambit
: Author visit, April 2000; P. M. Hamilton, OH, Nov. 30, 1949, SM, MHI; P. M. Hamilton, OH, July 1945, “Western Task Force: Attack on Mehdia and the Port Lyautey Airdrome,” ts, 1945, CMH, 2–3.7 AEI; Reck, 44.

The failed diplomatic
: “Western Task Force: Attack on Mehdia,” 27; “Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet,” 1946, ts, vol. I, USNAd, 416 (
“with cold steel”
); AAR, Carl E. Bledsoe, Jan. 27, 1943, NARA RG 337, E 15A, box 51 (
“absolutely dumbfounded”
).

Nightfall made matters worse
: Semmes, 121; “Western Task Force: Attack on Mehdia,” 63.

On the broad
: Truscott,
Command Missions,
113–14.

The troops ducked
: LKT Jr. to GSP, Nov. 12, 1942, LKT Jr. Papers, GCM Lib, box 9 (
“halfway to Bermuda”
).

Like Patton, Truscott concluded
: Farago, 29–30 (
“disaster against”
); Peter Andrews, “A Place to Be Lousy In,”
American Heritage,
Dec. 1991, 100 (
Truscott suspected
); Truscott,
Command Missions,
97–98 (
“One of the first lessons”
).

Yet only luck
: Semmes, 125; Semmes, reply to Armored School queries, Dec. 1949, SM, MHI; Truscott,
Command Missions,
118 (
“not a cheerful one”
).

At first light
: AAR, Gordon Browne, n.d., OSS files, NARA RG 226, E 99, box 39 (“Tout va bien”); “Western Task Force: Attack on Mehdia,” 4; msg, GCM, Oct. 2, 1942, NARA RG 492, MTOUSA, Special Staff, box 1385 (
“rivet attention”
); Malvergne Silver Star documentation, NARA RG 338, Fifth Army, box 56; Roul Tunley, “A Frenchman Returns,”
Sea Power,
Jan. 1945, 13; AAR, Co C, 15th Engineer Combat Bn, n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427, 9th ID, box 7455.

Dallas
yawed wildly
: R. Brodie, Jr., OH, June 19, 1951, SM, MHI;
NWAf,
165; Morison,
Operations in North African Waters,
131.

Two hours later
: “Western Task Force: Attack on Mehdia,” 122; “Adventures by Men of the 60th Infantry Regiment in WWII,” ts, 1993, MHI, 9; Mittelman, 72; Truscott,
Command Missions,
120 (
“a beautiful sight”
); Frederic A. Henney, “Combat Engineers in North Africa: The Capture of Port Lyautey,”
Military Engineer,
Jan. 1944, 1;
Landings in North Africa
, 53 (“Beau Geste”).

Enemy resistance
:
NWAf,
164, 170 (
“a brightly colored pageant”
); “Western Task Force: Attack on Mehdia,” 96; Semmes, 139; Truscott,
Command Missions,
123 (
“Our parley”
).

The three-day fight
: AAR, LKT Jr., Dec. 15, 1942, AFHQ G-3, NARA micro R-24-C; AAR, “Trip of Honduran SS
Contessa,”
March 22, 1943, in Wheeler, ed.,
The Road to Victory,
76; Fowler, “Twelve Desperate Miles,” 14.

In a final twist
:
AAFinWWII,
77; Astor, 282 (
“war hysteria”
).

“It’s All Over for Now”

Gray with fatigue
: Clagett, “Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, U.S. Navy,” 72, 75.

Hewitt resumed
: AAR, “Report on Operation TORCH by Capt. A. G. Shepard,” Jan. 9, 1943, NARA RG 38, OCNO, WW II Action Reports, box 3; “Aircraft Operations during the execution of TORCH,” March 30, 1943, CINCLANT, NARA RG 38, OCNO, box 3 (
“No more
Jean Bart”); Morison,
Operations in North African Waters,
163; HKH, comment on Jan. 1950 Morison volume, HKH, NHC, box 1 (“
Come a little closer
”).

For Patton, enough was enough
: DDE to GSP, Oct. 13, 1942, NARA RG 492, MTOUSA Special Staff, AFHQ, box 1383; “Western Task Force: The Attack on Fedala,” n.d., CMH, 2–3.7 WE.

At two
A.M.
, about the time
: 3rd ID field artillery officer, OH, n.d., SM, MHI; Codman, 40 (
“Unless the French navy”
); Blumenson,
The Patton Papers, 1940–1945,
109 (
“Staff wanted me”
).

At dawn, the guns
: Arthur R. Wilson to GCM, Dec. 12, 1942, NARA RG 165, E 13, OCS, classified general correspondence, box 106 (
“Report whether”
); Wordell and Seiler, 162 (
“Boys, it’s all”
).

Franco-American amity
: Brooks, “Casablanca—The French Side of the Fence,” 909 (
“Chicago, I give up!”
); Taggart, ed., 30.

At the Miramar
: Geoffrey Keyes, OH, Feb. 15, 1950, SM, MHI.

“They drank $40 worth”
: GSP to Henry Stimson, Dec. 7, 1942, Blumenson,
The Patton Papers, 1940–1945,
112; Morison,
Operations in North African Waters,
appendix II, 285; HKH, “Reminiscences,” 230.

The conquest of Morocco
:
NWAf,
173; Blumenson,
The Patton Papers, 1940–1945,
110 (
“We are in”
), 114 (
“If you adhere”
).

Press dispatches
: Blumenson,
The Patton Papers, 1940–1945,
107 (
“I realize”
), 111, 116, 119.

After leaving
: “Report on Material and Logistics, Commander Task Force 34,” n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427, “Special Files,” box 24486; AAR, “Report on Operation TORCH by Capt. A. G. Shepard,” Jan. 9, 1943, NARA RG 38, OCNO, WW II Action Reports, box 3; Wilhm et al., “Armor in the Invasion of North Africa,” 47; HKH, “Reminiscences,” 230.

And yet
: AAR, “Report on Operation TORCH by Capt. A.G. Shepard,” Jan. 9, 1943, NARA RG 38, OCNO, WWII Action Reports, box 3;
NWAf,
175; war diary, German naval staff, Nov. 1942, NARA RG 334, NWC Lib, box 645 (
“Go after them”
).

“Good lads”
: letter, E. S. Johnston to SEM, Apr. 1947, SEM, NHC, box 16; Wordell and Seiler, 173; John Ellis,
Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War,
528.

Blackout drapes
: Davidson, OH, 182; Codman, 47; author visit, April 2000.

At 7:48
P.M.
, the festivities
: Davidson, OH, 182.

The German submarine
U-173: “Reminiscences of Vice Admiral Charles Wellborn, Jr.,” 1972, USNI OHD (
“you could see”
); “Report on Material and Logistics, Commander Task Force 34,” n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427, “Special Files,” box 24486; AAR, “Report on Operation TORCH by Capt. A. G. Shepard,” Jan. 9, 1943, NARA RG 38, OCNO, WWII Action Reports, box 3; Morison,
Operations in North African Waters,
169; Clay Blair,
Hitler’s U-Boat War,
vol. II, 110; uboat.net/ boats/u173.htm.