The French were former members of the Allies and the American troops were instructed not to fire unless they were fired upon. The Allies believed that the Vichy French Armistice Army would not fight, partly because of information supplied by the American Consul Robert Daniel Murphy in Algiers. In addition, there were 10 or so warships and 11 submarines at Casablanca. These forces included 60,000 troops in Morocco, 15,000 in Tunisia, and 50,000 in Algeria, with coastal artillery, and a small number of tanks and aircraft. The Vichy French had around 125,000 soldiers in the territories as well as coastal artillery, 210 operational but out-of-date tanks and about 500 aircraft, half of which were Dewoitine D.520 fighters-equal to many British and U.S. With British forces advancing from Egypt, this would eventually allow the Allies to carry out a pincer operation against Axis forces in North Africa. The Allies planned an Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa/ Maghreb- Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, territory nominally in the hands of the Vichy French government. Darlan was assassinated soon afterwards, and the Free French gradually came to dominate the government. The success of Torch caused Admiral François Darlan, commander of the Vichy French forces, who was in Algiers, to order co-operation with the Allies, in return for being installed as High Commissioner, with many other Vichy officials keeping their jobs. The French Resistance had successfully attempted a coup in Algiers and, even through the late alert raised in the Vichy forces, the Eastern Task Force met less opposition and were able to push inland and compel surrender on the first day. The Center Task Force suffered some damage to its ships when trying to land in shallow water but the French ships were sunk or driven off Oran surrendered after bombardment by British battleships. Operation Torch's Western Task Force encountered unexpected resistance and bad weather, but Casablanca, the principal French Atlantic naval base, was captured after a short siege. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied forces in Mediterranean Theater of Operations, planned a three-pronged attack on Casablanca (Western), Oran (Center) and Algiers (Eastern), then a rapid move on Tunis to catch Axis forces ( Afrika Korps) in North Africa from the west in conjunction with Allied advance from Egypt. Reports indicated that they might support the Allies. While the French colonies were formally aligned with Germany via Vichy France, the loyalties of the population were mixed. It was the first mass involvement of US troops in the European–North African Theatre, and saw the first major airborne assault carried out by the United States. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while allowing American armed forces the opportunity to engage in the fight against Nazi Germany on a limited scale. Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – 16 November 1942) was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War.
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