Operation Brushwood
NASA aerial view of Fedala
| date | November 8 to November 9, 1942 |
|---|---|
| place | Fedala , Morocco |
| output | American victory |
| consequences | American conquest of Fedala and the possibility of a rapid Allied advance against Casablanca |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Army Forces: |
|
| Troop strength | |
| 19,364 soldiers 80 tanks 2 aircraft carriers 2 cruisers 2 miners 18 destroyers 418 transporters and landing craft ~ 110 planes |
2,500 soldiers 3 tanks 10 coastal guns ~ 80 aircraft |
| losses | |
|
~ 30 dead and missing |
~ 120 dead and missing |
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French Morocco: Operation Blackstone - Operation Brushwood - Operation Goalpost
Algeria: Operation Reservist - Operation Terminal
The operation brushwood was an exclusively American troops and naval forces in Morocco carried out partial operation of the company's Torch , the invasion of the Western Allies in French North Africa during the Second World War. The aim of the operation was the capture of the port of Fedala , about 25 kilometers northeast of Casablanca and defended by Vichy-French troops , from which the decisive advance against Casablanca should then be carried out.
In addition, landings at Safi ( Operation Blackstone ) and Mehedia - Port Lyautey ( Operation Goalpost ) took place almost simultaneously . The bulk of the so-called Western Task Force , consisting only of American units, was deployed at Fedala because of the concentration of forces against Casablanca. The port was chosen as one of the main destinations mainly because of its convenient landing opportunities.
The American armed forces
The landing forces deployed at Fedala numbered a total of 19,364 soldiers, including three regiments from the 3rd US Infantry Division , two battalions and one regiment from the 2nd US Armored Division , three battalions of tank destroyers , the independently operating 756th US Tank Battalion and parts the 36th US pioneer -Regiments. In total, the invasion force had around 80 tanks, most of them lighter M3 Stuart vehicles, and around 1,630 other vehicles, with around 1,300 vehicles alone assigned to the three regiments of the 3rd US Infantry Division. The tank destroyer units were largely equipped with M3 half -tracks with makeshift mounted 75 mm field guns M1897A5 and with Dodge M6 GMC with also makeshift mounted 37 mm anti-tank guns of the type M3. The army units were under the command of Major General George S. Patton
The naval forces of Task Group (TG) 34.9 (Center Attack Group) deployed at Fedala consisted of the heavy cruiser USS Augusta , the light cruiser USS Brooklyn , 10 destroyers , three converted minesweeper destroyers (DMS) and two mine layers. There were also 14 large troop transport ships, 57 medium-sized and small transporters and 347 landing craft (on board the ships). Air security was provided by the aircraft carrier USS Ranger and the escort aircraft carrier USS Suwannee (which were secured by another five destroyers and accompanied by two submarines and a tanker). The Center Attack Group in command of the landing fleet off Fedala was Captain Robert RM Emmet aboard the large transporter USS Leonard Wood , reporting to the Commander in Chief of the Western Naval Task Force (Task Force 34), Rear Adm . H. Kent Hewitt .
On board the two aircraft carriers were a total of about 110 aircraft, including 45 Grumman F4F fighters and 35 torpedo bombers and light bombers TBF Avenger .
The Vichy French Armed Forces
The French defensive positions around and in Fedala consisted of three coastal batteries , including the Battery de Pont Blondin , which was positioned about five kilometers northeast of the port and had four 13.86 cm guns (the maximum range of these guns was around 17 kilometers), as well as the Battery de Fedala (consisting of four 10 cm guns ) which directly protected the harbor and which was therefore also known as the Batterie du Port. There was also a lighter battery with two 7.5 cm cannons on the headland of the Cap de Fedala (also called the battery of the pass) in front of the port. The battery positions were surrounded by numerous smaller bunkers and open command posts, some of which were equipped with light machine guns, some with a few heavy 13.2 mm Hotchkiss anti- aircraft machine guns and headlights. Overall, the French troops in Fedala amounted to about 2,500 men.
The troops in Fedala themselves also had three completely outdated Renault FT tanks. In Casablanca, about 25 kilometers away, the 1st Régiment de Chasseurs d'Afrique (1st RMCA) was one of the few more powerful troop units (which had around 40 tanks of the Hotchkiss H-39 and Renault R-35 models, which were also outdated ) as well as around 4,400 other French soldiers.
In addition, around 80 aircraft (including 37 medium-sized bombers of the Lioré & Olivier LeO 45 1 type and around 40 Dewoitine D.520 fighters ) were operational on nearby airfields in the surrounding area, which were able to reach the combat area within a few minutes. In Casablanca itself, a bomber squadron with eleven twin-engine Douglas DB-7s was stationed. Another squadron of French naval aviators with nine Glenn-Martin 167F also operated from Port-Lyautey .
The landing
In order to ensure a surprise effect and also because it was assumed on the Allied side that the French might not be able to offer any resistance, the Americans decided not to fire at the bank fortifications. In complete darkness and with a gusty wind, the first landing craft approached the coast from 4 a.m. Three Regimental Landing Groups (RLG) were supposed to land along the approximately five-kilometer stretch of sand between the port of Fedala and Pont Blondin, which was divided into four invasion sections (RED 2, RED 3, BLUE 1 and BLUE 2) . However, the gusty wind, light rain and the darkness made it very difficult to disembark from the transporters to the landing craft, causing the schedule to fall behind. In addition, the forward destroyer USS Wilkes , which should serve as a landmark for the landing craft, had drifted too far to the southwest due to the wind. This meant that numerous landing vehicles also dodged south and ran aground there on shoals. As a result, the first wave, consisting of 116 landing craft, lost 62 of their craft on shallows and reefs. Of the initially 25 LCVPs of the USS Charles Carroll , only seven were still operational after the first trip to the beach.
The first US soldiers , part of the 1st Battalion of the 7th Regiment of the 3rd US Infantry Division, reached the bank about two kilometers northeast of Fedala at 5:00 a.m. Many soldiers had to swim the last few meters to the beach because many of the landing craft had run aground and reached the shore completely soaked and sometimes without equipment. The French coastal batteries were initially silent about the unsecured situation, but searchlights began to illuminate the shore from around 5.20 a.m. Immediately afterwards, there was the first exchange of fire between US soldiers and Senegalese patrols on the beach.
A platoon of the 1st Battalion penetrated Fedala around 6:00 a.m. and reached the Hotel Miramar, in which the branch of the German Armistice Commission responsible for the Vichy troops in Morocco was also sitting. The ten German soldiers and officers present there had fled at the first exchange of fire on the beach, but at 6:17 a.m. their convoy drove into the hands of another US platoon on a road leading out of town and was forced to stop at gunpoint. All ten members of the Wehrmacht were captured by the Americans. By around 6 a.m., almost 3,500 US soldiers had reached the bank.
The battles for the coastal batteries
After the first firefights near the beach, both the batteries at Fedala and the battery de Pont Blondin opened fire at 6:04 a.m. The light cruiser Brooklyn and three destroyers responded to the bombardment from 6:20 a.m., but could not switch off the batteries at first because the ships often change course and fog themselves up due to the precise fire of the coastal guns, which jacked up the light cruiser after only five minutes had to. At 6:45 a.m. the destroyer USS Murphy was hit by a 13.86 cm shell, which exploded in the starboard engine room, killing three men. Another 25 crew members suffered injuries. The destroyer then put a curtain of smoke, withdrew from the battlefield and was replaced by the destroyer USS Ludlow . Since advance groups were already operating in the city, the bombardment ships had to interrupt their fire again and again, as grenades also fell on already controlled areas. As a result, the artillery duel with the batteries dragged on considerably.
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At around 9 a.m., a 6-inch Brooklyn shell hit the command post of the Pont Blondin Battery Fire Control. In addition, a direct hit destroyed one of the 13.86 cm guns, threw it from the mount and detonated an adjacent stack of cartridges . These were the only two direct impact hits that were achieved on the battery site. Around 20 French soldiers were killed or wounded by the hits and subsequent explosions. Taking advantage of the resulting chaos, the Americans stormed the hill and, after a brief firefight, captured the battery area at around 9:30 a.m. 72 French soldiers were captured.
Meanwhile, the heavy cruiser Augusta had fired at the Batterie du Port several times with its heavy 20.3 cm guns, which is why the battery initially stopped firing at around 7.25 a.m. one of the 10 cm cannons was also destroyed by a direct hit at 7:10 a.m. However, from around 8:30 a.m., the battery reopened fire on the landing beaches, albeit only irregularly. However, some of the cruiser's shells had also hit an oil tank in the port area, which is why dense smoke from the fires there made aiming difficult. As a result, it was not possible to fight the battery down. The sporadic bombardment did not end until around 11 a.m. after the battery crew capitulated to approaching US soldiers, with 22 more French soldiers being captured.
The last two French guns still firing, the two 7.5 cm cannons of the Battery de Passes, were attacked head-on at 11.30 a.m. by four M3 Stuart tanks of the 756th US Tank Battalion and a company of infantry, and within a few minutes Forced to give up. At 11.40 a.m. all the French batteries were silent. The French resistance on the Cap de Fedala was finally extinguished around 2 p.m. when the Americans shot at the last bunkers from the land side with landed mortars and 75 mm pack howitzers .
Dogfights
At dawn, around 6.15 a.m., 24 F4F Wildcat fighters took off from the deck of the rangers . The carrier was at this time about 45 kilometers west-northwest of Fedala. Almost simultaneously, French Dewoitine D.520 appeared over the landing beaches and shot at the landing craft at low altitude. The losses as a result were very small. In the ensuing aerial battles, which lasted until 7:00 a.m., 7 French and 5 American aircraft were lost. In addition, two SBD Dauntless dive bombers and two Grumman TBFs were lost during air raids on nearby French airfields due to anti-fighter defense and fire from the ground. In return, however, numerous French aircraft were destroyed at the airfields, for example the Aéronavale squadron stationed near Port-Lyautey lost seven of nine operational Glenn-Martin bombers in a US attack.
After the initial attacks, the activities of the Vichy-French Air Force quickly weakened. Only around 11.00 a.m. was there a final air attack by several LeO-451 bombers flying in individually on the landing heads, but again only minor losses and damage occurred.
A total of at least 9 ranger aircraft and around 30 French aircraft were lost in aerial battles and attacks on ground targets in the Fedala area on November 8 (the loss figures on the French side are not exactly certain). At least three US crews are missing and one more has been pronounced dead. Overall, the losses in flight personnel among the Americans are likely to amount to 4 to 6 pilots, gunners and navigators. The pilots of three of the five Wildcat fighters shot down were able to save themselves by parachute. Nothing more is known about the personnel losses on the French side, they should be at least 30 men (although it can be assumed that the crews of the machines that were set on fire on the ground were able to save themselves for the most part).
The conquest of the city
The French troops in Fedala offered very little resistance after the coastal artillery had been switched off and withdrew as far as possible to Casablanca. The last firefights, which were fought by a motorized unit on the trigger, ended in the outskirts by around 3 p.m. The three old Renault FT tanks in the city were found abandoned and demolished by US soldiers. About 1:20 p.m. Major General Patton disembarked at Fedala and began an inspection of the port and town. In addition, the first US tanks were unloaded directly in the port from 2.30 p.m. By the evening of November 8, around 17,000 American soldiers had been landed and the urban area was completely in US hands, but the tracking of supplies and vehicles was delayed due to the loss of landing craft, so that by evening only about a third of all Vehicles and only 2% of the required supplies were landed.
The Americans had already started to secure their position by noon. The mine-layer USS Miantonomah put a defensive mine barrier northeast of Fedala at 1 p.m. This mine barrier was very likely on the night of 8/9. November the Vichy-French submarine La Sibylle , which had previously left Casablanca, was lost. In the course of the afternoon and into the night, the first units of the 3rd US Infantry Division began to advance towards Casablanca, so that by the morning of November 9th the advance detachments had already come within about 15 kilometers of the city.
losses
Overall, the Americans suffered very little casualties when they captured Fedala on November 8th. 23 soldiers and seamen as well as 4 to 6 members of the flight crew were killed and around 135 men were wounded in all branches of service (summarized). On the other hand, the material losses were more sensitive, especially among the landing craft. 185 landing craft, including 16 armored landing craft , were lost, almost all of them stranded. The 3rd US Infantry Division alone lost around two thirds of all their Higgins boats and their equipment. These losses impaired the landing of further troops and the supply traffic between the bank and the ships in the following days. In addition, at least 9 US planes were shot down in the fighting over and around Fedala that day. The destroyer Murphy was also damaged by a shell hit.
On the French side there were about 50 dead and 130 wounded on the side of the land forces. In addition, an estimated 30 deaths among the flying personnel and the entire crew of the La Sibylle submarine (39 men). In addition, around 150 soldiers were captured. In total, only about 400 to 500 French soldiers (out of 2,500) had been directly involved in combat with American units. The material losses included ten coastal guns, at least three tanks, a submarine and around 30 aircraft. In addition, ten Germans, the members of the armistice commission in the Miramar Hotel, were taken prisoner.
Effects
The quick conquest of Fedala within less than twelve hours was the city and the port as well as the adjacent areas in American hands, made possible in the two following days the equally quick encirclement and the conquest of Casablanca, which was decisive for the Allied campaign in Morocco, with only relatively few own Losses.
literature
- George F. Howe: North West Africa: Seizing the initiative in the West . Center of Military History, US Army, Library of Congress, 1991.
- Philip A. St. John: History of the Third Infantery Division. Rock of the Marne . 75th Anniversary Edition. Turner Publishing Company, Nashville 1994.
- Theodor Roscoe: United States destroyer operations in World War II . US Naval Institute. Annapolis 1953.
Web links
- Overview of the French armed forces (English)
- Expiry of landings in Morocco (English)
- General description of the events in Algeria and French Morocco (English)
- Entry about the invasion forces in the Chronicle of the Naval War 1939-1945 in the Library for Contemporary History of the Württemberg State Library
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/42-10.htm
- ↑ http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/42-10.htm
- ↑ http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-MTO-NWA/USA-MTO-NWA-7.html
- ↑ http://france1940.free.fr/vichy/ob_maroc.html
- ^ Theodor Roscoe: United States destroyer operations in World War II . US Naval Institute, Annapolis 1953, pp. 145 f.
- ↑ http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-MTO-NWA/USA-MTO-NWA-7.html
- ↑ http://france1940.free.fr/vichy/ob_maroc.html
- ↑ http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-MTO-NWA/USA-MTO-NWA-7.html
- ^ Philip A. St. John: History of the Third Infantery Division. Rock of the Marne . 75th Anniversary Edition. Turner Publishing Company, Nashville 1994, p. 12.
- ↑ St. John: Third Infantery Division , p. 12 f.
- ↑ Roscoe: Destroyer operations , pp. 145 f.
- ↑ http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-MTO-NWA/USA-MTO-NWA-7.html
- ↑ Roscoe: Destroyer operations , pp. 145 f.
- ↑ http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-MTO-NWA/USA-MTO-NWA-7.html
- ↑ http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=100
- ↑ http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/6127.html
- ^ St. John: Third Infantery Division , p. 13.
- ↑ http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-MTO-NWA/USA-MTO-NWA-7.html
- ^ St. John: Third Infantery Division, p. 13.