Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The purpose of Operation Reservist was to capture the valuable facilities and ships at the Vichy French port of Oran before they could be destroyed. The landing of troops directly from ships was extremely risky; however it was hoped that either the French defenders would be taken entirely by surprise, or that they would actually co-operate with the landing forces.
A British admiral visited Oran on 24 June, and Duff Cooper, Minister of Information, visited Casablanca on 27 June. [14] The French Atlantic ports were in German hands and the British needed to keep the German surface fleet out of the Mediterranean, confine the Italian fleet to the Mediterranean and to blockade ports still under French control.
In World War II, Oran was one of the landing points in Operation Torch, the first American action in the Europe-North Africa theatre in November 1942. The Task Force suffered some damage to its fleet, trying to land in shallow water, but the enemy ships were sunk or driven off, and Oran surrendered after heavy fire from British battleships.
Algeria was formally part of Metropolitan France from 1830 until national independence in 1962. In the beginning of World War II it was occupied by the French Republic, however after the Battle of France it was taken by Vichy France under the control of Nazi Germany, [1] and then liberated by the Americans and British during Operation Torch in 1942. [2]
Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War.Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while allowing American armed forces the opportunity to begin their fight against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on a limited scale. [6]
After World War II, France used its naval base at Mers-el-Kébir to assist in atomic tests, the base was substantially developed by the French in 1953. [3] The Évian Accords of 18 March 1962, which recognized Algerian independence, allowed France to maintain its base for 15 years; however, France withdrew five years later in 1967.
The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers.It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert War), in Morocco and Algeria (Operation Torch), and in Tunisia (Tunisia campaign).
Americans Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Tafaoui base, 1943.. During World War II, it was a primary mission objective of the United States Army 34th Infantry Division during the Allied Operation Torch landings on 8 November 1942, and became a major Twelfth Air Force base of operations during the North African Campaign against the German Afrika Korps.