Nov 8 - 11, 1942 - The 15th Infantry Regiment: Fedala to Casablanca

     On Nov. 8, 1942 the United States attacked the beaches near Casablanca.  The Third Division came on shore sixteen miles north of Casablanca at Fedala. Lt. John B. Armstrong was part of the 15th Infantry Regiment. The path of the 15th Regiment is shown as a red line on the adjacent maps.  The blue line represents the border between the 7th Regiment and the 15th Regiment.  I  took that map and used it as an overlay on Google Earth. then after removing the overlay I can see the path taken by the 15th Regiment.  
     From November 8 - 11 the Third Division advanced towards Casablanca.  On Nov 11, the Vichy French surrendered.   The next few months saw the third division stay in this region until they were needed at Tunisia.

Map from the History of the Third Division in World War II ¹

Google Earth with previous map overlaid on top ²

Google Earth showing path of 15th Regiment ³

A map showing the Terrain ⁴

1.  Taggart, Donald, History of the Third Infantry Division in World War II, Battery Press, Nashville. 1987

2. Google Earth." 2005. 7 Nov. 2013 <http://earth.google.com/>

3. Google Earth." 2005. 7 Nov. 2013 <http://earth.google.com/>

4.  "Google Maps Engine Lite." 2012. 7 Nov. 2013 <https://mapsengine.google.com/>

Convoy Zig Zags to Casablanca

     Beginning on October 24,1942, the 3rd Infantry Division, 15th Infantry Regiment sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, bound for French Morocco.  
     On the attached map you can see that this was a joint exercise with the British.   This map is from a British book so it is more detailed about the British portion of the operation.  (The dates are also written in the European style with the day/month so 3/11 = Nov. 3.)  The British passed through the Straights of Gibraltar and landed farther east.  
     The Americans were scheduled to land in the area around Casablanca.  The course followed by the American fleet was designed to make the Germans think that they might have a different objective.  The zig-zag course was also used to avoid the German U-boats.  
     Lt. John B. Armstrong was in the group that was scheduled to land near Fedala at daybreak on Nov. 8, 1942.  Fedala was 16 miles north of Casablanca.  Casablanca was under control of the Vichy French who, of course were under German control. 
       Fedala was the was the first amphibious landing where Lt. Armstrong was a participant.  He also participated at Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, and St. Tropez.  At that point he returned home for some R&R and began training for the invasion of Japan, which thankfully never happened.  

1.  "HyperWar: HyperWar: War at Sea 1939-1945, Vol. II: The ... - Ibiblio." 2005. 6 Nov. 2013 <http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/UK/UK-RN-II/>