Videos: Operation Torch, the Invasion of North Africa, 1942

This Month - The 80th Anniversary of Operation TORCH

Canadians in Combined Ops Manned Landing Crafts

Canadian and British sailors man landing crafts, as part of the Central Task Force

near or at Arzeu, east of Oran. Official caption - American troops manning their landing

craft assault from a doorway in the side of the liner Reina Del Pacifico. Two of the

landing craft are numbered LCA 428 and LCA 447. Photo Credit: RN Official

Photographer Lt. F. A. Hudson, A12647, Imperial War Museum (IWM)

Introduction:

As one will see by checking the archive of entries (right hand margin) for the month on November, 2022, I have organized a small but mighty amount of material related to Operation TORCH (which began on November 8, 1942, to highlight Allied events of WWII that took place 80 years ago. There is some overlap of materials used, for example, in Remembrance Day: 80th Anniversary, Allied Invasion of North Africa (1) and Correspondence: "My Grandad Served on the Reina Del Pacifico" (1) , particularly as pertains to the Reina Del, an ocean liner converted to troop ship for the duration of WWII. Really, it couldn't be helped. When a reader corresponds with me about a relative (in this instance a grandfather) who travelled on the same ship as my father (he appears in the above photo; second left), and at the same time, there's bound to be a bit of a mash-up of photos and stories.

Tots of rum might also have been involved. In my opinion, their combined stories just keep getting better!

The above being said, I have been spending a bit of time on YouTube recently looking for relevant videos re Operation Torch and the Reina Del Pacifico, and have had some success. So, I will take a wee break between Parts 1 and 2 of "Correspondence: "My Grandad Served..." to share a few other items related to Operation TORCH. Some of it relates to background or context re TORCH, some to the significance of the operation and how it was prepared for and then carried out.

HELP WANTED: Readers who find other material re Operation TORCH (particularly related to the Canadians who served aboard landing crafts as members of RCNVR and Combined Operations), are encouraged to send me details, links, etc. I gratefully make use of the help of others.

Please find below a few useful, informative links to videos related to TORCH, a significant operation that took place 80 years ago this month:

Battle of North Africa Part 2 - The Big Picture by Nuclear Vault (Time - 28min:33sec.)

Notes - good video of troop convoys to N. Africa; good views of the three landing areas (Casablanca, Oran, Algiers)

 American troops landing on the beach at Arzeu, near Oran, from a landing

craft assault (LCA 26), some of them are carrying boxes of supplies.

Photo Credit - Hudson, F A (Lt.) A12649 (IWM)

Operation Torch - The invasion of North Africa offered by scapa6 (Time - 6min:01sec.)

Notes - from an American POV; details re build up of supplies and troops, then transporting same across the Atlantic; details re three landing zones; good views of convoy to, and action at, Casablanca only

Movietone News: North African Occupation" (Time 3min:52sec.)

Notes - onboard exercises look like fun; good views of LCAs and LCMs on North African shores; Reina Del Pacifico may have appeared more than once

The Turn Of The Tide - Allied Landings In North Africa (1942) by British Pathe (Time - 7min:34sec.)

Notes - good views of convoys approaching N. Africa and night-time battle action; more of a British POV than previous videos with mention of the work of the Royal Navy (Canadians sprinkled amongst landing craft crew); very good scenes of LCMs being loaded with scenes very similar to above photo of 'American troops landing... at Arzeu'; though little or no resistance in some areas, we learn about snipers that the US troops cleared out

The One Move Germany Never Expected America to Make by Dark Docs (Time - 12min:20sec.)

Notes - a short documentary in five parts/chapters that includes a section about the Allied landings (Operation TORCH) in three locations upon the coast of North Africa; the first chapter (Allies in Discord) provides some context re the plan to invade N. Africa vs France in 1942; second chapter... more details re TORCH follows this paragraph - "In November, German and Italian intelligence detected a significant build-up of Allied ships near Gibraltar, but Germany disregarded the warning as simply another supply convoy to reinforce Malta. The Italians, however, were not so sure, and they pleaded with Germany to investigate the anomaly. Still, Hitler had lost all faith in the Italians by then, and he refused their request. The decision would prove costly for Germany, as what they believed to be a supply convoy was actually a transport fleet carrying 65,000 US servicemen, commanded by Lieutenant General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Operation Torch, the first American incursion on the Mediterranean, was about to begin"; more details about Allied progress in N. Africa, and Rommel's worst outing, are provide in the final three chapters.

As well, I share one video with no audio, but the quality of the filming is very good. It depicts US troops landing at Arzew (see photo second from top (above) and I'm pretty sure my father appears on two occasions at least. The video was found on an Associated Press (AP) Archive and I encourage readers to use its search engine to locate videos at other locations or taken at other times.

North Africa Combined Operations (No Sound) as found at AP Archive (Time - 13min:36sec.)

Notes - Cameramen at all points have gathered from front-line positions. These Movietone pictures of the most momentous "Combined Operation", which gives us control of the Western Mediterranean. Shotlist - Troops disembarking from landing craft and making their way through sea on to beach. Scenes on beach. Unloading supplies. Soldier carrying an American flag on beach. Wire being laid on beach. Vehicles moving onto beach. Various shots of landing craft approaching beach and soldiers wading through sea. Local man speaks to troops. Supplies being passed hand to hand. Various shots of soldiers on board landing craft. Vehicles being unloaded from ship onto quayside. Locals gathered on quayside. Troops eating and drinking on quayside. Shaving on quayside. Scenes at docks. Unidentified US Navy officials have cigarette together. Various scenes at docks. American officials survey work at docks. Street scenes - troops advancing with caution. Civilians. Troops of different regiments posing together. On board landing craft. Ruined castle. Camp beside the castle. CU soldier eating. MS of castle with sign in front: "New York City - Mayor Molotov". Various shots of the castle with American flag flying. Soldiers on guard. Abandoned artillery, wrecked RAF and American aircraft. Aircraft coming in to land. Small dog on board ship. LS of ships of armada. Various views of ships. Troops being lifted from large ship into landing craft. Semaphore message being sent. Ships at sunset. Various shots of ships in convoy. Landing craft approaching coast. Some shots from on board landing craft approaching beach. Activity on beach - soldiers share cigarettes with locals, equipment being brought ashore, troops walking on beach, landing craft arriving, views of harbour from moving ship. Various shots of harbour. 

As frequent users or viewers of YouTube know, when one video is near finished, a few similar items are promoted, so you might get to see more videos about North Africa than you can shake a stick at.

Happy Hunting, I say!

Please click here to view other videos, e.g., related to landings in North Africa during Operation TORCH - Video: "Allied troops in landing crafts reach Oran"

Unattributed Photos GH