In World War 2, what was Operation Torch?
Operation Torch (from November 8, 1942) was the Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign. The Soviet Union had been putting pressure on the United States and Britain to begin operations in Europe, a second front to relieve the pressure on the Russian forces. The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill favoured an attack on northern Africa followed by an invasion of Europe in 1943, while American president Roosevelt suspected the Africa operation would rule out an invasion of Europe in 1943 but agreed to support Churchill. The Allies planned an Anglo-American invasion of northwestern Africa – Morocco and Algeria, territory nominally in the hands of Vichy France. The French had around 60,000 soldiers in Morocco as well as coastal artillery, a handful of tanks and aircraft, with ten or so warships and 11 submarines at Casablanca. The Allies believed that the French forces would not fight, although they harboured suspicions that the
