1000 Men, 1000 Stories : Articles: Operation TORCH, N. Africa, Nov. 1942 (Pt 7).

Allied Landings Continue to Make Progress

News Clippings from Nov. 17 - 19, 1942

A12936. An injured French soldier being lowered into a landing craft

after receiving treatment on board the REINA DEL PACIFICO.

Photo Credit - RN Photographer Lt. F.A. Hudson.

Imperial War Museum (IWM).

Introduction:

The landings of the initial Allied soldiers (chiefly British and American troops) along the western and northern coasts of Africa began on November 8, 1942.

The big push of these landings lasted - almost non-stop, with thousands of men and their vast supplies - for several days while reinforcements and more supplies approached from the UK and USA.

Canadians in Combined Ops reportedly worked for 11 long days at least, catching 2 hours of sleep here and there on landing crafts, or resting aboard liners converted to troop ships, e.g., Reina Del Pacifico (above photo; "The Queen of the Pacific") when allowed by an officer.

Future news clippings will reveal that about 300 members of RCNVR (who had volunteered also for the Combined Operations organization in late 1941 and early 1942), after ferrying or transporting of troops and materials of war was done, would be themselves transported back to the UK.

So... rest, relaxation, leaves, mail from home, visits with English relatives, walks with new wives or girlfriends, e.g., in Blackpool(!) - all lay in the near future.

The following news clippings are from The Winnipeg Tribune (digitized and housed at the University of Manitoba. Please visit the site and peruse at your pleasure).

Rare photos related to Operation Torch are also presented, as found at the Imperial War Museum, United Kingdom. Search their site as well, home to 11,000,000 photos.

(A few of the stories and photos relate directly to Canadians in Combined Ops, but most provide some context for their important activities, and a sense of the times during which they served.)

The next news clipping suggests that the invasion of North Africa had outcomes that extended to the war in Russia, i.e., it drew away some of Hitler's forces from the Russian Front. Stalin's call for "a second front" may have been partially answered.

Many news reels related to the invasion of North Africa are available today for our viewing. Please check the growing archive of videos attached to this site; see "videos re Combined Operations" under "click on Headings" in the right hand margin for access to all videos I have found to date.

For example, you will soon find a link to the following, and more:

Video: British Pathe Newsreels - North Africa, 1942.

Although Bizerte (1) is the focus of the map below, Canadians were involved at Algiers (to the left of Bizerte) on Nov. 8, 1942, and mentioned Bougie and Bone (between the two) in memoirs related to the invasion of Sicily in July 1943:

The above account about United Press War Correspondent Leo S. Disher is important for two reasons.

First, his own story is very rare. Disher "became the first combat reporter awarded the Purple Heart — citing “extraordinary heroism and meritorious performance of duty” for action on a day in November 1942".

Photo Source - Wikipedia Commons

Please link to First Purple heart for Working Reporter for a detailed account.

Second, the account was placed in the newspaper near the next clipping which also caught my attention. I am so glad it did.

My father mentioned AB Lloyd Campbell in a story about the run-up to the Dieppe Raid. From Dad's story and another by Sub. Lt. Robert McRae, I knew that Lloyd had been seriously wounded during the raid and later died while a POW. Few other details were listed.

However, details in the news clipping - especially the sister's name - led me to much more information about Lloyd, including his first duties in the RCNVR, and, his last written words to his sister.

I have since organized a series of posts with the valuable information now available about Lloyd G. Campbell. Please link to Editor's Research: Lloyd Campbell, London Ont.

"Taken before he shipped out from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Sept 2, 1940"

Photo Credit - Kathryn Rollins, Madeline's grand-daughter.

I 'Googled' "Allied Nations Invade North Africa" as found above and one of the discoveries was a PDF file in Public Domain concerning Operation Torch. Please see below.

Interested readers will find much to whet their appetites about the invasion of North Africa, and good information is revealed about specific landings that involved Canadians in Combined Operations. My father wrote about his own experiences at Arzeu, east of Oran and one of the Center Task Force's specific landing sites.

Oran was the central focus of the Center Task Force. Arzeu was to its right.

About Arzeu I found the following:

The Landings in North Africa, pages 65 - 67

The following 3 photographs and their captions, related to Operation Torch, are found at the Imperial War Museum (IWM):

A12935. The British Naval beachmaster and his party at Arzeu,

near Oran, Algiers. RN Photographer Lt. F.A. Hudson, IWM

A12937. Transports of the expedition lying in Gibraltar harbour.

Lt. F.A. Hudson, IWM

A12939. Heading - Hoisting the Stars and Stripes over Algiers, after the cease-fire.

Caption - The ceremony was attended by Senior Naval and Military Officers.

RN Photographer Lt. R.G.G. Coote, IWM.

News from Stalingrad, a key battle in Russia:

News clippings from the November 19th issue of The Winnipeg Tribune, very close to the day that the Canadian sailors in the 80th and 81st Flotillas of Landing Craft completed their transport duties: