WITH THE NORTH AFRICAN INVASION ACCOMPLISHED...

     With the North African invasion accomplished and the Tunisian campaign begun, the way was clear  for expansion of the Allied lodgment.  Although heavy fighting was to continue at Casablanca until the 11th, we had nevertheless penetrated the "soft underbelly" of the Axis and were on the long road to victory.
     Before turning to another aspect of the North African campaign, let us touch briefly on the international political situation.  General Marshall's official comments are pertinent:

     General Eisenhower has announced that General Giraud would be responsible for civil and military affairs in North Africa, but th French military officials on the ground were found to be loyal to Marshal Pétain's government.  President Roosevelt's note to the French Chief of State had assured Marshal Pétain of our desire for a liberated France, but the vichy answer was disappointing.  Our ambassador was handed his passport on 9 November, and orders were dispatched from Vichy to French Africa units to resist our forces, which by then had already accomplished their missions except on the Casablanca front.

    Unexpectedly, Admiral Jean Darlan, Pétain's designated successor and commander in chief of all French forces, was found to be in Algiers. . . . He was taken into protective custody, and when it was found that the French leaders stood loyal to the Vichy government, a series of conferences immediately followed with the purpose of calling a halt to the French resistance against General Patton's task force in the vicinity of Casablanca.  When, on the morning of 11 November, the Germans invaded unoccupied France, Admiral Darlan rejected the pseudo-independent Vichy government, assumed authority in North Africa in the name of Marshal Pétain, and promulgated an order to all French commanders in North Africa to cease hostilities.  This order reached Casablanca a few minutes before the final American assault was to be launched on the early morning of 11 November.

      An important sequel to the North African landings is described by Walter Muir Whitehill, King's biographer.

--S.E. Smith
From: The United States Navy in World War II
Preface to Part II: Chapter 8: Summit Conference