Wednesday April 15th
00:00 French Foreign Legionaries of the 1st Foreign Legion Cavalry regiment raised the Free French flag at Fort Lamoune and Fort Santa Cruz. This commenced the action known as Operation Gymnast.
00:00 The Géo Gras Group forces took control of the Algiers army barracks, police stations, the arsenal, telephone exchanges, the Summer Palace, the Prefecture, and the headquarters of Radio Algiers. All means of communication of Vichy forces were sabotaged. The operation was accomplished as early as 01:30.
00:30 152 British bombers attacked Dortmund, for a second night in a row. 4 bombers were lost on this attack.
01:00 H-hour. The American 1st Rangers on the HMS Hartland and HMS Walney Island quickly capturing the port and coastal gun installations at Arzew.
01:00 Men and equipment from the American 1st Infantry Division and 1st Armoured Division began to arrive on the beaches of the Gulf of Arzeu to the east of Oran.
01:00 American troops landed at Cape Matifou 15 miles east of Algiers and at Cape Sidi 10 miles to the west.
01:30 General Antoine staged a coup d'etat with the by now American equipped Colonial Moroccan Infantry Regiment and the 1st Hunters of Africa Regiment. After a brief fire-fight at the villa of Charles Nogues the Vichy-loyal high commissioner for Morocco, the resistance collapsed and Nogues was taken prisoner.
01:30 More Americans from the 1st Infantry and 1st Armoured landed at Les Andalouses to the west of Oran, as well as Mersa Bou Zedjhar.
01:45 troops from the British 11th Infantry Brigade made a successful unopposed landing at Bougie. A battalion sized battle group also landed at Djidjelli 30 miles east. This landing was also unopposed.
02:00 American paratroopers began landing at the airfields of Tafaraoui 15 miles south of Oran and at La Senia 5 miles south of the city. Both airfields were captured without incident and the Free French flag was raised at both venues.
03:15 Paratroopers of 6RMLI landed at Bone airfield 180 miles west of Tunis, and 5 miles south of the port.
03:30 Commandoes from 1RMLI come ashore and capture Bone harbour without incident.
04:00 A force of 30 Wellington bombers and 15 Wellington transport aircraft with RAF ground crews arrived at Gibraltar, to refuel and prepare for a more forward deployment.
04:45 Armoured cars and Matilda tanks of the RMASG are unloaded at Bone and immediately drive out to support the men of 6RMLI at the airfield.
05:00 Fleet carriers HMS Britannia and HMS Excalibur with 72 Grendal strike fighters each, plus support aircraft patrol 30 miles north of the city of Algiers. Two squadrons of fighters patrol above the vast armada keeping German Ju88's away from the troop and landing ships.
HMS Ark Royal deployed of the Tunisian coast along with the new light fleet carrier HMS Terrible north of Bone.
At Oran the battleships HMS Barham and HMS Nelson, along with escorts close in to 30,000yrds offshore. HMS Theseus, HMS Biter and HMS Dasher with six squadrons of Sea Hurricanes provided air cover and strike capability.
05:30 The German U-boats U565 and U431 attacked the carriers but the escorting destroyers and sloops forced them to withdraw without causing any damage to the British ships.
06:00 American troops began to land at Safi from the destroyers Bernadou and Cole. The garrison of 1,000 and 16 Hotchkiss H35 light tanks were quickly overwhelmed. The capture of the port facilities allowed the landing of 6,500 men of US 47th Infantry Regiment, 50 Sherman medium tanks and 40 Stuart light tanks of the American 2nd Armoured Divisions.
06:00 At Port-Lyautey, the 1st wave landing troops secured the beachhead and were quickly followed by the second wave. With the assistance of air support from the carriers, the troops pushed ahead, and the objectives were captured. Resistance was light, but Genderarme officers held up in the police station. They surrendered when they ran out of ammunition. 9,000 men of US 60th Infantry Regiment and 65 light tanks were landed during the day.
06:00 At Fedala, rough seas disrupted the landings. Several LCI's and Alligator's were swamped due to the changing tide. 18 of the 25 first wave landing craft were wrecked. Patton landed at 08:00, and the beachheads were secured later in the day. The Americans surrounded the port of Casablanca by 10:00. Free French and Vichy troops had several running battles, fighting from street to street, and the city finally surrendered an hour before sunset. No American troops entered the city during the fighting.
06:30 American troops advanced into Oran and met up with the fully mobilised 2nd Algerian Rifle Regiment.
06:45 The cruisers HMS Aurora and HMS Jamaica with the destroyers HMS Capel and HMS Farndale were operating off the beachhead at Oran. The French destroyers Epervier, Tornade, Tramontane and Typhon began to interfere with the landing craft. Jamaica fired two warning shots, which were ignored by the French. Tornade was then sunk, Typhon returned to Oran harbour and the other two anchored 3,480 yrds offshore with their guns facing inland. The flag of the Free French was raised on both these vessels.
08:00 The airfield at Djidjelli was taken by RAF Commandoes and the all-clear was given for Spitfires of 154 RAF to fly to the airfield. The first fighters arriving at 11:30. This would actually create the first of many of the logistics problems that the 'biggest amphibious assault in history' would face.
09:45 American light tanks and 1/2 tracks entered Port-Lyautey airfield. There was no resistance and the facilities were handed over to the Free French before lunch-time.
10:00 Armour of the British 20th Armoured Brigade begin to come ashore at Oran.
10:30 Vehicles and troops of the British 26th Armoured Brigade start to come ashore at Algiers.
11:00 American troops reached the airfield at Tafaraoui and it was declared operational by 12:00.
During the course of the morning 5 Vichy D520 fighters were shot down by RNAS aircraft over the fleet. Only reconnaissance sorties flew over the French territory.
12:00 Troops and equipment from the British 36th Infantry Brigade come ashore at Bone.
00:00 French Foreign Legionaries of the 1st Foreign Legion Cavalry regiment raised the Free French flag at Fort Lamoune and Fort Santa Cruz. This commenced the action known as Operation Gymnast.
00:00 The Géo Gras Group forces took control of the Algiers army barracks, police stations, the arsenal, telephone exchanges, the Summer Palace, the Prefecture, and the headquarters of Radio Algiers. All means of communication of Vichy forces were sabotaged. The operation was accomplished as early as 01:30.
00:30 152 British bombers attacked Dortmund, for a second night in a row. 4 bombers were lost on this attack.
01:00 H-hour. The American 1st Rangers on the HMS Hartland and HMS Walney Island quickly capturing the port and coastal gun installations at Arzew.
01:00 Men and equipment from the American 1st Infantry Division and 1st Armoured Division began to arrive on the beaches of the Gulf of Arzeu to the east of Oran.
01:00 American troops landed at Cape Matifou 15 miles east of Algiers and at Cape Sidi 10 miles to the west.
01:30 General Antoine staged a coup d'etat with the by now American equipped Colonial Moroccan Infantry Regiment and the 1st Hunters of Africa Regiment. After a brief fire-fight at the villa of Charles Nogues the Vichy-loyal high commissioner for Morocco, the resistance collapsed and Nogues was taken prisoner.
01:30 More Americans from the 1st Infantry and 1st Armoured landed at Les Andalouses to the west of Oran, as well as Mersa Bou Zedjhar.
01:45 troops from the British 11th Infantry Brigade made a successful unopposed landing at Bougie. A battalion sized battle group also landed at Djidjelli 30 miles east. This landing was also unopposed.
02:00 American paratroopers began landing at the airfields of Tafaraoui 15 miles south of Oran and at La Senia 5 miles south of the city. Both airfields were captured without incident and the Free French flag was raised at both venues.
03:15 Paratroopers of 6RMLI landed at Bone airfield 180 miles west of Tunis, and 5 miles south of the port.
03:30 Commandoes from 1RMLI come ashore and capture Bone harbour without incident.
04:00 A force of 30 Wellington bombers and 15 Wellington transport aircraft with RAF ground crews arrived at Gibraltar, to refuel and prepare for a more forward deployment.
04:45 Armoured cars and Matilda tanks of the RMASG are unloaded at Bone and immediately drive out to support the men of 6RMLI at the airfield.
05:00 Fleet carriers HMS Britannia and HMS Excalibur with 72 Grendal strike fighters each, plus support aircraft patrol 30 miles north of the city of Algiers. Two squadrons of fighters patrol above the vast armada keeping German Ju88's away from the troop and landing ships.
HMS Ark Royal deployed of the Tunisian coast along with the new light fleet carrier HMS Terrible north of Bone.
At Oran the battleships HMS Barham and HMS Nelson, along with escorts close in to 30,000yrds offshore. HMS Theseus, HMS Biter and HMS Dasher with six squadrons of Sea Hurricanes provided air cover and strike capability.
05:30 The German U-boats U565 and U431 attacked the carriers but the escorting destroyers and sloops forced them to withdraw without causing any damage to the British ships.
06:00 American troops began to land at Safi from the destroyers Bernadou and Cole. The garrison of 1,000 and 16 Hotchkiss H35 light tanks were quickly overwhelmed. The capture of the port facilities allowed the landing of 6,500 men of US 47th Infantry Regiment, 50 Sherman medium tanks and 40 Stuart light tanks of the American 2nd Armoured Divisions.
06:00 At Port-Lyautey, the 1st wave landing troops secured the beachhead and were quickly followed by the second wave. With the assistance of air support from the carriers, the troops pushed ahead, and the objectives were captured. Resistance was light, but Genderarme officers held up in the police station. They surrendered when they ran out of ammunition. 9,000 men of US 60th Infantry Regiment and 65 light tanks were landed during the day.
06:00 At Fedala, rough seas disrupted the landings. Several LCI's and Alligator's were swamped due to the changing tide. 18 of the 25 first wave landing craft were wrecked. Patton landed at 08:00, and the beachheads were secured later in the day. The Americans surrounded the port of Casablanca by 10:00. Free French and Vichy troops had several running battles, fighting from street to street, and the city finally surrendered an hour before sunset. No American troops entered the city during the fighting.
06:30 American troops advanced into Oran and met up with the fully mobilised 2nd Algerian Rifle Regiment.
06:45 The cruisers HMS Aurora and HMS Jamaica with the destroyers HMS Capel and HMS Farndale were operating off the beachhead at Oran. The French destroyers Epervier, Tornade, Tramontane and Typhon began to interfere with the landing craft. Jamaica fired two warning shots, which were ignored by the French. Tornade was then sunk, Typhon returned to Oran harbour and the other two anchored 3,480 yrds offshore with their guns facing inland. The flag of the Free French was raised on both these vessels.
08:00 The airfield at Djidjelli was taken by RAF Commandoes and the all-clear was given for Spitfires of 154 RAF to fly to the airfield. The first fighters arriving at 11:30. This would actually create the first of many of the logistics problems that the 'biggest amphibious assault in history' would face.
09:45 American light tanks and 1/2 tracks entered Port-Lyautey airfield. There was no resistance and the facilities were handed over to the Free French before lunch-time.
10:00 Armour of the British 20th Armoured Brigade begin to come ashore at Oran.
10:30 Vehicles and troops of the British 26th Armoured Brigade start to come ashore at Algiers.
11:00 American troops reached the airfield at Tafaraoui and it was declared operational by 12:00.
During the course of the morning 5 Vichy D520 fighters were shot down by RNAS aircraft over the fleet. Only reconnaissance sorties flew over the French territory.
12:00 Troops and equipment from the British 36th Infantry Brigade come ashore at Bone.