FRANCE: As the United States staged its first amphibious invasion of WW II in Europe, the big question was would the Vichy-French garrisons open fire on landing American troops?

FRIEND OR FOE?

-----------------------------------inston Churchill needed help and he needed it now. At sea, the torpedoes of German U-boats were threatening to cut off Great Britain’s lifeline from North American. On land, Hitler’s mighty Wehrmacht had Russia on its knees and the Panzers of Rommel’s Afrika Korps almost at the gates of Egypt’s strategically vital Suez Canal. Adolf Hitler controlled most of mainland Europe and the English army in North Africa was exhausted and dispirited. Joining the chorus of Allied despair was Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s urgent request that the Allies begin a Second Front, a meaningful offensive that would take the pressure off of the Red Army at Stalingrad. Though he did not fully agree with the plan to start a Second Front in North Africa, President Roosevelt had no option but to go along with his trusted English cohort

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Winston Churchill. Ready or not, the United States Navy and Army would lead the Allies first offensive in Europe in WW II. The Naval aspects of Operation Torch became a series of engagements fought between American warships covering the invasion and Vichy French ships defending the neutrality of

France Morocco in accordance with the 1940 Compiègne peace treaty between Nazi Germany and defeated France. Allied military planners had hopefully anticipated that an all-American force assigned to seize the Atlantic port city of Casablanca might be greeted as liberators rather than invaders. But this was not to be as an invasion task force of 102 American ships carrying 35,000 American soldiers approached the Moroccan coast undetected under cover of darkness. French defenders interpreted the first sightings as a diversionary raid for a major landing in Algeria; and regarded the surrender of six Moroccan divisions to a small commando raiding force a clear cut violation of French obligations to defend Moroccan neutrality. Soon an escalating series of surprised responses in an atmosphere of mistrust and secrecy caused American hopes for French cooperation to be the loss when four US troopships and death of 462 Frenchmen aboard 24 French warships signaled French rejection of the invasion. DISTRUST AND DECEPTION At this stage of WW II, Morocco was a French colony. The French government at Vichy had surrendered to Germany after the Battle of France, signing an Armistice with Nazi Germany. The Vichy regime - which controlled Morocco - was thus officially neutral, but in practical terms the Armistice obliged Vichy to resist any attempt by France’s erstwhile allies to seize French territory or equipment for use against Germany. Having early recognized the Vichy regime as legitimate, planners for Operation Torch emphasized that only American troops be used in the initial landing forces on the basis of intelligence estimates that they would be less vigorously opposed than a landing by British soldiers. While American commanders had favored landing in Occupied Europe in 1943 (Operation Sledgehammer), the British commanders firmly believed that such a course would end in disaster for the English army was yet to fully recover from its severe material losses suffered during 1940's disastrous Dunkirk evacuation. Instead, an attack on French North Africa was proposed with the intent to clear the Axis from North Africa, improve Naval control of the Mediterranean Sea, and prepare for the ultimate invasion of Southern Europe. All too aware of

America’s dismal fortunes in the Two-Ocean war to date, President Franklin D. Roosevelt suspected the logistic needs of the African operation would rule out an invasion of Europe in 1943 but in the cause of retaining Allied unity finally agreed to support British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s decision. The North African invasion presented an awesome challenge to a US Navy just learning how to fight a two-ocean war. Still suffering from the effects of Pearl Harbor and an unprecedented wartime expansion, the Navy was tasked with supporting a massive amphibious operation it was only just beginning to acquire the ships with which to conduct its assigned mission. Foremost was the challenge of escorting nearly 70,000 fresh troops and their equipment through U-boat infested Atlantic seas. This entailed procuring not only enough of the new flatbottomed landing craft to put the troops safely ashore, but to create the Naval escorts which would protect the fleet of transports, tankers and freighters carrying the logistics. Following Pearl Harbor, the Navy was forced to make do with many older ships long held in reserve like the WW I-era flush deck destroyers Roosevelt had given to England in return for the use of British bases. Hoping to quickly expand a long neglected fleet, the Navy converted were four old 11,000-ton oilers into aircraft carriers since there was only one American carrier available in the entire European Theater of Operations (ETO) - the 14,000-ton USS Ranger (CV-4). Big gun support was equally limited with only one new battleship - USS Massachusetts (BB-59) - and a few old WW I - era battlewagons available for Torch. With the new battleship USS Alabama (BB-60) assigned to

back up the British Home Fleet, supporting Torch’s few heavyweights was a virtual armada of old cruisers and destroyers, many of which were of WW I vintage. Adding to the stress of the situation was the fact that the attack force was to be divided into three elements landing many miles apart after fighting its way across the Atlantic. The Allies’ plan was for an Anglo-American invasion of northwestern Africa - Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia; territory nominally controlled by the pro-German Vichy French

government. With much of North Africa contested by German Gen. Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps, this would allow the Allies to carry out a pincer operation against Axis forces in North Africa. The Vichy French had 125,000 soldiers in the territories as well as substantial coastal artillery, 210 operational but obsolete tanks, and about 500 aircraft, half of which were capable French Dewoitine D.520 fighters. In addition, there were twelve warship and eleven submarines based at Casablanca. The Allies believed that the Vichy French forces would not fight, partly because of information supplied by American Consul Robert Daniel Murphy in Algiers. The French were former Allies of the US and the American troops were instructed not to fire unless fired upon. However, they harbored suspicions that the Vichy French Navy would bear a grudge against the British over what the French believed to be an outrageous unnecessary surprise attack at Mers-elKebir in 1940. The British attacked their former Ally because they feared the Nazis would take over the idled French warships which left the French harboring a sense of betrayal and distrust by their once trusted Allies. As a result, an accurate assessment of the sympathies of the French forces in North Africa was essential, and plans were made to secure their cooperation, rather than resistance. Once ashore, the Allies intended to advance rapidly into Tunisia and attack the rear echelons of the Axis forces. Command of the operation was given to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower who set up his headquarters in Gibraltar. A newcomer to the Allied arena of highpowered military leaders, Eisenhower had been a lieutenant colonel at the time of Pearl Harbor. His excellent organizational skills came to the notice of Army CIC Gen. George C. Marshall who immediately selected Eisenhower over many others of higher rank. Naval Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force fell to the Royal Navy’s Adm. Sir Andrew Cunningham and his deputy was V/Adm. Sir Bertram Ramsay, RN, who helped to plan the ground effort. Luckily, the Allies had the benefit of one of WW II’s most successful intelligence organizations established in July 1941 by Mieczysaw Sowikowski as the super-secret “Agency Africa.” the information gathered by Agency Africa was used by the Allies to plan the amphibious aspects of the November 1942 Operation Torch North African landings. THE YANKS ARE COMING! Troopship convoy UGF-1 left [Right] Chesapeake Bay on 23 October 1942 and was soon joined by a covering force of battleships and cruisers sailing from Casco Bay, joined five-days later by the aircraft carriers USS Ranger and escort carriers converted from oilers USS Sangamon, Suwannee, Chenango, and Santee sailing from Bermuda. Screened by 38 American destroyers, the resulting Task Force 34 (TF-34) included 102 ships for the invasion of Morocco under the command of R/Adm. Henry Kent Hewitt, USN, aboard the flagship heavy cruiser USS Augusta. As TF 34 sailed, the British submarine Seraph landed Maj. Gen. Mark W.

Clark near Algiers to meet with pro-American French military officers stationed in Algeria. French officers shared information about defensive arrangements; but for security reasons, the Americans did not share critical details of invasion timing, strength, and distribution of forces. No information was provided to key French leaders including Armed Forces Commander in Chief Adm. Francois Darlan, North African Commander in Chief Gen. Alphonse Juin, or Moroccan Resident General Charles Noguès. WILL THE VICHY FRENCH FORCES FIGHT? In 1942, Casablanca was the principal Vichy-controlled port on the Atlantic (all of France’s Atlantic coast having been occupied by Germany since 1940) and the most important Vichy-controlled Naval base after Toulon. Although the Toulon-based battleship Jean Bart remained incomplete following its escape from the Saint-Nazaire shipyards during the German invasion of 1940, one quadruple 15-in gun turret was fully operational. French Naval gunners also manned the El Hank coastal artillery battery of four 190mm guns and four 130mm guns. One French light cruiser, two flotilla leaders, seven destroyers (two already damaged by

collision), eight sloops, eleven minesweepers, and eleven submarines were in port on the morning of 8 November. French defenders were placed on alert status when Algerian invasion convoys were detected passing through the Strait of Gibraltar. Destinations remained unknown, ant TF-34 remained undetected as, on 7 The partially completed French battleship Jean Bart had November, it split into three groups. her only working major turret knocked out by aerial Concealed by darkness, a northern bombs before it sank dockside. Adolph Hitler group (six troopships and two cargo desperately wanted to take over the idle French fleet but ships escorted by the battleship USS most of the major warships were soon scuttled at Toulon Texas, the light cruiser USS by their crews. Savannah, and six destroyers) prepared to land 9,000 troops of the 60th infantry Regiment reinforced with 65 light tanks to seize Port Lyautey airfield.

In addition, a southern group (four troopships and two cargo ships escorted by the battleship USS New York, the light cruiser USS Philadelphia and six destroyers.) Prepared to land 6,500 troops of the 47th Infantry Regiment reinforced with 90 medium and light tanks near the phosphate port of Safi to cover the southern approaches to Casablanca. Working in concert, the center group prepared to land the Casablanca occupation force of 19,500 troops of the 3rd Infantry Division reinforced with 79 light tanks near Fedala 15-mi northeast of Casablanca. Naval coastal defense batteries flanked both ends of the Fedala landing beach with four 130mm guns at Point Blondin to the east and three 100mm and two 75mm guns in Fedala on the point sheltering the western end of the beach. THE FIRST SMOKE OF BATTLE 8 NOVEMBER 1942 Center group troopships USS William P. Biddle, Leonard Wood, Joseph T. Dickman, Tasker H. Bliss, Hugh L. Scott, Joseph Hewes, Edward Rutledge, Charles Carroll, Thomas Jefferson, Ancon, Elizabeth C. Stanton, thurston, Arcturus, Procyon, and Oberon anchored 8-mi off Fedala at midnight. Loaded landing craft rendezvoused and left the line of departure at 0600 hours. However, Fedala coast defense batteries were alerted by the noise of landing craft engines and swept the beach approaches with searchlights which were quickly extinguished when the landing craft support boats opened fire with machine guns. By dawn, 3,570 American troops were ashore; but early morning mist concealed the size of the invasion force. Fedala coast defense batteries opened fire on the landing craft shortly after 0700, and minutes later Adm. Hewitt authorized four American destroyers supporting the landing craft to open fire on the French shore batteries with their 5in guns. Allied troops prepare to storm the African In a wild gunnery mêlée, French beach at Oran. The North African invasion gunners damaged the destroyers USS Ludlow marked the first European combat use of many and Murphy, and at 0725 the destroyers were newly developed landing craft like the 157-ft defended by the heavier 8- and 6-in guns of LCM, and 35-ft LCVP which, in the main, were a marked success even though more than the cruisers Augusta and Brooklyn screening the troopships. Meanwhile, in another fiery half of them were destroyed in the landings gun duel, Ludlow and Wilkes silenced the because of unmarked shoals and enemy Point Blondin battery, while Augusta silenced opposition. the Fedala battery. Nearby, Murphy, Wainwright, and other US vessels engaged two French aircraft just before 0700 on November, successfully driving them off.

The French submarines Amazone, Antiope, Meduse, Orphee, and La Sybille sortied to defensive patrol stations shortly after daybreak and at 0750, French fighters rose to intercept a force of Ranger and Suwanee TBM Avenger bombers flying their first combat missions in the ETO. The French fighters were soon engaged by F4F Wildcat fighters from Ranger in vicious dogfight that felled seven French and four American USS Ranger in “Operation Torch” with F4F Wildcats aboard planes. At 0804, American bombs started dropping on Casablanca Harbor. Catching the ships by surprise, in short order ten civilian freighters and liners were sunk, plus the French submarines Amphitrite, Oreade, and La Psyche destroyed before they could get underway from their moorings. The American covering force of the brandnew USS Massachusetts (BB59), plus veteran cruisers USS Wichita and Tuscaloosa screened by destroyers Mayrant, Wainwright, Rhind, and Jenkins appeared out of the murk off shore allowing Massachusetts’ untried 16-in guns to be added to the preUSS Massachusetts and her untried 16-in guns. landing bombardment. Observing gunfire from the covering force, the El Hank battery straddled Massachusetts with its first salvo. The operational turret aboard the incomplete battleship Jean Bart also opened fire and was quickly targeted by Massachusetts’ radar. Her fifth deadly salvo jammed the Jean Bart’s turret rotating mechanism, knocking it out of action. The covering force then focused the brunt of its massive firepower at the defiant El Hank Battery. While the covering force attempted to level the El Hank Battery west of Casablanca, seven ships of the French 2nd Light Squadron sortied from Casablanca harbor at 0900 under cover of a smoke screen to attack the American troopships anchored off Fedala to the east. The French

destroyer Malin joined with destroyers Fougueux and Boulonnais. At 0920, the French squadron was strafed by Ranger fighter planes. French gunners then sank a landing craft and scored hits on Ludlow. Damaged and afire, Milan beached after being struck by gunfire from Wilkes, Wichita, and the light cruiser Tuscaloosa. Swinging their guns to engage new targets, Massachusetts and Tuscaloosa next engaged the French destroyers Fougueux and Boulonnais. By 1042, Fougueux exploded, broke in half and sank with few survivors. Attempting to escape the carnage, the French light cruiser Primauguet upped anchor and steamed with flotilla leader destroyer Albatros and destroyers Brestois and Frondeur for safer waters. Engaged by Massachusetts, the Primauguet had been under refit and was not fully operational but nonetheless returned fire. The French flotilla was also engaged by Augusta and Brooklyn from 1100 to 1123. Badly holed, Albatros beached to avoid sinking. The remaining ships returned to Casablanca harbor where Primauguet beached and burnt out and the two damaged destroyers soon capsized. Forty-five crew members were killed aboard Primauguet, and more than 200 wounded. The French submarine Amazone missed Brooklyn with a salvo of torpedoes. La Sybille disappeared never to be heard from again and surviving French submarines Sisi Ferruch and Le Conquerant sortied without torpedoes to avoid destruction in the harbor. However, Le Tonnant managed to load a few torpedoes before leaving. When Augusta sank the flaming Boulonnais at noon, the only French destroyer remaining operational was L’Alcyon, also under siege. In the early afternoon, three small French warships emerged from Casablanca harbor to rescue sailors from the sunken destroyer Fougueux, but the rescue ships were turned back by shellfire from the American covering force. Workmen had repaired Jean Bart’s turret by sundown, and the battered but defiant El Hank Battery still remained operational. By then, nearly half of the 348 American landing craft had been destroyed, most in accidental groundings because of undetected shoals leaving less than 8000 troops put ashore. Some delay and confusion, and damage to landing ships was caused by the unexpected shallowness of water and sandbars; although pre-invasion periscope observations had been carried out, no actual reconnaissance parties had physically examined the beaches to determine local surf conditions. This oversight was soon corrected by introducing a new type of underseas warrior today known as SEALS, but who in WW II became Frogmen swimmers who made detailed on site observations of all subsequent WW II landing beaches. Meanwhile, off the sunbaked sands of North Africa’s coast, five French submarines still stalked the invasion fleet. THE BATTLE CONTINUES AS A NEW DAY DAWNS: 10 NOVEMBER The French minesweepers Commandant Delage and La Gracieuse sortied at 1000 to open fire on American troops advancing from Fedala to the outskirts of Casablanca. Rushing to the rescue, the cruiser Augusta and destroyers Edison and Tillman chased the minesweeper back into Casablanca harbor before being forced to retreat by gunfire from Jean Bart. In a concerted attack, nine Ranger dive-bombers struck the Jean Bart with two 1,000-lb bombs and sank her dockside at 1600. Her decks awash, Jean Bart slowly settled into the harbor mud, out of the fight at last.. In retaliation, French submarines Le Tonnant, Meduse, and Antiope launched unsuccessful torpedo salvos at Ranger, Massachusetts, and Tuscaloosa, respectively. Escorts went after the submarines and Meduse was crippled by counter-attacks and beached off Cape Blanc.

ANOTHER ARMISTICE DAY: 11 NOVEMBER Casablanca surrendered on 11 November and that day, German submarines finally arrived to attack the troopships before they completed off-loading cargo. In the early evening, U-173 torpedoed the destroyer Hambleton, the oiler Winooski, and the troopship Joseph Hewes. More than a 100 men went down with the Joseph Hewes. At this time Bristol spotted a surfaced submarine and engaged it with her deck guns and finally with depth charges. Even as the Bristol saw the damaged sub slip beneath the waves it could not confirm having sunk the French submarine. Later, the Sidi Ferruch was sunk by Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo-bombers from Suwanee. The next day, U-130 torpedoed the troopships Tasker H. Bliss, Hugh L. Scott, and Edward Rutledge killing 74 additional American service men. In all, four troopships sank, but the oiler and destroyer were repaired. The French submarines Amazone and Antiope reached Dakar, and Orphee returned to Casablanca after the city surrendered. Le Conquerant was sunk on 13 November by PBY Catalina flying boat off Villa Cisneros and the Le Tonnant was soon scuttled off Cadiz. The last successful attack saw U-173 sunk on 16 November, off Casablanca by American destroyers. THE WAR ASHORE The US 1st Ranger Battalion landed east of Oran and quickly captured the shore battery at Arzew. An attempt was then made to land US infantry at the harbor directly, in order to quickly prevent destruction of the port facilities and scuttling of ships. The operation - code named Operation Reservist - failed as the two RN Banff-class sloops were shattered by a withering crossfire from the French vessels there. French troops at Oran and the surrounding area stubbornly defended their adopted countrymen with French batteries and the invasion fleet exchanging fire throughout 8-9 November. Then heavy fire from the British battleships accelerated Oran’s surrender late on 9 November. WARRIORS FROM THE SKY: AIRBORNE LANDINGS Operation Torch was the first major airborne assault carried out by the US forces. The US 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment flew all the way from Britain, over-flew Spain, intending to drop near Oran and capture airfields at Tafraoui and La Senia respectively 15 mi and 5 miles south of Oran. The operation was marked by weather, navigational, and communication problems. Poor weather over Spain and the extreme distances caused widespread scattering and forced 30 of the 37 C-47 Dakotas to land in the dry salt lake well west of the objective. Nevertheless, both airports were quickly captured and made operational. WHERE THE HELL IS ALGIERS? As agreed at the meeting with Gen. Clark, the early hours of 8 November saw 400 French Resistance fighters stage a coup in the city of Algiers. Starting at midnight, the force under the command of Henri de la Vigerie and José Aboulker seized key targets, including the telephone exchanged, radio station, governor’s, house and the headquarters of 19th Corps, severely disrupting French communications. Robert Murphy took some men to the residence of Gen. Alphonse Juin, the senior French Army officer in North Africa. While they surrounded his house (making Juin effectively a prisoner), Murphy attempted to persuade him to side with the Allies. However, he was treated to

a surprise: Adm. Francois Darlan, the commander of all French forces, was also in Algiers on a private visit, Juin insisted on contacting Darlan, and Murphy was unable to persuade either to side with the Allies. In the early morning, the local Gendarmerie arrived and released both Juin and Darlan. HERE COMES THE YANKS! The invasion was led by the US 34th Infantry with one brigade of the British 78th, the other acting as reserve. The landings were split between three beaches - two west of Algiers and one east. Though some landing craft went to the wrong beaches, this was immaterial because of the extremely low level of French opposition. All the coastal batteries had been neutralized by French resistance, and on French commander went so far as to openly welcome the Allies. In the port of Algiers itself, the only heavy fighting took place in the execution of Operation Terminal where two British destroyers attempted to land a party of US Rangers directly onto the dock, in order to prevent the French from destroying the port facilities and scuttling their ships. Heavy artillery fire prevented one destroyer from landing, but the other was able to off-load 250 Rangers before it too was driven back to sea. The invading troops quickly pushed inland and Gen. Juin surrendered the city to the Allies at 1899 hours. VIVE LA LIBERTE! AFTERMATH It quickly became clear that Gen. Henri Giraud lacked the authority to take command of the French forces. He preferred to wait in Gibraltar for the results of the landing. Eisenhower, with the support of Roosevelt and Churchill, made agreements with Adm. Francois Darlan that he would be given control if he joined the Allied side. This meant the Vichy regime would be maintained in North Africa, along with its oppressive concentration camps and restrictive laws. Leader of the Free French and French Resistance, Gen. Charles De Gaulle, responded with fury. But the situation did not change even when anti-Nazi Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, brutally murdered Darlan on 24 December. Though Giraud was installed in his place, he too supported the Vichy regime and arrested the Algiers resistance leaders of 8 November. When Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini discovered Adm. Darlan intended to cooperate with the Allies, they immediately ordered the occupation of Vichy France and reinforced Rommel’s Afrika Korps. The Vichy-leaning Darlan-Giraud authority was gradually forced to take part in the war effort against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. As it began to democratize, it eliminated the principal Vichyist rulers and eventually merged with the French National Committee of London. Months later, the Comité Francais de la Libération Nationale (CFLN) born from this fusion came under the authority of Gen. De Gaulle (despite opposition from President Roosevelt), thus becoming the official US - and British - recognized government of France in exile. TOULON’S SHADOW FLEET When France capitulated, one of the conditions agreed to by the Germans was that southern France would remain free of German occupation and be self-governed by Vichy. Another condition was that all French forces, particularly those overseas, would resist attacks by the Allies and this included use of the French Fleet against Germany. The lack of determined resistance in North Africa and the New de Gaulle policies convinced the Germans to abrogate their Vichy agreement. Nazi troops moved in to seize what was left of the French fleet in the port of Toulon and Southern France was immediately occupied. To Hitler’s chagrin, he found

every ship scuttled dockside before thy could be boarded. AND THEN THERE WAS TUNISIA After the German and Italian occupation of vichy France and their unsuccessful attempt to capture the interned French fleet at Toulon (Operation Lila), the French Armée d’Afrique sided with the Allies, providing a third corps (XIX Corps) for the Allies. Elsewhere, French warships - such as the New to the Atlantic theater, the stubby Grumman F4F Wildcat and the FM-2 version built by Eastern Aircraft proved to be able battleship Richelieu rejoined the Allies and to hold their own against the vaunted fighters of Goering’s several were overhauled by Luftwaffe. American ship yards. On 9 November, Axis forces started to build up in Tunisia unopposed by the local French forces under Gen. Barré. Wracked with indecision, Barré moved his troops into the hills to form a defensive line from Teboursouk through Medjez el Bab, and ordered anyone who tried to pass through the line shot. On 19 November, the German commander demanded passage for his troops across the bridge at Medjez and was refused. The Germans attacked the poorly equipped French units twice and were driven back. However, the French, lacking artillery and armor, had taken heavy casualties forcing Barré to withdraw. After consolidating in Algeria, the Allies struck into Tunisia. Forces in the British 1st Army under Lt. Gen. Kenneth Anderson came to within 40-mi of Tunis before a counterattack at Djedeida thrust them back. In January 1943 German and Italian troops under Gen. Erwin Rommel - retreating westward from Libya - finally reached Tunisia. The British 8th Army in the east - commanded by Gen. Bernard Montgomery - stopped around Tripoli to allow reinforcements to arrive and build up the Allied advantage. In the west, the forces fo 1st Army came under attack at the end of January, being forced back from the Faïd Pass and then suffering a reversal at Sidi Bou Zid on 14-15 February. Axis forces pushed on to the Kasserine Pass on 19 February where the US II Corps retreated in disarray until heavy Allied reinforcements halted the Axis advance on 22 February. General Harold Alexander arrived in Tunisia in late February to take charge of the new 15th Army Group headquarters, which had been created to take overall control of both the Eighth Army and the Allied forces already fighting in Tunisia. The Axis forces again attacked eastward at Medenine on 6 March but were easily repulsed by the Eight Army. Rommel wanted Hitler to allow a full retreat to a defensible line, but wad denied, and on 9 March Rommel was replaced by Jürgen von Arnim, who had to spread his forces across 100-mi of Tunisian sand.

The setbacks at Kasserine forced the Allies to consolidate their forces and develop lines of communication and administration so that they could support a major attack. The 1st and 8th Armies then attacked the Axis. In April, hard fighting followed, but the Allies cut off the Germans and Italians from support by Naval and air forces between Tunisia and Sicily. On 6 May, as the culmination of Operation Vulcan, the British took Tunis, and American forces reached Bizerte. By 13 May, the Axis forces in Tunisia had surrendered. With their fall, the tenuous wates of the Med which had been called an Axis Lake only a year earlier, became an Allied Sea. For a time, German U-boats continued to plague any Allied shipping on the Med and Adriatic Sea, but the gradual build-up of anti-submarine (ASW) forces saw the med became a relatively quiet war zone as the European War moved north with the Invasion of Sicily and then onto mainland Italy and the long road to Rome. Operation Torch had proved amphibious invasions in Europe could be done and done successfully.