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Naval War College Review Volume 70 Article 14 Number 3 Summer

2017 TORCH: North and the Allied Path to Victory, by Vincent P. O' Hara Richard J. Norton

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Recommended Citation Norton, Richard J. (2017) "TORCH: and the Allied Path to Victory, by Vincent P. O' Hara," Naval War College Review: Vol. 70 : No. 3 , Article 14. Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol70/iss3/14

This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Naval War College Review by an authorized editor of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Norton: TORCH: North Africa and the Allied Path to Victory, by Vincent P.

BOOK REVIEWS

PLUS ÇA CHANGE, PLUS C’EST LA MÊME CHOSE

TORCH: North Africa and the Allied Path to Victory, by Vincent P. O’Hara. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2015. 384 pages. $49.95.

In the literary mountain of scholarship, better understanding of the difficulties research, and writing devoted to World faced by both the French defenders and War II, the story of Operation TORCH, the Allied invaders and the political the Allied landings in North Africa in currents that swirled about the operation November of 1942, is presented often as from the very beginning—and with something of an overture to the massive an appreciation for how the results amphibious symphonies that followed. could have been very different. Accounts may include some discussion As O’Hara points out, 1942 was a of Eisenhower’s growing facility for parlous time for the Allies. Axis strategic leadership, the byzantine nature armies were cutting deep into the of and Free French politics, and , and fear that it would the gradual emergence of Charles de drop out of the war was palpable. U.S. Gaulle as the leader of Free . The leaders, particularly George Marshall, landings themselves all too often have eschewed what might be considered been presented as hinting of a Kabuki military sideshows and argued for a production, if not of opéra bouffe, with rapid buildup of force in Great Britain, a few desultory shots fired to assuage followed by a cross-channel invasion Gallic honor, followed by capitulation. at the earliest opportunity. The British, Then, it seems, the real war begins, led by Churchill and scarred by their moving down dusty roads to Kasserine, experience in World War I, preferred the initial blooding of the U.S. Army, less direct approaches, avoiding the U.S.- the rise of Patton and Bradley, and the favored direct attack until victory was inexorable sweep of operations to , assured. TORCH represented a victory the Italian mainland, and eventually the for British planners and a setback for beaches and hedgerows of . Marshall. This is among the better- Vincent O’Hara has done much to known elements of the North African correct this impression and to give campaign, and O’Hara does it justice TORCH the attention it deserves. without dwelling overlong on the topic. Readers will come away with a much

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In contrast, French politics usually ill equipped and often outnumbered, are, for the most part, underexamined, French forces, including colonial auxil- and O’Hara provides a valuable iaries and units of the Foreign Legion, understanding of French actors and fought well. While some French units motives. His examination of Marshal offered no resistance, they did so in obe- BOOK REVIEWS Pétain’s efforts to end the German dience to orders from their command- occupation and restore France to ers. O’Hara details the action on each something approaching its former status of the five invasion beaches in detail. is both convincing and useful. So too The naval battle of was, as is O’Hara’s meticulous description of O’Hara describes it, “the largest surface, PLUS ÇA CHANGE, PLUS C’EST LA MÊME CHOSE French forces, plans, and readiness in air, and subsurface naval action fought North Africa on the eve of invasion. in the Atlantic Ocean during World War TORCH: North Africa and the Allied Path to Victory, by Vincent P. O’Hara. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute O’Hara’s discussion of invasion II.” The battle, which lasted six hours, Press, 2015. 384 pages. $49.95. planning and preparation and the featured naval gunfire duels between movement to the various landing USS Massachusetts and the disabled beaches is excellent. Although dwarfed French Jean Bart. French by later invasions, TORCH required shore batteries engaged U.S. warships a major effort at a time when Allied and French combatants shelled Allied amphibious resources were extremely landing craft en route to the invasion limited. Scheduling convoys, arranging beaches. French officers handled their for carrier-based air support, and ships with courage and daring, and they coping with potentially lethal surf came close to engaging the Allied troop conditions all foreshadowed difficulties transports. Maps are provided, greatly that would have to be overcome in later aiding the reader’s understanding of amphibious operations. The plan was how the battle was conducted. There audacious. Allied forces were to carry was also a naval engagement off , out five simultaneous and geographi- and Italian and German aircraft and cally separated landings on the Atlantic conducted significant and Mediterranean shores of North antishipping actions as the campaign Africa, then race to Tunis to trap wore on. O’Hara illustrates that, far German forces in Africa and deny those from being an Allied walkover, the forces additional support from . possibility of TORCH resulting in a Accomplishing this would bring the disaster at sea was much more likely Mediterranean under much greater Al- than is normally acknowledged.

lied control, and the Axis might have to A greater appreciation of TORCH by take some off the Soviet Union students of amphibious warfare is war- to deal with the new threat to the south. ranted. Many of the problems associated As O’Hara makes clear, French with projecting power from the sea were resistance, while affected by conflict- identified during this campaign. The ing orders on whether to take Allied role of beachmasters, the timing and troops under fire, was not a token coordination of shore bombardment, effort, although the loss of only 1,700 and the logistical difficulties associ- Allied wounded and killed may have ated with landing supplies on an open contributed to this impression. Although beach in high surf all were factors. At

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times the lessons learned were small, None of these results, according to such as the discovery that landing net O’Hara, inflicted real loss on and rungs spaced too far apart posed a Germany. However, in the opportunity significant danger to debarking troops. to identify and resolve amphibious

Some elements of the TORCH landings challenges and as a beginning to the touch on current questions. For example, development of a truly combined although the Saint-Nazaire and Dieppe strategic command, TORCH was of raids had demonstrated previously the value. If, as O’Hara claims, TORCH also inherent difficulty in conducting an ensured that France would not become amphibious assault on built-up areas, a true ally of Germany, the strategic TORCH would feature several efforts benefit may have been significant. along these lines. The most dramatic of TORCH sheds some welcome light on these was an attempt to land U.S. troops a campaign that too often is passed from HMS Walney and HMS Hartland over. Scholars and lay readers alike will (the former U.S. Coast Guard cutters find the book useful. While O’Hara Sebago and Pontchartrain, respectively) has performed yeoman service in directly onto the moles of Oran Harbor. providing this detailed account of the Both vessels quickly were identified as amphibious portion of the campaign, hostile and ran an intense gauntlet of perhaps his greatest contribution French fire until sunk. In contrast, an is to restore the reputation of naval attempt was made to sail USS , a forces that, far from offering token vintage carrying seventy-five resistance, fought with courage and specially trained assault troops, six miles tenacity, often against superior odds. up Port Lyautey’s Wadi Sebou waterway RICHARD J. NORTON to carry out an attack on a critically im- portant all-weather airfield. The effort, despite experiencing significant delays, succeeded. In an ever-urbanizing world, the viability of direct amphibious as- How the War Was Won: Air-Sea Power and Al- saults may be open to debate once again. lied Victory in World War II, by Phillips Payson O’Hara rightfully points out that TORCH, O’Brien. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge Univ. in the main, failed to deliver hoped-for Press, 2015. 640 pages. $35. results. It would take five months to This book provides a detailed reexami- achieve victory in North Africa, not the nation of the main contributory factors three weeks anticipated. The operation leading to Allied victory in World War did nothing to ease the plight of the II. In many ways the book’s argument Soviet Union and the Mediterranean is not so much new as it is a revision remained contested waters. The African of the revisionists. During the Cold campaign drew men, matériel, and War the narrative was largely that the shipping away from efforts to support Western Allies had triumphed over a direct invasion of Europe. TORCH Germany and Japan with some help resulted in the total occupation of from the Soviet Union. That narrative France by Germany and the intentional was challenged at the time, and with scuttling of the French fleet at . more success after the end of the Cold

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