Western Task Force - Safi

After studying maps and intelligence reports, General Patton and TORCH planners formulated a concept of operations for Western Task Force. Rather than assaulting Casablanca directly, where an estimated fifty thousand French troops might resist, Patton decided to come ashore at three detached sites. Preceded by several battalion landing teams (BLTs, task-organized mixtures of infantry and armor), Patton’s armored force would land at Safi, 140 miles south of the city and the best port for tank-bearing boats. Other landing teams would come ashore at Mehdia, 80 miles north of Casablanca, their principal mission the capture of two airfields in the area. Most of Patton’s infantry would land at Fedala, 12 miles north of Casablanca. Moving inland, the troops would swing around to the east side of Casablanca and, in conjunction with the armored force from the south, air support from the north, and naval gunfire offshore, advance westward on the city.

To accomplish its mission, Western Task Force would have 2 infantry divisions, 1 armored division, 2 separate tank battalions, and sufficient support units to maintain the total force of 34,871 officers and enlisted men. Naval support would come from an American task force of 1 aircraft carrier, 4 escort carriers, 3 battleships, 7 cruisers, and 38 destroyers, in addition to troop and cargo transports and auxiliaries, under Rear Adm. H. Kent Hewitt. The Navy would also provide air support during the landing phase until fields ashore could be secured for Twelfth Air Force squadrons.

To take Safi, Patton selected Maj. Gen. Ernest N. Harmon, commanding general of 2d Armored Division. Harmon’s Sub-Task Force BLACKSTONE consisted of the 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division; two reinforced battalions of the 67th Armored Regiment, 2d Armored Division; elements of the 70th Tank Battalion (Separate); and several artillery batteries. With support units, BLACKSTONE totaled 6,428 officers and men.

The naval convoy bringing BLACKSTONE to Safi halted eight miles offshore half an hour before midnight on 7 November 1942. Debarkation of troops and equipment continued in silence, for the landing was not preceded by a softening-up bombardment. General Eisenhower had decided that if French forces were going to oppose TORCH they would have to fire the first shot. As the boats turned toward shore, the French made known their intentions by firing on the transports. U.S. Navy ships immediately returned fire.

The first waves of landing craft plowed through dark swells toward beaches code-named from north to south RED, BLUE, GREEN, and YELLOW. As naval gunfire pounded French batteries, the first American troops to land in French Morocco—Company K, 47th Infantry—came ashore at 0445 at GREEN Beach. Forty-five minutes later over 600 men from all beaches returned sniper and machinegun fire and began capturing French and Moroccan troops and key points. By daylight, American troops controlled all port facilities, the post office, telecommunications station, petroleum storage tanks, all roads leading into town, and the civil police force. Reinforced by continuing waves of landing craft, American troops extended their beachhead inland against little more than sniper fire. Sunrise made possible more accurate naval gunfire, and by 1045 all French batteries were out of action. Most resistance to BLACKSTONE infantry advancing through town came from a walled barracks, headquarters to the garrison of fewer than 1,000 men. American troops surrounded and isolated the barracks, then moved on to clear the rest of the town. As artillery was off-loaded, it too was trained on the barracks. But because Eisenhower and Patton hoped to gain without a costly battle the surrender of troops who could later fight Axis armies, they issued no attack order.

Offshore, debarkation of heavy equipment and tanks fell behind schedule. Darkness and heavy seas caused accidents and delays. In the worst incident, a gasoline fire broke out in a lighter while a truck was being lowered into it, forcing sailors and soldiers to turn to fire fighting and illuminating the transport and nearby ships for hostile gunners ashore. Many vehicles reaching the beach had drowned engines and faulty batteries. Not until the town was secured could a deep-draft vehicle transport, called a seatrain, tie up at the dock and off-load tanks faster and in start-up condition.

The landing of troops did not go much better. Although all battalion landing teams were to be ashore before sunrise, only about half the troops met that schedule, and the last off the transports did not hit the beach until noon. Despite the problems experienced by the Americans, the French garrison commander understood clearly that he was outnumbered and outgunned. At 1530 he surrendered. Eleven hours after stepping onto French Morocco, the Americans controlled Safi.

The next morning French leaders made clear that the surrender at Safi did not apply to other areas. At dawn several French planes flew through a thick fog over the town and landing area. However, only one managed to drop a bomb which landed unintentionally on an ammunition storage building. That afternoon U.S. Navy planes raided the airfield at Marrakech, destroying on the ground over forty planes and strafing two convoys of French troops bound for Safi. Moving east of town, American tanks and artillery overran a machine-gun position and took a bridge while losing one tank to mines. On the morning of 10 November, after an artillery duel, Harmon decided the French could be held in position by a small force. He formed most of his tanks and artillery on the road, and at 0900 the armored column raced north to join the ring closing around Casablanca.