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Today is the 70th anniverssary of the assault landings in Morocco and Algeria by British and US Forces.

It is frequently overlooked but was the first D-Day in the West.

The British 1st Army under General Anderson made a gallant attempt to reach Tunis across the Atlas mountains with poor rail and road links against determined Italian and German resistance, it was brought to a halt just 15 miles short of it's objective, having advanced well over 200 miles from the initial landing grounds in less than a month.

They then fought a long, bitter winter campaign against the Axis before their final defeat in May 1943.

I have been priviledged enough to have met and interviewed at least 10 1st Army veterans, their stories are fascinating and humbling.

On Sunday please spare a thought for the 1st Army veterans and look out for them on the Remembrance Parade.

Thank you

_________________
It's as simple as ABC:

Assume nothing!
Believe no one!
Check everything!

Private "Duce"
"C" Company
4th Dorsets
130 Infantry Brigade
43rd Wessex Wyvern Division

Nice one garibaldino.

Operation Torch was indeed the first of several 'D-Days' in the Mediterranean often overlooked by 'historians.'

One of the best public records of this campaign is the 'Tunisian Victory' film available from the Imperial War Museum on DVD.
All original film coverage shot at the time by British, Commonwealth & American film crews.
A compelling documentary.

Would be good to see more re-enactors depicting the North African & Italian campaigns.

Cheers,
Chris.

_________________
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
Sir Winston Churchill
"A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril."
Also Sir Winston Churchill

I thought Torch was second D-Day in the West.
operation ironclad?
madagascar?

or doesn't it count if you are attacking the Vichys? Wikipedia left it off of their list of Amphibious Landings so it obviously doesn't count. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibious ... rld_War_II

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Like a tree in a deserted forest.


If you have the last word and no one heard it - Did it happen? https://youtu.be/mQZmCJUSC6g


(No)

Andrew mate, Madagascar is in the Indian Ocean not the Mediterranean, which is what I was talking about.
Read my post!

Buy you an atlas for Christmas?

Chris.

_________________
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
Sir Winston Churchill
"A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril."
Also Sir Winston Churchill

Dear Lordduvet,

This link should help reset your geographical compass.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar

Enjoy!!

_________________
It's as simple as ABC:

Assume nothing!
Believe no one!
Check everything!

Private "Duce"
"C" Company
4th Dorsets
130 Infantry Brigade
43rd Wessex Wyvern Division

Nice to see the MTO getting some notice!! the 509th how spear heading the Op boarded planes in Cornwall for Africa, trained in Alborne long before the 101st were there.

Wasn't that Gallipoli?

_________________
''Keep your eyes wide open. Tune yourself to the top most pitch. Be nimble as a greyhound, as tough as leather, as hard as Krupp steel and so you shall be the German warrior incarnate.'' - Fallschirmjäger Commandments No.10.

marathon
persians in 490BC trumps that

as far as i'm concerned landings by mainly African units to liberate madagascar from the German client Vichy French was part of the war against Hitler and in the West. EVen if it is located in the Indian Ocean. German raiders went into the Indian Ocean long before Japan joined the war.

and if you want to just go on "its in the eastern hemisphere" then italy is in the east too not to mention everything in franch east of Le Havre.... lol

_________________
Like a tree in a deserted forest.


If you have the last word and no one heard it - Did it happen? https://youtu.be/mQZmCJUSC6g


(No)

Bringing this back to WWII, the question is, 'What do we define as a D-Day?'

Is this any seaborne landing, or is it only one where the attacking force stays on shore & occupies the objective leading to eventual military success?

If a 'D-Day' means permanent (for the war) occupation, then only landings such as Torch (North Africa) Husky (Sicily) Shingle (Anzio) & Overlord (Normandy) would count.

If a 'D-Day' means any seaborne landing whether permanent/successful or not, then we could also include operations such as Dieppe, Vaagso, St Nazaire etc.

So ........ 'What is a D-Day?'

Cheers,
Chris.

_________________
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
Sir Winston Churchill
"A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril."
Also Sir Winston Churchill

To elaborate on my earlier post, I can confirm that Lordduvet (Andrew) does in fact know exactly where Madagascar is but I just couldn't resist 'poking a bit of fun' over what could have been mistaken as his confusion over East & West.

Andrew is a much 'smarter cookie' than me which makes any opportunity to have a laugh at his expense irresistible.

I'm almost certainly going to suffer for this by his responses to my future posts.

Best wishes Andrew.

Chris.

_________________
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
Sir Winston Churchill
"A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril."
Also Sir Winston Churchill

An aide Memoire To 'Operation Torch'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Torch