The FReeper Foxhole Revisits Operation Torch - Casablanca (Nov-1942) - October 29th, 2004

http://history.acusd.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/torch3.html ^ | April 21, 2001 | Jerod Jones

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


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The FReeper Foxhole Revisits

Operation Torch:
Allied Landings at Casablanca

"The job I am going on is about as desperate a venture as has ever been undertaken by any force in the world's history." - General S. Patton, Jr.

The job that General Patton was talking about was Operation Torch, which was the Allied invasion of North Africa that began in the early hours of November 8, 1942. Plans of the operation began in the spring and summer of 1942 between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

U.S. Navy task force carrying General Patton s Western Task Force approaches the coast of French Morocco.

The two leaders, however, disagreed on where the operation would commence. Roosevelt, along with General Eisenhower, wanted to open a "second front" to help relieve the Russians who were bitterly defending their homeland against the invading Germans on the Eastern front. Roosevelt wanted a cross-channel invasion of northwest France and strike quickly so as to avoid a long drawn out war with Germany. Churchill, on the contrary, was opposed to a cross-channel invasion because he felt the Germans were too heavily fortified to make a cross-channel invasion successful. Churchill proposed that the Allies take a less direct attack and invade North Africa instead. This, Churchill thought, would put pressure on Rommel and if successful in pushing him out, North Africa would provide a solid base for the Allies to invade southern Europe, possibly southern France or Italy.

The two leaders had many arguments over the final plans of the operation, but finally, on July 22, 1942, Roosevelt caved in and Churchill got what he wanted, an invasion of North Africa. As the historian, William Breuer points out in his book, Operation Torch: The Allied Gamble to Invade North Africa, "After four days of intense talks, the British carried the ramparts; on July 22, the Americans ran up the flag of surrender. French Northwest Africa, not northwest France, would be the locale of the Allied blow to relieve the pressure on the Russian army. The Mediterranean operation would be code named Torch... Torch was the brainchild of Winston Churchill and Alan Brooke, and they were delighted over acceptance of their strategic plan."

By the end of the summer, plans were finalized. Preparations of supplies, ships, carriers, ammunition, air power, and men had begun. It was decided that there would be three main landings. One was the city of Algiers, in which the Eastern Task Force would land and secure. The second was the port city of Oran, in which Center Task Force would take. Last, headed by General Patton, was the Western Task Force in which would land in Morocco and secure the city of Casablanca. Patton's Task Force was the only one that left from the United States. The other Task Force's left from England. Patton's would travel across the entire Atlantic in the midst of many lurking German U-boats and land near Casablanca.



The biggest problem facing the Allies, on the other hand, was the French in Northwest Africa. French Northwest Africa was still in colonial possession of the French and many were still loyal to the Vichy French government. It was a very real possibility that the French military in Northwest Africa would resist the Allied invasion. Robert Browning also points out in his article on operation Torch that a very large part of the success of the operation hinged on the French. In his article he stated, "The colonial possessions of France, however, remained free but still semi-loyal to France...their potential opposition to the Allied landing posed a grave threat to the success of the operation."

The Allies tried to get French four-star general Henri Giraud who was in North Africa to make the French military in North Africa to let the invasion commence without any resistance. This proved to be futile because when Giraud met Eisenhower at Torch's headquarters at Gibraltar on November 7, the French general refused to give the order to his military to cease all resistance unless he commanded the invasion. Of coarse Eisenhower was not receptive to that bargain and did not give in to the French general's wish. As H-hour was rapidly approaching, the Allies were still in the dark as to whether or not the French would resist.

For the most part the French in Algiers and Oran capitulated. They showed some pockets of resistance and inflicted some damage, but both cities were captured relatively easily. General Patton's Task Force however, faced stiff resistance by the French who were ordered by Henri Pétain, the puppet Vichy French leader in Southern France, to resist at all costs. Patton's force made three separate landings. One landing was codenamed Operation Blackstone commanded by General Ernest Harmon which would land near the port of Safi, one hundred forty miles southwest of Casablanca. The second landing, Operation Goalpost was commanded by Major General Lucian Truscott Jr., which had the mission of seizing the strategic port Lyautey, sixty miles northeast of Casablanca. The third landing, operation Brushwood in which Patton was commanding, would land at Fedala, a small port eighteen miles northeast of Casablanca.



Operation Blackstone did not start off smoothly. At 12:20 a.m., on November 8th, General Harmon sent a few scouts in a rubber boat to mark the Safi Harbor for the cargo carrier landing crafts to easily find the harbor. The French were already alerted to the attack and began firing on the scouts. Harmon ordered his men to press on in the midst of French machine gun fire. Harmon himself stayed back awaiting to hear the outcome of the landing. At daylight, Harmon had learned the troops had made it to shore. He then went to shore to find his troops taking cover on the beach from French snipers. Most of his troops had never seen combat before and were frightened. Harmon took control of the situation and flushed out the snipers. The resistance was not over, however. Harmon had learned that more than seventy trucks of French soldiers were on their way to help resist the invasion. Harmon had reached the aircraft carrier Santee by radio and within minutes, fighters from the Santee were flying overhead to knock out the French trucks. They were successful and the trucks and soldiers were destroyed. There was more resistance by the French on the beaches, but Harmon and his troops were able to overcome it and secure the port of Safi.

Operation Goalpost, as did Blackstone, did not start out well. General Truscott had the objective to not only seize the port of Lyautey, but also to secure the strategic airport located three miles north of Lyautey. General Truscott had also sent out scouts to look at the beaches for any enemy who might resist. His scouts had flashed him a grave signal. Truscott's worst fear had come true in the early hours of attack--the enemy somehow know about the invasion and were alerted to their coming. As Pierre Comtois points out in his article in World War II magazine, "Truscott wrestled with the knowledge that the most ambitious combined-arms operation in history had been discovered by the enemy in its climatic hour."



Truscott's original plan was to land four battalions at five different points along the shore at precisely 4:00 a.m. Once the troops were ashore, a special unit of seventy five men would detach and secure the airfield. But this plan would be delayed because once they had reached the beach, they were unsure of their precise wherabouts. To make matters worse, the rest of the troop convoys had not arrived at the meeting point, and ship-to-ship radios were not working. Gradually the convoys made it to the rendezvous point but not on time. As a result, Truscott had to delay H-hour by a half an hour. Meanwhile, President Roosevelt was unaware of the delay and at the precise time Truscott's troops were supposed to be hitting the beaches at Lyautey, the president issued a warning over the radio to the French to capitulate. This message fully alerted the French defenders of the impending invasion and they were completely ready for it.

On all five points, as the Americans were landing on the beaches, they were hit by artillery and machine gun fire by the French. It went from bad to worse. Many battalions, squads, and platoons missed their planned point of landing, communication was down, important convoys with ammuniction and supplies did not arrive on time and mass confusion occurred. Many of the troops were bogged down right away because of lack of experience. In fact, in the confusion, American antiaircraft guns shot down a British reconossaince plane. Truscott made it to shore and rallied the troops. They gradually secured the beaches but faced the daunting task of attacking the Casbah, a heavily fortified French concrete fortress a little ways inland from the beach. Truscott's troops had to quickly take cover because of French snipers in the fortress. Bogged down, tired, and unsure of success, General Truscott waited outside the fortress for reinforcemens. His reinforcements finally came with the help of Wildcat fighter-bombers that destroyed the Casbah's gates. Truscott's troops stormed the fortress and the remaining two hundred and fifty French soldiers inside surrendered. After the fall of the Casbah, special units were successful in capturing the strategic airfield as well. Port Lyautey had fallen in American hands and Operation Goalpost was successful.



Meanwhile, eighteen miles northeast of Casablanca, Operation Brushwwood, commanded by Major General Jonathan Anderson and overall commanded by General Patton, started off with severe problems as well. Anderson's battalion had lost communication during the landing and the armoured transports were late in coming. The troops quickly became bogged down and 'green' troops were frightened in their first combat situation. French mortar and artillery fire forced American troops to dig foxholes and take cover. After escaping a naval battle offshore, Patton make it to the beach by daybreak on November 8th. Patton was furious at the chaos and disorganization on the beachhead. He quickly took control and by mid afternoon he had established order. The landings were going smoothly, communications had been restored, and the beachhead at Fedala had been secured. As Martin Blumenson pointed out in his book Patton, "Patton's personal effort had 'a touch of magic.'"

By November 10, Patton had his units encircled around Casablanca and he had planned to attack the city at dawn. An hour before the assault was scheduled to take place however, French leaders in the city ordered a cease fire and surrendered. Patton entered Casablanca without opposition and the city was now in American hands. The Allies also secured Algiers as well as the port of Oran. Operation Torch proved to be an overwhelming success.


Troops and tank of the 7th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division, inland of Fedala

In conclusion, Operation Torch gave the Allies many advantages. With General Montgomery and the British to the east of Tunisia and now the U.S. to the west, Torch allowed the Allies to sandwich Rommel in Tunisia. This proved to be vital because the Allies eventually surrounded and defeated Rommel in the battle of Tunisia in the summer of 1943. This in turn gave the Allies a solid base in which they would use later to invade Sicily and Italy. Torch also marked, up that time, the largest amphibious operation in the history of warfare. More importantly, it marked the first big success of the war for the Allies, boosting morale and turning the tide of the war in favor of the Allied powers.

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[snippy_about_it]

.......
Analysis

Operation TORCH gave the Allies substantial beachheads in North Africa at rather modest cost, considering the size of forces committed. One hundred twenty-five thousand soldiers, sailors, and airmen participated in the operation, 82,600 of them U.S. Army personnel. Ninety-six percent of the 1,469 casualties were American, with the Army losing 526 killed, 837 wounded, and 41 missing. Casualties varied considerably among the three task forces. Eastern Task Force lost the fewest Americans killed in action, 108, Western Task Force, with four times as many American troops, lost 142 killed; Center Task Force lost almost twice as many killed, 276. But without the British-sponsored RESERVIST disaster at Oran, the Center Task Force killed-in-action total would have been in the same range as that of the other task forces.

On the Moroccan and Algerian coasts the United States Army executed operations for which its history offered no preparation: large-scale amphibious landings under hostile fire. While those operations ended in victory, any evaluation of U.S. Army performance must allow for the generally inept resistance offered by French and colonial forces. Only isolated artillery batteries and infantry units proved formidable; a better-equipped and more determined opponent could have easily capitalized on the many Allied landing problems. Obviously, the U.S. Army and its Allies would have to overcome these problems before undertaking more ambitious amphibious operations.

Most of the Army's problems during TORCH occurred in the ship-to-shore phase of landings, when amphibious forces are most vulnerable. The whole idea of night landings had to be reexamined. While the transfer of troops and equipment from transports to landing boats could be accomplished with only moderate difficulty in darkness, the shuttling of boats between transports and beaches after their first trip ashore became a source of delays. Boats returning to transports had great difficulty avoiding subsequent boat waves and finding the right transport in the darkness.

A more serious problem concerned transport of vehicles to shore. Because vehicles required deeper-draft landing craft than troops, sandbars that light troop-carrying boats overrode became obstacles to heavier tank and truck lighters. Even on beaches without sandbars, lighters frequently bottomed some distance from the shoreline and had to discharge vehicles into several feet of water, disabling electrical systems. Problems such as these provoked a spiral of unloading delays and forced troops ashore into a tactical disadvantage during the crucial early hours of the landings. Reaching shore sooner than tanks and artillery, infantry units on D-day often found themselves attacking French coastal batteries and armored units with little more than rifles and hand grenades. Most other problems relating to navigation and handling of hazardous items such as gasoline could be corrected with training and experience. But one phenomenon affecting movement to shore remained beyond human reach: the weather.


Arriving at Fedala to negotiate at armistice, 1I November 1942. General Auguste Paul Nogues, left, is met by Col. Hobart R. Gay, representing General Patton.

Operational fires (large-caliber supporting fire) proved generally satisfactory to all landings. The assignment of an aircraft carrier to each landing site gave the task forces a great advantage: Allied aircraft could prevent reinforcement of enemy garrisons, but the French could not prevent Allied buildups ashore. Only at Safi and Algiers did lone sorties of French aircraft inflict damage, and both were quickly driven off.

Naval gunfire provided essential support in neutralizing coastal batteries. In coordinating with friendly troop movements ashore, however, problems arose. Most landings took place near urban areas, which placed troops in civil-military minefields. Since Allied leaders looked forward to eventual French cooperation against the Axis, gunnery officers aboard ships and field commanders ashore had to exercise great care to avoid civilian housing as well as port facilities and oil supplies they hoped to use. With surface units ten or more miles offshore, naval gunfire margins of error could not be ignored. Such considerations forced Army units to operate without some of the large-caliber support that could have shortened the duration—and reduced the casualty total—of some battles.

For advancing units ashore, a more immediate tactical problem with naval gunfire occasionally arose. In the Fedala area a conflict in calls for support almost caused the tragedy of American fire landing among American troops. As troops of the 7th Regimental Landing Group neared an objective they requested continuation of naval gunfire. At the same time, 30th Regimental Landing Group officers asked the ships to hold fire for the moment, since their troops were nearing the impact zone. Safety concerns dictated a halt of fire support missions but at the cost of delay in the advance ashore.



The Center and Eastern Task Force landings highlighted several operational differences between the two leading Western Allies. Most striking was the British preference for antisabotage thrusts directly into objective areas, a tactic Americans considered suicidal. The failure of Operations RESERVIST and TERMINAL confirmed fears of those American planners who were wary of some British operational concepts, a suspicion dating from World War I. On the American side, much work remained to be done before airborne operations could exercise decisive influence on the battlefield.

Despite the problems it exposed, Operation TORCH gave the U.S. Army a hopeful sign for the future: American troops would soon close the experience gap with their British comrades and enable the Allies to field well-coordinated forces of overwhelming power.

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Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:
http://history.acusd.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/torch3.html

The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Operation Torch - Casablanca (Nov-1942) - Apr. 27th, 2003

Blumenson, Martin. Patton: The Man Behind the Legend 1885-1945. New York: William Morrow and Company Inc., 1985.

Breuer, William. Operation Torch: The Allied Gamble to Invade North Africa. New York: St. Martins Press, 1985.

Browning, Jr., Robert M. "Operation Torch: The Coast Guard and the Invasion of North Africa," U.S. Coast Guard, July 2000.

Comtois, Pierre. "First Fire of Operation Torch," World War II Magazine. November 1996, Volume II, Issue 4, p. 54.

Gelb, Norman. Desperate Venture: The Story of Operation Torch, The Allied Invasion of North Africa. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1992.

[snippy_about_it]

............

In September of 1942 the German Army was at Stalingrad and Gen. Rommel was at the gates of Egypt with his touted Afrika Corp. The Allies desparately needed a second front to reverse the eastern assault of the Axis armies. Operation Torch was devised to be that second front.

The invasion plan called for three naval task forces to in invade Northern Africa. The USS Augusta under the command of Rear Admiral H.K. Hewitt1 and embarking Western Task Force, US Army General George S. Patton, Jr. commanding was selected to be the flagship for the Western Naval Task Force (WNTF) for Operation Torch.



The plan for the WNTF was to land a force of about 9,000 at Port Lyautry which was north of Casablanca to capture the airport. At the same time 18,000, supported by 80 tanks was to land at Fedala and march on Casablanca from the north. A third force of 6,000 with a hundred heavy tanks, having landed at Safi, was to advance on the city from the south.

"PLAY BALL"

With the initial element of surprise, at 0000 GMT on November 8,1942 the Augusta reached the shores off Casablanca and the Task Force commenced disembarking the invasion troops which were under the command of Gen. George S. Patton who at the time was directing the assault from the Augusta. The ship's war diary contains the following entry for that morning:

The landing of our boats was heavily opposed by both shore installations and French troops and at 0617 the order to "Play Ball" was received - this meant that we were to carry out our Attack Plan and destroy to the best of our ability all resistance encountered.

At 0700 in Casablanca Harbor five Vichy French submarines were preparing to stand out of the harbor to go on patrol. Merchantmen were beginning loading and unloading their cargos, and on board the cruisers and destroyers the crews were at work scrubbing decks.


Jean Bart

At 0730 the aircraft carrier USS Ranger launched her first strike of bombers with Wildcat escorts. Ten minutes later they were intercepted by French fighters, and in a dogfight 5 American and 7 French planes were shot down.

At 0804 as the Ranger's bombers were releasing their loads the battleship USS Massachusetts opened up with salvoes of her 16 inch guns on Casablanca's quays and ships. In the commercial harbor 10 cargo and passenger ships were sunk in 10 minutes, 40 crew killed and 60 wounded. Alongside the breakwater 3 Vichy submarines went down at their moorings their crews cut to pieces by flying stones.

El Hank and Oukacha returned fire along with Jean Bart one turret. Wreckage hurled aboard from the quayside landed down on the turret.

At 0900 the Vichy 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron under Rear-Admiral Gervais de Lafond raised sufficient steam to put to sea to head for Fedala. His flagshp, Primauguet, undergoing minor engine repair, de Lafond hoisted his flag in the superdestroyer Milan. He steamed northwards at full speed hoping that the smoke and rising sun would blind the American naval forces. At 0920 Wildcats from Ranger strafed her decks. Every man on bridge including LeFond was wounded. In the Vichy Boulonnais, was severly damaged. The commanding officer, Lt.-Comdr Martinant de Preneuf was killed on the Albatross. The Brestois anti-aircraft battery was put out of action.

Thereafter the Primauguet was off Fedala in the cross hairs of Augusta, Brooklyn to the north and Massachucetts, Tuscaloosa and Wichita from the northeast The first Vichy ship to sink was the Fougueux, which was struck by Massachusetts and Tuscaloosa. The Vichy Milan's bow shattered and forward turret wrecked and she beached.

The Boulonnais was sunk by 8 16" guns while carrying out a torpedo run, she turned turtle, and sunk with all hands.

Primauguet holed below her water line, with half of her engine room crew dead, dropped anchor near Milan.



Brestois and Frondeur got back to harbor but capsized during the night.

Vichy destroyer Alcyon left harbor for survivors but was attacked by bombers and navy guns when she cleared the Casablanca breakwater. The Albatross and Primauguet were hit again while trying to transfer 100 dead and 200 hundred wounded.

For the next three days the Augusta was engaged in protecting the transport ships and the invasion troops, and combating enemy naval and coastal resistance. On November 10, 1942 the Augusta helped turn back the French units sortieing from Casablanca who were attempting to disrupt the landings. The ship's scout observation planes played an active role in spotting the accuracy of the ship's gunfire against the enemy ships and coastal batteries. As depicted in the photo at right during this battle the Augusta (in the background) was straddled by shells from the Vichy French battleship, Jean Bart, which had been earlier mistakenly reported to Hewitt to have been out of commission. The Jean Bart was subsequently put out of action by return ship and carrier plane bombardment.

The invasion was successful and the ship and crew had the good fortune of being able to celebrate Thanksgiving Day 1942 with a special dinner with cuisine ala North Africa. A copy of the ship's program issued to the crew for that day is reproduced here. The message to the crew for that day summed up the feelings of all:

In its five engagements, one against a shore battery and four against enemy naval forces, the ship rendered a good account of itself and contributed in a large degree to the final defeat of the opposing forces and the establishing of a second front, in North Africa.

In the course of each engagement the ship was subjected to accurate and heavy fire by the opposing forces. And yet, although bracketed many times by the projectiles of the enemy, the ship miraculously escaped without damage to herself or injury to the crew. It should be apparent to all that consistent escape from harm was due not alone to skill, or to good luck, but unquestionably to the intervention of divine providence.

[snippy_about_it]

The mission of Operation Torch was:

1. The establishment of firm and mutually supported footholds
   • between Oran and Tunisia on the Mediterranean, and
   • in French Morocco on the Atlantic, in order to secure bases for continued and intensified air, ground and sea operations.
2. Exploitation of the footholds in order to acquire complete control of French Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia and extend offensive operations against the rear of Axis forces eastward.
3. Destroy the Axis forces now opposing the British forces in the Western Desert and establish bases for the intensification of air and sea operations against the Axis in the European continent.

[snippy_about_it]

[snippy_about_it]

"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!



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[snippy_about_it]

Here are the recommended holiday mailing dates for military mail this year:

For military mail addressed TO APO and FPO addresses, the mailing dates are:

• Parcel Post - November 13
• Space Available - November 27
• Parcel Airlift - December 4
• Priority Mail, First Class cards and letters - Mailing date is December 11 to all locations
  • EXCEPT for locations starting with ZIP 093. For all locations starting with ZIP 093 the mailing date is December 6.
• Express Mail - December 20 to locations where Express Mail service is available. Check with your local post office to determine which APO/FPO addresses can receive Express Mail. Note: This service is not available to ships.

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For military mail FROM APO and FPO addresses, the mailing dates are:

• Space Available - November 20
• Parcel Airlift - December 4
• Priority Mail, First Class cards and letters - December 11
• Express Mail - December 18 from APO/FPO addresses where Express Mail can be accepted. Check with your local military post office to determine if they can accept Express Mail. Note: This service is not available from ships.

Thanks for the information StayAt HomeMother

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Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004



The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

Click on Hagar for
"The FReeper Foxhole Compiled List of Daily Threads"

[SAMWolf]

Good Night Snippy.

[snippy_about_it]

Great picture.

Good night Sam.

[quietolong]

Something else WWII Vet's did

Why the leftist RATs fear the 2nd; WWII Vets clean up vote fraud in Athens TN. 1946
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1261101/posts

[Iris7]

We are darned lucky that Roosevelt didn't have his way with Churchill. Imagine the US Army of late 1942 invading France at Calais, say. We would have been lucky to evacuate 50% of our people. Dieppe writ large.

What a fool Roosevelt was. It seems like he was a knave as well. It looks like he had John Kennedy's morals. Americans elected him President four times.

Putting on my analyst's hat I see that Dieppe (August 19, 1942)prevented Roosevelt blowing the whole damned war. Seems like the Dieppe operation was a reconnaissance in force to assess the possibility of an invasion of France in 1942. The hard won answer was invasion yes, but survival, no.

OK piece on Dieppe, not highbrow:
http://users.pandora.be/dave.depickere/Text/dieppe.html

The only reason Torch worked at all is that the French were even more disorganized and pig headed than you would expect of the French.

War is such a shock. It cannot be put into words. People just freak. It is odd to watch happen, then it becomes tiresome. You become very old on the inside.

Patton knew what he was doing, but Eisenhower caused real damage by interfering with the actual fighting. In Sicily, also. By 1944 he came to see that he was, indeed, as MacArthur said of him, "The best clerk I ever had." Well, that is a little harsh, but Eisenhower was a political general, not a fighting general.

Speaking of Patton, both he and Rommel were most effective when they were the very closest possible to the actual battle. Fighting generals. James Gavin. MacArthur during the Great War, Creighton Abrams in WWII. Halsey in the Navy. Of my generation, General "Tommy" Franks, every bit the equal of any of the others.

[Grzegorz 246]

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

[alfa6]

An Army At Dawn by Rick Atkinson Bump for the Freeper
Foxhole.

The first book in a trilogy about the US Army in WWII.

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[The Mayor]

October 29, 2004

Working In The Harvest

Read: Matthew 9:35-10:4

Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. —Matthew 9:38

Bible In One Year: Jeremiah 18-19; 2 Timothy 3

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While D. L. Moody was attending a convention in Indianapolis on mass evangelism, he did more than just talk about it. He asked a friend, who was a gifted musician, to meet him on a street corner at 6 o'clock one evening. The man stood on a box and sang a song. When a crowd gathered, Moody spoke briefly and then invited the people to follow him to the nearby convention hall.

Soon the auditorium was filled with spiritually hungry people, and he preached to them. When the convention attendees began to arrive, Moody stopped preaching and said, "Now we must close, as the brethren of the convention want to discuss the topic, 'How to reach the masses.'"

When Jesus saw the masses, He was "moved with compassion" for them (Matthew 9:36). He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful . . . . Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers" (vv.37-38). And He sent them out to preach the good news of His kingdom (10:1).

It is estimated that only 10 percent of the world's population of 6.3 billion are believers in Jesus Christ. And more than 25 percent have never heard of Jesus' love even once.

As His disciples today, let's not just talk about the need—let's pray and go. —Anne Cetas

Far, far away, in heathen darkness dwelling,
Millions of souls forever may be lost;
Who, who will go, salvation's story telling,
Looking to Jesus, minding not the cost? —McGranahan

The next person you meet may be your mission field.

I take you all here at FreeRepublic as part of My Mission Field.!
The more attracted we are to Christ, the less we'll be distracted by the world.
George W Bush will Win, we all need to Pray for his Victory!

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on October 29:
1740 James Boswell Scotland, Samuel Johnson's biographer
1824 Joseph Horace Lewis Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1904
1859 Charles Ebbets (namesake of Ebbets Field, Brooklyn)
1884 Bela Lugosi horror actor (Dracula, Body Snatcher)
1891 Fanny Brice singing comedienne (Ziegeld Follies, Baby Snooks)
1897 Paul Joseph Goebbels Nazi propagandist
1906 Fredric Brown American writer (US Army in Transition)
1910 Alfred J Ayer England, Neopositivist philosopher/logician
1921 Ed Kemmer Reading Pa, actor (Buzz Corey-Space Patrol)
1921 William Henry Mauldin US, political cartoonist (Pulitzer-1945, 59)
1945 Melba Moore NYC, singer/actress (Ellis Island)
1947 Richard Dreyfuss Brooklyn NY, actor (Jaws, The Tin Men)
1948 Kate Jackson Birmingham Ala, actress (Rookies, Charlie's Angels)
1949 Paul Orndorff wrestler (WCW/SMW/NWA/WWF, Mr Wonderful)
1953 Denis Potvin Ottawa Ontario, NY Islander defenseman (Norris trophy)
1959 Jesse Barfield Ill, outfielder (Blue Jays, Yankees, 1986 HR leader)
1960 Finola Hughes actress (Anna-General Hospital, Staying Alive)
1961 Randy Jackson rocker (Jacksons-ABC)
1965 Steven Sweet Wadsworth Ohio, heavy metal artist (Warrant-Cherry Pie)
1971 Winona Ryder [Horowitz], Mn, actress (Heathers, Edward Scissorhand)

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Deaths which occurred on October 29:
0490 Petrus Mongus, patriarch of Alexandria, dies
1618 Sir Walter Raleigh is executed in London
1885 George B McClellan Union army general, dies at 58
1901 Leon Czolcosz assassin of President McKinley, is executed
1911 Joseph Pulitzer American newspaperman, dies in Charleston, SC
1947 Frances Cleveland Preston former 1st lady, dies in Balt at 83
1957 Louis B Mayer MGM producer, dies at 71
1963 Adolphe Menjou actor (Front Page, Star is Born), dies at 73
1971 Duane Allman dies at 24 in a motorcycle accident
1975 John Scott Trotter orch leader (George Gobel Show), dies at 67
1981 William O Walker publisher of the Cleveland Call Post, dies at 85
1987 Kamal El Mallakh dies at 57
1987 Woody Herman bandleader/composer (Thundering Herds), dies at 74
1990 William French Smith attorney general (1980), dies at 73 from cancer

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1963 PITZER DANIEL L.---FAIRVIEW WV.
[11/11/67 RELEASED IN CAMBODIA, DECEASED
1963 ROWE JAMES N.---MC ALLEN TX.
[12/31/68 ESCAPED, KILLED IN PHILLIPINE INSIDENT 04/21/89]
1963 VERSACE HUMBERTO R.---NORFOLK VA.
[09/22/65 POSS EXECUTED PRG DIC LIST]
1968 BEZOLD STEVEN---MC KITTRICK MO.
1968 HARRISON DONALD L.---CHAMBLEE GA
1968 HUNTER JAMES D.---PORTLAND TN.
1971 OAKLEY LINUS LABIN---CARTHAGE AR.
1972 SULLIVAN JAMES E.---HULL MA.
["DEAD, HANOI RADIO REMAINS RETURNED 08/14/85"]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
0539 BC Babylon falls to Cyrus the Great of Persia
1618 Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded in London. He had been charged with plotting against King James I.
1682 William Penn lands in what will become Pennsylvania
1727 Severe earthquake in New England
1787 The opera "Don Giovanni" is produced (Prague)
1811 1st Ohio River steamboat leaves Pittsburgh for New Orleans
1813 The Demologos, the first steam-powered warship, launched in New York City.
1833 1st US college fraternity to have a fraternity house founded
1863 Intl Comm of the Red Cross founded (Nobel 1917, 1944, 1963)
1894 1st election of the Hawaiian Republic
1904 1st intercity trucking service (Colorado City & Snyder, Texas)
1914 Russia declares war on Turkey
1920 Edward Barrow named Yankee general manager
1923 "Runnin' Wild" (introducing the Charleston) opens on Broadway
1923 Turkey proclaimed a republic (National Day)
1924 "Dixie to Broadway," opens at Broadhurst Theater
1927 Russian archaeologist Peter Kozloff apparently uncovers the tomb of Genghis Khan in the Gobi Desert, a claim still in dispute

1929 "Black Tuesday," Stock Market crashes triggers "Great Depression"

1932 French liner Normandie is launched
1940 Sec of War Henry L Stimson drew 1st number-158-in 1st peacetime military draft in US history
1942 Alaska highway completed
1942 Branch Rickey named president/GM of Brooklyn Dodgers
1942 Nazis murder 16,000 Jewish in Pinsk, Soviet Union
1943 3 allied officers escape camp Stalag Luft 3
1944 1st Polish Armour division frees Breda
1945 1st ball point pen goes on sale, 57 years after it was patented
1950 Wally Triplett avgs 735 yards on 3 kickoff returns
1954 Colonel Nasser disbands Moslem Brothership
1956 Chet Huntley & David Brinkley, NBC News, team up
1956 IDF crosses Egyptian territory in the Sinai
1956 International zone of Tangier returned to Morocco
1956 Israeli paratroopers drop into the Sinai to open Straits of Tiran
1957 A hand grenade explodes in Israel's Knesset (Parliament)
1958 Boris Pasternak refuses Nobel prize for literature
1959 10 nation soccer league to play all games on NY Randalls Is, announced
1960 Muhammad Ali's (Cassius Clay's) 1st professional fight, beats Tunney Hunsaker in 6
1963 "Meet the Beatles" booklet is published
1964 Star of India & other jewels are stolen in NY
1964 Town of Karmiel founded in the Galilee
1966 National Organization of Women founded
1967 Musical "Hair," premieres in NYC
1972 Don Cockroft of Cleveland Browns kicks 57-yard field goal
1979 Billy Martin fired as Yankee manager (2nd time)
1982 Car maker John DeLorean indicted for drug trafficking, later acquitted
1987 Thomas Hearns wins unprecidented 4th different weight boxing title
1988 2,000 US anti-abortion protesters arrested for blocking clinics
1988 China announces a herbal male contraceptive
1988 Jim Elliott (US) begins 24-hr paced outdoor race for 548.9 mi
1988 Soviets 1st scheduled shuttle launch (postponed)
1990 30 die in a (5.7) earthquake in Algeria
1992 Alger Hiss said Russia had cleared him of the charge of being a Communist spy that sent him to prison for four years and helped launch Richard Nixon's political career.
1998 Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, who in 1962 became the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth,, roared back into space aboard the shuttle Discovery, retracing the trail he'd blazed for America's astronauts 36 years earlier. At 77, he was the oldest person to travel in space.(payback for saving willards ass)

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Cyprus : National Day
Turkey : Republic Day (1923)
Biographies are Beautiful Day
National Magic Week (Day 5)
Cooking, Crafts and Home Books Month
National Dessert Month

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Religious Observances
Christian : St James Hannington, bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa
Christian : Commemoration of St Theuderius, or Chef, abbot
Ang : Com of James Hannington, bishop of E Equatorial Afr & companions

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Religious History
1869 Birth of E. O. Sellers, American Baptist musician. At various times the song evangelist for R.A. Torrey, Gipsy Smith, A.C. Dixon and J. Wilbur Chapman, Sellers is remembered today for his two original hymns: "Thy Word Have I Hid in My Heart" and "Wonderful, Wonderful Jesus."
1870 Birth of Juji Nakada, Japanese Christian evangelist. In 1901 he influenced Charles and Lettie Cowman (authors of "Streams in the Desert") to come to Japan, where in 1910 they incorporated the Oriental Missions Society.
1889 New York City missions pioneer Albert B. Simpson, 46, incorporated the International Missionary Alliance. Combined in 1897 with a group formerly also organized by Simpson, it became the Christian and Missionary Alliance, one of the most missions-minded denominations in modern American Protestantism.
1919 The Apostolic Christian Association was incorporated in Atlanta, Georgia. It later merged with what is now the International Pentecostal Church of Christ, headquartered in London, Ohio.
1955 American missionary Jim Elliot, 28, wrote in his journal: 'First time I ever saw an Auca--1500' is a long ways if you're looking out of an airplane.' Ten weeks later, on Jan 8, 1956, Jim and four other missionaries would be speared to death by these same Indians they had come to Ecuador in hopes of evangelizing.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"Life is uncertain...so have dessert first"

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Childrens Impression of Love...
SOME SUREFIRE WAYS TO MAKE A PERSON FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU

"Tell them that you own a whole bunch of candy stores." (Del, 6)

"Don't do things like have smelly, green sneakers. You might get attention, but attention ain't the same thing as love." (Alonzo, 9)

"One way is to take the girl out to eat. Make sure it's something she likes to eat. French fries usually works for me." (Bart, 9)

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Children's stories that never made it...
Valuable Protein and Other Nutritional Benefits of Things from your Nose

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Handy Latin Phrases...
Mater tua criceta fuit, et pater tuo redoluit bacarum sambucus.
Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries

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Redefining the English language
Lymph (v.)
To walk with a lisp.

[Professional Engineer]

Good morning ladies and gent. It's Friday!

Friday Foxhole FReeper Flag-o-gram.

Today's Foxhole flag is from MatthewPaul

Matthew's nephew proudly waves the Stars and Stripes in Poland.

See your flag here! FReepmail me today.

[Samwise]

Good morning, PE.

Cool picture of your nephew, Matthew. I wish we could see his face. I bet he's a cutie.

[SAMWolf]

Good article. Thanks quietolong.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Iris7.

I agree that a landing in france in 1942 or 1943 would have been a disaster. The Germans were still too strong, the Luftwaffe was not defeated, not enough specialized landing craft, not enough troops, not enough training, and on and on.

Kasserine showed that the Americans were'nt ready to face the Germans head on. Better for us to learn at Kasserine and in Sicily than on the beaches of france.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Grzegorz 246