Battle of Port Lyautey

Background

The Battle of Port Lyautey began on November 8, 1942 for the city of Port Lyautey, (today known as Kenitra)French Morocco.

Objectives

The attack was a part of the objectives of the Western task force as part of Operation TORCH [Mittleman, Joseph. (1948). "Eight Stars to Victory", F.J. Heer Printing Company] , a large allied landing to seize control of North Africa from German control. Within the task force, sub task force GOALPOST was tasked with the objective of securing Port Lyautey. There were three objectives to the attack:
#Capture the beach village of Mehdiya
#Capture the fortress which secured the river mouth
#Secure the airfield

Command structure

The operation was under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the western task force was under the command of General George S. Patton. Sub task force GOALPOST was under the command of General Lucian Truscott [*Howe, George. (1957). "Mediterranean Theater of Operations", US Government Printing Office] .

Prelude

Battle

The battle consisted of an amphibious landing by the 60th Infantry Regiment, and associated 9th Infantry Division units. They started making their landing on the night of November 8, 1942, and three days later, on November 11, 1942 the battle came to a close.

Starting on the morning of November 8, 1942, units of the 60th Infantry Regiment, a part of Sub Task Force GOALPOST, began disembarking troops and supplies from their ships just off the Moroccan shore [*Eisenhower, John S.D. (1982). "Allies", Da Capo Press] . The first wave of landing boats began circling and grouping together in preparation for the coming invasion. Unfortunately, in the confusion of disembarkation, the first wave was delayed as they looked for guidance to the shoreline; hence the second wave pressed into the shore as planned, on time. As the second wave began their attack, the first wave started in toward their objectives. Confusion was prevalent in the landing operation. Once the first wave made it to shore, the French defenders began resisting with small arms fire as well as cannon fire from a fortress overlooking the area [Jones, V (1972). "Operation Torch Anglo-American Invasion of North Africa", Ballantine] . For all of the first day, the 60th Regiment achieved their first objective of securing the beach, but had not secured their other objectives.

The night of the 8th was stormy, men were trying to rest anywhere, and many scurried through the blackness to find their units [*Mittleman, Joseph. (1948). "Eight Stars to Victory", F.J. Heer Printing Company.] . On the second day, furthur attacks began against the Kasbah fortress [*Mittleman, Joseph. (1948). "Eight Stars to Victory", F.J. Heer Printing Company.] . The ground around the fortress was taken and secured, but the fort itself was still successfully defending itself. At the end of the day, a number of attacks were repulsed by the French defenders, the American attackers had not met with success. Finally, on the third day, November 10, 1942, the fortress was overrun and captured, leading to the final success of capturing the local airfield [*Mittleman, Joseph. (1948). "Eight Stars to Victory", F.J. Heer Printing Company.] . These victories led to a truce being established on November 11, 1942 [*Mittleman, Joseph. (1948). "Eight Stars to Victory", F.J. Heer Printing Company.] .

Aftermath

Notes

References

*Eisenhower, John S.D. (1982). "Allies", Da Capo Press.
*Howe, George. (1957). "Mediterranean Theater of Operations", US Government Printing Office.
*Jones, V (1972). "Operation Torch Anglo-American Invasion of North Africa", Ballantine.
*Mittleman, Joseph. (1948). "Eight Stars to Victory", F.J. Heer Printing Company.

ee Also

* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenitra Port Lyautey, Morocco (Kenitra)]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Torch Operation TORCH]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_African_Campaign_timeline North Africa Campaign]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenhower General Eisenhower]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patton General Patton]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucian_Truscott General Truscott]

External Links

* [http://www.60thinfantry.com 60th Infantry Regiment]
* [http://www.wwiireels.com WWII News Reels]
* [http://www.cradleofinvasion.calvertmarinemuseum.com/ Cradle of Invasion]
* [http://www.oldreliable.org/ Old Reliables]
* [http://www.interesting.com/directory/WorldWarII/WebSites/ Website Links]
* [http://www.patricksphotos.com/rito/rito-letters.htm Letters from a 60th Regiment Soldier]
* [http://www.malevergne.free.fr/?p=Press Rene Malvergne]
* [http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/storyofagodevil.aspx Military History Veteran Story]
* [http://www.octofoil.org/ Octofoil Association]