Eisenhower arrived in Gibraltar at the proverbial last minute. He was preceded by Mark Clark who was flown over from England earlier for a secret mission, Operation Flagpole, in a run up to Torch. Clark flew to Gibraltar on a B 17 called the Red Gremlin, piloted by Paul W. Tibbits. It was the first time a B 17 had ever landed on Gibraltar’s short runway. Eisenhower flew over in the Red Gremlin also, piloted by Paul Tibbits. Later,The Red Gremlin led the first 100 plane bombing raid on France.
Tibbets went on to pilot the Enola Gay, named after his mother,which dropped the first Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima.
Task Force 34, led by the Cruiser Augusta, was under Patton’s command. It crossed the Atlantic from
Amusingly, the State Department knew nothing about Operation Torch. Roosevelt had ordered them to be kept in the dark. he said,”The place is like a sieve,”
Seems times have not changed.
Fredenall was an excellent man who unfortuately was outmatched by Rommel at Kasserine Pass and was replaced by Patton. Nevertheless, he was a good commander.
Interesting about Tibbets flying Ike.
IIRC Fredendall is the only American general to have directly opposed Rommel. And a Rommel leading veteran troops.
My dad landed in North Africa shortly after Torch and his unit processed some of the German POWs. He said they were the best trained troops he saw in the entire war. One spoke perfect English and said “I feel sorry for you Americans. You have to fight the war, while we will be going to America”. Some German POWs worked on my grandparent’s farm in west Texas. Germans have long had a fascination with the American West so it couldn’t have been much better for them.
Task Force 34, led by the Cruiser Augusta, was under Patton’s command. It crossed the Atlantic from little Creek (Norfolk) Virginia.