Operation Torch: The Invasion of North Africa
In November 1942, Allied forces landed across French North Africa America's first major ground offensive of the European war.
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The first major Anglo-American amphibious operation landed in French Morocco and Algeria. The goal was to seize the North African coast and trap Axis forces in Tunisia between east and west.
Vichy French forces initially resisted but largely ceased fighting, allowing the Allies to push east toward Rommel's army retreating from El Alamein.
The campaign ended with the complete defeat of Axis forces in North Africa in May 1943, opening the Mediterranean to Allied invasion of southern Europe.
"Thousands of ships crossed the Atlantic to open a second front in the south. The road to Italy began on the beaches of Africa."
Torch secured the southern flank of the Allies, led to the ejection of Axis forces from North Africa, and set the stage for the invasions of Sicily and Italy. It also marked the United States' full entry into the ground war against Germany.
The Full Story
A Difficult Birth
Torch was a logistic marvel and a diplomatic tightrope: landing in territories of a nominally hostile France without provoking prolonged conflict.
The Pincer
With Montgomery advancing from Egypt and Eisenhower's forces moving east, the Axis were squeezed into Tunisia and destroyed.
The Step to Italy
North Africa became the staging ground for Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, drawing Germany into a southern front it could ill afford.