1. The Battle for Port Lyautey Operation Torch
Port Lyautey, French Morocco
North Africa
Task Force 34
Sub Task Force Goalpost
Commander: General Dwight Eisenhower
Invasion Commander: General George Patton
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2. The Battle for Port Lyautey
Operation Torch
On the evening of November 7, 1942, around midnight, Task Force 34 (composed of three sub task forces) appeared off the coast of North Africa in three different areas. The Western Task Force proceeded to French Morocco. The Central and East Task Forces proceeded to Algeria and Tunisia. Lt John Doxsee was a member of the 2nd Battalion of the 60th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Infantry Division under the Western Task Force. The division was composed of three regiments; the 60th, 47th and 39th. The different regiments were to attack different portions of the French Moroccan coastline. The 60th went ashore at Port Lyautey, or Mehedia Beach in French Morocco.
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3. The Battle for Port Lyautey
Operation Torch
Aboard the troopship George Clymer, the men of the 60th Regiment went on the top deck at around 0100 and waited for three hours until given the signal to start the invasion. Once the signal came, the 60th went over the sides of the ship and loaded into their Landing Craft Infantry or LCIs. From here, they went to a marshal point where they waited for everyone in the wave to rally up. Due to confusion, the first wave landing force was delayed a few hours and did not start the landing until it was nearly daylight.
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4. The Battle for Port Lyautey
Operation Torch
With the delay of the first wave, the second wave proceeded as planned. Now, the second wave would be the first wave to the shore. They met with a few machine gun bursts as they came to shore and once they hit the shore they met moderate resistance from the French defenders. As it became daylight, the first wave, still at it’s rally site, decided to press into the shore. As they went in, John’s boat began taking on water and started sinking. A few hundred yards from shore, the men jumped over the sides of the boat and swam in. Three men drowned. The Second Battalion was assigned to come ashore on Green Beach, just south of the mouth of the Sebou River.
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5. The Battle for Port Lyautey
The Second Battalion of the 60th Infantry Regiment came ashore here around 0730 hrs on 8 November They were the only unit to land on their planned beach.
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6. The Battle for Port Lyautey
After hitting the beach, the unit had three objectives:
Secure Mehedia Beach (Plage)
Attack and Secure the Casbah Fortress
Secure the Airfield and Town of Port Lyautey
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7. The Battle for Port Lyautey
After hitting the beach, the unit had three objectives:
Secure Mehedia Beach (Plage)
Attack and Secure the Casbah Fortress
Secure the Airfield and Town of Port Lyautey
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8. The Battle for Port Lyautey
After hitting the beach, the unit had three objectives:
Secure Mehedia Beach (Plage)
Attack and Secure the Casbah Fortress
Secure the Airfield and Town of Port Lyautey
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9. The Battle for Port Lyautey
After hitting the beach, the unit had three objectives:
Secure Mehedia Beach (Plage)
Attack and Secure the Casbah Fortress
Secure the Airfield and Town of Port Lyautey
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10. The Battle for Port Lyautey
The Third Battalion of the 60th Infantry Regiment planned to come ashore here at Red Beach 2.
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11. The Battle for Port Lyautey
The Third Battalion also planned to make a landing to the north, on Red Beach. As the saying goes, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Seeing as how their operations would now be occuring in daylight, the Third Battalion decided to consolidate on Red Beach. This left the Second Battalion with no support on the north side of the Sebou River. Additionally, the Third Battalion inadvertently landed five miles north of Red Beach.
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12. The Battle for Port Lyautey
The First Battalion planned to make a landing to the south, on Blue and Yellow Beaches. Navigation errors brought the team ashore 2,800 yards north of Blue Beach instead of on Blue and Yellow.
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